ballet

Day 278: Monthly Check in Pt 9

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Eek! Already nine months have passed since I started this blog. I feel like I’ve barely made any headway, but that can’t be true. Updates below!

  1. Work on my Novel – Almost done editing my book! I also joined Publisher’s Marketplace, Writer’s Digest and several other websites to help me begin putting together a list of agents to query. I have’t gotten as far as I liked, but I did make some progress. Baby steps.
  2. Ballet – I went once this month, started going to yoga again, and tried a pilates class. It’s not as much as I want to do, but I’m really trying to make exercise a regular part of my life. It’s hard.
  3. Promotion –  DONE! 
  4. Get out of credit card debt – Still chugging along here! I decided to increase my monthly payments so I should be done in July if things continue as they presently are. I had some roommate trouble recently, which made me realize how much I need to pay this off and become more financially stable. It’s ongoing goal, but I will finish paying my debt of this year!
  5. In a relationship – Taking a break from dating. 
  6. A picture a day – I know this isn’t part of my big five, but it’s my monthly goal. I did okay at the beginning of the month and then completely stopped. It didn’t even register with me some days that I should post a picture. I’ve got to find a better way to do these monthly goals.

So I didn’t to as well as I wanted (like always), but I’m still working on things. I’m still moving forward and getting things done…just not as fast as I would like, but isn’t that usually the way of things. Ballet class starts again next week and I’m going to do a lot of writing this weekend, so maybe I’ll be farther along in a few days. And maybe when the year of this blog is over and I have new goals, I’ll be done at least four or five of these. We’ll see.

 

Until tomorrow.

87 days to go. (WOW!)

Day 244: Monthly Check-in Pt. 8

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Time for check-in number eight. I’ve felt in a funk for the last month-ish, so I’m don’t really feel I’ve made any progress. Let’s have a look-see though.

  1. Work on my Novel – I’m editing my book again and it feels like things are getting there, although I’m often still unhappy by a sentence or paragraph. Well, I’ll continue editing away and see how things go. I also didn’t make a list of agents or start a query letter or anything. I did break down those tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks today, so hopefully I can make some progress next month.
  2. Ballet – I didn’t go at all this month. Or to yoga. It was a bad month for exercising. I’ll try to get back on the wagon this week.
  3. Promotion –  DONE! 
  4. Get out of credit card debt – This is going really well still! I paid off a large chunk of my debt and am continuing to pay off my credit card at a steady rate. I wish it would go faster, but unless I win the lottery or sell my book I’ll have to continue paying it off one week at a time.
  5. In a relationship – Bumbling away. I haven’t met anyone in person though and most people don’t respond to my messages. Maybe I’ll delete the app finally. I’m tired.
  6. Meditation – I know this isn’t part of my big five, but it’s my monthly goal. I meditated pretty much every day last week and I’m pretty proud of myself. I get fidgety and anxious sometimes, but I think I’m getting better. That’s all I can ask for really.

So what is that? Two and a half out of five. That’s not bad. Not great, but I’ll try to better next month. I’m always thinking about ways to improve my schedule (definitely needs some improvement).

Like I said, I’m feeling in a funk. I haven’t been exercising so I really need to make that part of my life and maybe it’ll make me feel better. We’ll see.

Until tomorrow.

121 days to go.

Day 183: Monthly Check in Part 6

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Time for my sixth monthly check-in! I realized I skipped my last one because it was around the holidays and I was working a lot and traveling and the days just sort of flew past me until it was January. And now today. Disappointed in myself, but it’s a new year and I’m back blogging and sometimes things get away from us and we just have to recenter ourselves and get back on track. (See Meditation is working!)

  1. Work on my Novel – I am doing quite well! Writing mostly every day for a nice little chunk of time. Not a lot, but I’m working up to adding more time to my schedule and I’m almost done. I feel I’m 70% of the way there, so maybe a few more tweaks until I get to 90% and then I can submit. I should start looking into getting an agent though.
  2. Ballet – I have been going to yoga and ballet consistently for two weeks! Hopefully I’ll continue on and solidify my schedule so it becomes a habit instead of just a chore. I also think I might do 30 days of yoga in February + a little bit of March to keep progressing forward. TBD.
  3. Promotion –  DONE! 
  4. Get out of credit card debt – This is actually going well. Although I had to buy some flights for family reasons, so I have to dig into my savings to get back on track. Still, I’ve made some good progress and we will keep progressing as the year goes on!
  5. In a relationship – Still Bumbling, although not a lot. I’m trying to go on one date next month, so we’ll see.

