21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 7

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6.

Day 7:
Resist Negative Thought Patterns. Crystal talks about how we need to keep words like "I can't" and "I'll try" out of our vocabulary, and replace them with "I WILL".  "Keep going, even when it feels like it's an uphill battle that's going nowhere. Your persistence will pay off."

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 6

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5.

Day 6:
Be realistic is the reminder that Crystal gives in this chapter. I run into this problem a lot. I think that I can get more done than I honestly can, which just frustrates and inevitably derails me. "...it's better to set the bar lower and actually meet your goals than to set the bar too high and keep falling flat on your face." She gives some great questions to ask yourself about your goals to help evaluate if they are too big to accomplish. When you're first starting out, you need to have small goals that are achievable so you don't burn out and quit.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 5

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

Day 5:
Discipline will take work, effort, and perseverance and you'll have days where you just don't want to follow through on your commitment. In light of this, we need to prepare for the inevitable obstacles and have a contingency plan in place. Write out a specific plan of what you want to accomplish and how you plan to accomplish it. Set reminders and alarms. Don't give up completely when you fail, if (more likely when) you fall down don't stay there. Defeat is not an option.

HELP! Luggage Advice Needed

Ruins in Costa Maya (from our last cruise)

We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship. Zooming through the sky...wait, that's Little Einsteins. No,
we're not to travelling aboard Rocket but we are going on a trip. Jared and I will be going on a cruise in the next couple of months (an early 10th anniversary celebration). All. By. Ourselves. Well, not completely by ourselves as we'll be going with some friends. With all this nasty cold weather we're experiencing I just CAN NOT wait! Warmth, sunshine, quality time together, I am counting down the days.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 4

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Day 4:
Crystal remind us that in order to truly cement a new habit, we need to focus on only one habit at a time. I have struggled with this a lot. I see all the things I want to change and then try to change them all at once. I always end up more of a mess than when I started. "It's better to focus on and master only three habits each year that actually stick, than to repeatedly try to develop 30 different habits all at the same time and end up overwhelmed, frustrated, and back to where you started."

Menu 2014: January 6-February 2

I wish you all a blessed New Year! We have been busy trying to get caught up on housework and also diving into our goals for this new year. School begins tomorrow so I need to be on top of my game in order to keep up with everything. Both Jared and I have determined to get back in the routine of eating healthy and working out so I will be trying to make meals a little healthier. My menu plan for the month is Comfort food, Sandwiches, Tex-Mex/Spicy, Italian, and Miscellaneous.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 3

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read previous days: Day 1, Day 2.

Day 3:
Crystal talks about how making certain small changes can have not only a physical benefit but also a psychological benefit, like when I choose to clean the kitchen before bed vs. leaving it till the next morning. The shape of my kitchen often affects my mood and therefore my level of motivation. "Moving in the right direction - even at a microscopic rate - is always faster than standing still."

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 2

I am reading 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life as part of my goals for 2014 and I'm sharing insights from each day's readings. If you want to catch up on my progress, read Day 1.

Day 2:
Developing discipline doesn't happen overnight. It is a process. Crystal reminds everyone that in order for the changes to stick, they need to be gradual. This is something that I've learned with losing weight and now need to implement it in other areas of my life.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Day 1

One of my personal enrichment goals for 2014 is to read at least 6 books, so I started with some books that I'd gotten for free on my Kindle over a year ago. I am currently reading two books but the one I really want to share with you right now is 21 Days To A More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine of the Money Saving Mom. Being my overall goal for 2014 is to become a more disciplined person I thought this book would be a good "goal multi-tasker". That's understatement. In the 3 days that I have been reading it, 21 Days has been a big help.

Goals for 2014

As I look out the window at the freshly fallen snow I am reminded even more that today marks a new year, and a fresh start with a new set of goals. I didn't hit last years goals but I am one step closer to where I wanted to be by setting them. So here goes, my overall goal for 2014 is to become more self-disciplined. Working at that one goal will get me closer to accomplishing these more specific goals: