New Year, Same Story

And just like that… Hello 2019!

I took a break. A proper break this time. No laptop, no plans. I cleared my social calendar and for the first time since I joined Facebook, I took a 4 week break from social media. Did you miss me?

I have only this week eased back into Facebook, reinstalling the app – because that is what I had to do, in order to force this break. Whenever I had a spare minute I would find myself automatically clicking on the little blue app and scrolling and scrolling until woops… how many hours did my phone’s “Screen time” app say I was on social media for? OMG.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy social media. It allows me to interact with family and friends who I can’t see often. The communities are useful – especially when you are new in town. It keeps me entertained, inspired and being in marketing, I have to keep on top of things from my work point of view. And of course, why would you even take photos if it is not to be shared on Instagram, right? But on the other side of it, it was a distraction to the point of addiction. A way to escape. And depending on who you followed, could end up causing low self esteem where you invariably end up playing the comparison game, and coming up short.

Ok, so back to 2019. I wanted to start off as I mean to go on. Nothing actually changed from the 31st December 2018 to the 1st January 2019. Yes it is a new year, but it’s the same me, same story.  And so with my hiatus on screen time, I bought a stack, and I mean a literal stack of self-help books. Often they all say the same thing, just in different ways, and with different anecdotes. It all comes down to which one will get you off your ass and doing something! Having been on my ass for the better part of a month, and failing at getting going with my “beeg ass plans”,  I am pleased to report that the first book I read has already made an impact. Rachel Hollis’s book Girl, wash your face, came into my life by complete fluke. I had no idea who she was but the book sounded like my vibe. Working Mom, built a business, even referred to the exact same stories, quotes, songs and movies that I often use. It was uncanny! It took ages to arrive but it was so worth it. She is my new girl crush and is literally living the life I long for. Now, confession time here if I may. When I read books like Rachel’s, I always think to myself I know this, I could be doing this, I should do this, why do I need her to tell me how, like seriously.? Well the last time I checked, I am not a successful, famous, millionaire entrepreneur with a New York Times bestseller book and blogger with an Insta account with a million followers and posting videos about how to meal prep for busy working moms. Well not yet.

This book and the awesome website with its blogs, videos and podcasts (Podcasts! How have I not known about podcasts, have I been living under a rock?), has come into my life at a time when I needed someone to give me the paint-by-numbers- way to get my life and goals back on track, so a big shout out to Rachel Hollis.

What have I learnt so far?
NOTHING is going to happen until you first PLAN and write it down.

Why is it so hard to write what you want down? Argg… it took me ages to get a pen and a note book and write GOALS. I think there is something scary about writing them down, in pen. Maybe it brings some reality to it? Holding you to your words? I also have this irrational fear of starting a new notebook, of writing on that very first page. Like I’m worried I am already going to mess it up with the first sentence. Do I give it a header in CAPS, or underline it, or do I write in blue or black pen? It’s like jumping off a diving board into…. blank pages. Eeeek! I wrote my Beeg ass goals, some mantras, a list of things to help keep things on track and I even wrote down what my early morning should look like. If you don’t start your day off right, then you just end up chasing the chaos all day. I’ve got this.

What my morning should look like:

 

Wake up duh – but without hitting the snooze button 17 times.
Drink a glass of warm water with a slice of lemon
Meditation (10 min) for the app I pay for monthly but haven’t used in months
Pilates (20min) use of the qualification I spent months working towards and not used
Breakfast
Listen to a podcast/ Ted Talk  (15-20min) something motivation other than scrolling through fb
Wake kids and then usual morning shenanigans until drop off.
Gym – workout schedule  The one Kim put together for me for the next 6 weeks.
(Think bikini. Think Mauritius. Think June!)

Note I am trying, and I used to, wake up at 5am.  In fact my goal is 4.50am because evidently all successful people are up before 5am. You, know, just in case you were wondering how I planned on fitting it all in. I wrote estimate times next to the items – see?

Did it happen?

Nope.

I woke up, not at 5am, drat! I drank the water without lemons, but could I find my earphones to listen to the mediation app? Nope. Where was my Pilates stuff? Dunno, stuck behind Aiden’s bike and a skateboard. And what exactly was I going to be doing for that 20 min? Did I have a plan for that? Did I write down that schedule or bookmark YouTube videos to follow? Was the ipad even charged? Same for Podcasts and TedTalks. I spend the 20 min trying to find that one video I remember wanting to watch and ….how do I listen to Podcasts? WTF. I didn’t even have the app downloaded on my phone.  And when I got to gym, did I smash my workout? Nope. Besides the fact that the gym got all new equipment so I didn’t know where was what, I spent my precious time that I had searching through my photos to find the workout, and then I didn’t know what some of the instructions meant. I was running around trying to find machines or weights and googling ” curl with front extension” .

#epicfail
And here’s why.

I need to take the time to PREPARE

I got as far as planning, but did I PREPARE? Therein was the problem. I never take into account the time for preparation. It’s like deciding to go bake a chocolate cake. You have the recipe, you know what to do, but then you find you are missing half the ingredients. You usually just give up, don’t bother and end up just raiding the kid’s sweetie jar before confirming with Netflix that yes, dammit hell, you are still watching. In the beginning, preparing seems like a mammoth task and it probably is, but once you are sorted, then the plan can run a lot smoother and it will get easier and easier, she says, like some kind of guru. On the contrary I am learning every day.  So you are welcome to join me as I try and figure this all out.

I downloaded the Podcast App, subscribed to a few channels that I thought were interesting and even downloaded a few – in case there was no internet. I have my earphones out and ready on my desk. I have a desk area! I have bookmarked a bunch of Ted Talks that I can access instantly. My pilates stuff is easily accessible and laid out ready, and I have written out my various workouts and Googled and checked that I know what everything means. I have a jug of water and a bowl of lemons out in the kitchen as a reminder.

Let’s try this again shall we?
Watch this space….

My morning routine, perfectly sorted.
Bonnie

A little inspiration below to start the year off. We can always do with a little reminding from some of the greatest, inspirational  fierce females of our time.