Silly .... stupid, one might even say .... and why? Why don't I want to do these things? Why don't I want to make exercise a part of my day because I'll feel better about myself today and for the rest of my life (if I keep it up)? Why don't I enjoy cooking healthy meals for my family each night because it's good for us? Why don't I see the benefits each day of disciplining myself?
Well .... here are a few reasons why:
- I really like brownies.....I mean a LOT! And one week a month, I crave them like crazy!
- I love, Love, LOVE to sleep in. I don't what it is about this one indulgence that makes me feel so wonderful about waking up when my body say "time to wake up" instead of doing it to an alarm clock (or sometimes one of our children asking for something).
- I want to be spontaneous. This one is interesting for me. I want to be the person that packs the family up and drives off the weekend just because we have an extra day off. But then I don't find the energy to do so .... so I want to, but I'm not.
- I don't want to have to do anything. I want to want to do whatever it is I'm doing. (Does that make sense?)
Last year at the end of May, I quit my job in software. I thought "no big deal." I can make real estate work around my schedule and cover the gap in bills that was necessary. Can I tell you how wonderful our summer was together? We played and vacationed and just spent time together. And I didn't do real estate.
No big deal ... when the kids are back in school I'll just get into a schedule and get it going. Well, apparently that was a big deal because I couldn't do it. Even after we started to get behind on bills and couldn't quite make things work with the money we had, I didn't get disciplined enough. This put a lot of strain on our marriage and consequently our entire family started to feel the pain.
So, when I got a phone call from a local brokerage to come in and talk to them about what they offer, I thought "why not?" I'm always looking for new things I can incorporate into my business/life. Well, what a change it was and I was so attracted to it that I switched brokerages.
This brokerage is like nothing else I've seen before. They are so positive and are genuinely interested in my success. THEY want ME to SUCCEED! They put all their efforts into creating an environment where I can be successful. And what do they ask in return? They want me to listen to positive speakers, surround myself with positive people, come into the office and generate new business, all on my own schedule! In fact, they want to make sure that I don't take anything away from my family in doing all of this.
How many of you can say that you work for a company that does that? Or if you don't work outside of the home, do you have a relationship with someone that does this for you? I can tell you that I didn't before this ..... and this has changed my whole perspective. And it's even changing Leon's perspective because I'm sharing so much with him.
Anyway, how does this relate to being disciplined? I am now expected to have a schedule and be accountable for what I do with that schedule. I can't believe how much time I had that I was doing nothing with.....no wonder I was unhappy and not feeling successful.
Now my goals for 2011 are going to be to make sure I'm making time to exercise, to cook for the family, to spend time with my husband, to make time for myself, to plan healthier menus, to stick to a budget, to make myself the best me that I can. And I can! I can totally do this.
How about you? What have you done to make time for something you love to do? What is changing for you in 2011?
That's awesome. We really should talk more--I'm always surprised by how much we have in common. Over the weekend I got an offer to start teaching dance again. It will work around my schedule, the atmosphere is great and it's something I absolutely love doing. I can't believe they're paying me to do it! We'll have to compare notes on our self discipline in a few months.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post Bonnie. I read that article you posted "Why I Can't Stop Reading Mormon Blogs" to Russ tonight at dinner and we were discussing it. This post is exactly what she is referring too! Religion is only half of it. The other half is DESIRING to make our lives better for us and our families. Best of luck with your 2o11 goals!
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I've got big things in store for my body in 2011. The goal is to get back to pre-preggo weight this year which is steep because I kinda, okay really, let myself slack off since having Makai. So I've got my work out videos I do everyday which are kicking my butt but making me feel so much better. I also decided to pick one thing to improve each month- this month is my skin- sounds strange but just making sure I apply lotion daily and exfoliating in the shower has done wonders for my skin this month! Next month- wear my retainer each night. The plan is to get in the habit of each item every month and then continue for the rest of the year. Anyway, that's my goals for 2011.
You two are awesome and inspiring! Jody, I love that you will be dancing. I have always thought you were so inspiring with all that you accomplish and it comes across that you really love to be home with your kids and be a Mom. That is such a wonderful trait. I would love to share notes.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - thank you. I love your approach. I kind of started doing that when school started, but haven't really followed up and I didn't do it for a whole month. I would introduce something more quickly than that. Hmmmmm, maybe that's why I haven't succeeded as much as I would like. Okay - my goal for January is to get my schedule down. Define it, Do it, re-evaluate as necessary. I'll keep you posted!