gretchenrubin

December 31, 2018

December: Embracing it all.

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The year has come to an end, and so has my Happiness Project. I dedicated December to embracing all the things that actually worked for me this year.

Here’s what I’ve learned throughout this process. That happiness isn’t actually a state, or a personality trait. Happiness is a fleeting moment, it’s the smile of your child’s face when you walk in the room. It’s quiet moments of hot coffee and books while the household is sleeping. It’s the complete bliss of actually being in the moment for once, instead of looking at your phone or ahead to the future. I think that the idea of being eternally happy initially sounds great, but how do we know true happiness if we haven’t experienced the lows.

This project was definitely productive as I picked up some great habits in which I will carry with for hopefully a long time. Here’s my quick list of things I will continue to do:

  • Breathe. Take moments to take a deep breathe, and really enjoy how your lungs feel when they are full.
  • Pursuing passions. After finally signing up for a marathon again after 6/7 years, what I realized is that I am so capable of anything I put my mind to. So whether it’s running, a fun hobby, or reading, I want to continue to pursue and working towards goals for fun. No pressure to do certain times, or setting high bars… just purely enjoying doing something.
  • Saying no. This includes not over scheduling, telling people what I actually want, and focusing on what’s most important for our family.
  • Dates with my Husband. This was life changing. We have actually been really keeping this goal up, and it’s been great to get out as a couple again.
  • Yoga. Enough said… perfect for my mindset, and my body.

Well friends, that rounds up a whole year of working on happiness!! If you are interested in reading about the my personal project, check this link out. If you are interested in doing a happiness project, feel free to drop me a line, or a comment. I’d love to chat!

 

February 8, 2018

The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin

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If you have seen My Happiness Project, or my review on Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, you will probably see how much I admire her work. She takes practical small tasks, and shows you how to use them to transform into big results. BUT I will say that The Four Tendencies wasn’t my favourite of hers. This book just seemed like it was a repeat Better than Before…. which happened to be a book that I found really useful. Here’s a quick synopsis:

Gretchen Rubin believes that there are two types of people this world… one that divide the world into categories, and the other who do not. She is a categorizer, and believes that there are 4 different types of people: the Upholder, the Questioner, the Obliger, and the Rebel. This book is basically a road map for how to handle your own personality, the people around you, and how it can affect you in different areas in your life.

If personality books interest you, pop over to Gretchen Rubin’s quiz to see what category you are. I am an Upholder… and that comes as no surprise to me. I fit into this category so easily… one thing that really confirmed it was that I constantly hear people say “How do you have time to do what you do?” and my answer is always… “I make it”. And that is one thing that the Upholder will always do, find a way to make it work, or give it up. It’s really fun to see what category you fit into, and she gives great advice on how to motivate yourself, and deal with other types of people. You should definitely check the quiz out!

I think this book would be a great addition to a library of someone who works in the public sector. Being an RMT I find it hard sometimes to motivate different types of people to do homecare, but reading this book helps you understand just exactly what motivates some people and how you can use that to get them doing their tasks. I also think this book was a great realization of how and why your brain functions the way it does, and that it’s okay for you to be the way you are!

Anywho, that’s all about this one. Like I said not my favourite, but still very insightful. So now head on over to do her quiz, and in the comments tell me what category you fit into!

Until next time, happy reading!

January 1, 2018

January: Time Management

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So friends, today marks the first day of My Happiness Project. If you haven’t seen my page dedicated to that, but are interested in it, please click here. I’m really excited to work away at little goals all year long. I am a believer in self improvement. I know some people roll their eyes when people speak of goals and such. But for myself I find that they motivate me and keep me focused on the long term goals.

In saying that, let’s talk January: Time Management. I decided that I would work on time management for January for the simple reason that it will help me set up to better use my time moving forward for the year. I don’t think I’m terrible at it, but I do know there is plenty of room for improvement.

DE-CLUTTER: Post Christmas food, kids toys, closets, kitchen. Yep, I’m going there. Organizing all these things I hope will make it easier for me to feel more focused, less stressed, and just find stuff easier. I always feel really stressed by clutter, and messiness… but I am guilty of just throwing things into the closet/cupboard and thinking I will deal with it later. I’m applying Gretchen Rubin’s rule of if it takes less than a minute… do it now!

PLAN MEALS OR USE MY CROCKPOT MORE: This year is going to be a busy one for us. Both my hubby and I will be working even more, and to be quite frank the last thing I want to do when I get home is try to come up with what I should cook for dinner… Or even cook it! So I hoping this will help us be able to spend more time together as a family at the end of the day, instead of cooking and cleaning up! My plan is going to be use Sunday night to cut veggies, and plan out meal ideas.

POST 2-3 TIMES A WEEK ON THE BLOG: Here’s the thing, I really enjoy writing. Whether it’s a blog post, a grocery list, or a letter. But when I get busy the first thing to go out the window is writing. So I want to make sure that I keep this as a priority as my life as it gets busier next year! Some thoughts I had were to schedule specific days for certain blog posts, or dedicating a certain amount of time daily to writing.

My reading this month will be somewhat focused on this area… with fiction sprinkled throughout. Below I’ve listed a couple books that I will be referring to, and reading this month:

That’s all for today! I would love to hear what your goals are for the next year, month, or day! Please let me know… email, Instagram, or in the comments.