Six Monthly check in!!! I’m halfway done and I feel I’ve accomplished quite a bit so far. Maybe not as much as I want to, but there’s still time left and maybe it will be small steps before a big jump. Or maybe it will be small steps before the finish line and that’s okay too. Still I think I’m happier than I was six months ago, and that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?

Until tomorrow.

Progress Not Perfection

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Progress Not Perfection

It’s my word of the year! More like a phrase, but close enough. I am always, always trying to be the best person I can be. It can be exhausting and daunting at times. I get discouraged easily because I’m always trying to do the very best I can. And sometimes I get intimidated because I know I’ve slacked off or haven’t done the work I need to do and then instead of pushing through, I just stop. But stopping is the real problem. Stopping means no progress at all. Even if I only wrote a sentence a day, by the end of the year I would have a fair amount of words, maybe even a short story.

It’s easy for me to remember this year Progress not perfection. Submit my story to agents. If it fails then at least I tried. Go to ballet and yoga. If I’m terrible, at least I’m getting exercise and trying my best. Pay off my credit cards no matter how slowly. And bumble or ok cupid away. I’m not going to meet anyone if I don’t try to meet anyone.

Progress not Perfection.

Until tomorrow.

185 days to go.

Day 174: Gratitude 14

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Gratitude of the Day: Exercise!

Yesterday, I wrote about the knot in my stomach of anxiety and stress. Not good. I haven’t found much to combat it yet except maybe less work (Ha!). Meditation made me aware of it, but I discovered today that exercise can keep it at bay (predictably). I went to ballet class yesterday (yay!) and yoga today(double yay!) and while I could still sense the bubble of stress, I was focused on something else, so it felt diminished. Another reason for me to go to ballet and yoga. Not only do I feel great after I go, but now it’s also helping dissipate my stress knot.

Until tomorrow.

191 days to go.

Day 140: Reframing

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Hellooooooooo!

I’ve been MIA again for awhile. This time I haven’t been working so many hours, but I have been doing a great many things. December is a busy month with the holidays! Everyone is trying to cram in last minute get togethers and there’s holiday parties and shopping galore. So basically I’ve been busy, which isn’t always an excuse but sometimes it can be.

But I wanted to share something I discovered recently which I’m pretty excited about. Podcasts!

Just kidding. I know all about podcasts, but I haven’t had a chance to listen to them since I switched jobs. There’s just too much to do and I can’t really concentrate on the podcasts unless I’m cleaning or sorting laundry or doing some other mindless task.

Enter driving to ballet. The class I like is pretty far away, especially after work when it’s rush hour. It’s been a definite issue in the past with me not wanting to drive half an hour after work to go exercise. My willpower is low in the evening and the commute doesn’t help.

Then while I was listening to Happier with Gretchen Rubin they were talking about reframing. Basically you take a negative task or idea and frame it in a different light so it becomes a positive. And then it hit me! The perfect time to listen to my podcasts is during my dreaded commute to ballet class. It’s a good chunk of time, so I can listen to the longer podcasts and it’s something I look forward to, so I’ve finally found a way to overcome the commute obstacle. A perfect solution to a thorny problem. 🙂

Until tomorrow! (Podcast & ballet day!)

225 days to go.

Day 99: Perfection

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perfection‘

I try to be perfect. I really do. I get upset with myself if I even make the tiniest mistake that someone else catches. It could just be a typo or a missed punctuation, but I’ll beat myself up about it the tiniest bit before I move on. I think this can me a good thing sometimes – I learn from my mistakes and it serves as a reminder to double and triple check my work when I’m tempted to just send it along to the next person. But I also think it can be a mental block that gets in my own way. It prevents me from going to exercise class because I’m not “good enough” or it prevents me from sending along my writing because “it has to be perfect.” It prevents me from trying new things because I’m afraid people will look at me and secretly judge me (or openly judge me, but that would be rude.)

I need to remind myself that it’s okay to be perfect. None of us are. I need to try and be less self-conscious about my imperfections. Most of the time people are so worried about themselves, they don’t have a thought for me! And if they do, the so what?! Their thoughts about me have zero impact on my life, so I should just live how I want to. It’s a hard thing to remember, but I think it’ll definitely help me to get over a few mental hurdles so I can make it to the next step – whether that be trying a new dance class or submitting my writing for consideration.

Until tomorrow. Happy Halloween too!

266 days to go!

Day 97: Ballet Life

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Well sort of…not really. This has been my most challenging “challenge” so far. I. just. can’t. seem. to. get. to. class. It’s a struggle every weekday and weekend. I’ve tried all the tricks, but I think really I just need to make it into a habit and do it. Also, thinking about how I feel bad if I don’t go is pretty motivating since I feel bad often.

I did manage to go yesterday even though I’ve been feeling under the weather. It was much more challenging than I remember and I felt a little left behind, but I’m happy I went (always am). Whenever I get discouraged, I just have to remember to “Be Terrible”. After all it’s better to go, be terrible and get some exercise than to not go and just lay in bed.

I’ve been thinking about trying some other exercise classes to get myself into shape. Just for fun. Maybe a boxing class or aerial yoga (or regular yoga) or barre class or just some other random kind of work out to kick me out of my exercise funk. I used to go hiking more too. I’ll try to this week.

I’ve also decided that once I cross off another goal on my list, I can pick up another one. Four seems like a good amount.

Until tomorrow.

268 days to go.

Day 83: How many times can I fail

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Multiple! I was supposed to exercise twice this weekend! And I did neither! Because I am terrible at exercising!! I really need to figure out a way to establish a long running habit which I will only break occasionally for vacations and birthdays and engagements and weddings. Ugh.

 

Well this week is a new week and I went to see the ballet today and got all inspired by what I wish I looked like. I decided I need to do something every day to work towards getting better, which means going to yoga or stretching at night. It really is helpful to get “re-inspired” once in awhile to show you why you wanted to do something in the first place. Of course, I know I’ll never be professional, but there’s a reason I started going to ballet and it’s because I just really enjoy it.

I’ve thought about it and I think there’s a few ways to get myself to go.

PLAN OF ACTION

  1. Prepare! – If it’s a workday, I need to prepare dinner ahead of time and bring my exercise clothes to work so I can change at work and eat dinner around 5:55 at work (or in the car.) If it’s a weekend I should be fine, but can bring a change of clothes if I plan on doing something before or after.
  2. Sleep! – I need to get a good night’s sleep the night before and take my vitamins so I’m not too tired at the end of the day. An extra boost of caffeine in the afternoon wouldn’t hurt (I know I shouldn’t rely on this, but if it’s the way to get my exercise habit started, then so be it.)
  3. Future Me! – If I’m thinking of skipping I need to think about how good I feel when I go and how regretful I feel when I don’t go.
  4. Accountability! – And I need to make friends in class so I have accountability partners.

So there we have it. My plan of action! PSFA (PASF? PAFS!!!)

Tuesday. I will go. And report back.

Until tomorrow.

282 days to go.

Day 76: Be Terrible

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Yes! Success! For the first time in a couple months I went to ballet class. I was initially apprehensive about going because I haven’t been in awhile and even when I was going, my attendance was quite spotty. I’ve realized recently that often times my decision not to go to class had only to do with my own fears and anxieties. I was the one standing in my way because I was worried my teacher would judge me for all the progress I’d lost! Which is ridiculous! I’m not going to become a professional ballerina or even go on to dance in any sort of recital. This is for exercise and for fun. For my health! The thing I should be least worried about it what my teacher will think of me.  The thing I should be most worried about is making sure I attend class, so I can take care of my body and myself. And so this is another lesson I learned. Be Terrible.

Okay… don’t be terrible, but don’t be afraid to be terrible at something. I’m an adult! I have a job I find moderately rewarding and pay my own bills. Everything else is just for my own enjoyment and happiness. So what if I’m terrible at pirouettes.  At least I’m getting out there and spinning across the floor like my four year old self would be proud of!

This advice is important for not just exercise, but also for writing! I’m often worried of what will happen at the end of writing my book. Will all the hard work be for nothing? Will it be rejected? Will I even get an agent? Will it arrive on shelves and then sit there until it’s put in the bargain bin and I’ll never write another thing again? Or will I be a wild success so I can quit my day job and just spend my days writing and writing and writing? (Yes, please!) But none of these are an option if I don’t at least finish the book. So let my story be terrible and I’ll fix it up afterwards. After all you can’t even read empty pages.

Until tomorrow.

289 days to go.