FLYing and Feelin' Good

There are many times in my life where I've taken a hard look at myself and said, "Self, we need to make a change here.  This nonsense cannot go on any longer."  There are a few times in my life where I've actually made a change that was lasting.

I've began to notice recently, though, there is a common thread to these times of lasting change...

1. Baby steps...and I mean really small baby steps.  One of my favorite inspirational quotes is "Progress, Not Perfection."

2. A support person/people

3. Prayer/Praise to God

4. Exchanging negative thoughts for positive ones

For a very long time, I've struggled with keeping up with housework.  Even though it's just the hubs and I in a fairly small townhome, we had an extremely hard time motivating ourselves to clean.  Dusting, vacuuming....no thank you.  We even had a hard time keeping clothes off the floor, dishes out of the sink, and I'm ashamed to admit that the bed was only made when company came over.  I know, it was bad.  Remember this???...

and this...

Those were my New Year's resolutions.  Yeah, that lasted about two days!

UNTIL 2 MONTHS AGO...when I stumbled upon this extremely helpful lady, self-titled Fly Lady, who has sympathized, encouraged, and nudged me to make a lasting change when it comes to keeping up with housework.

WARNING...she's a little on the goofy side, and at first I thought it was a little too much for me...but then, I started to notice all her antics were WORKING!  

Our sink has been dish-free every night for two whole months and our bed has been made every morning for about one month!!  It feels so good to make these changes in our home and we're taking baby steps every day toward a cleaner/happier home.

If you would like to try out the Fly Lady, I suggest starting here.  Read what she's all about, then decide for yourself if it's something you'd like to pursue.  Trust me, it's totally manageable...oh, and it's totally free, too.  

I signed up to get the daily email, which I highly recommend (make sure you sign up for the daily digest and not all emails, or you could end up getting several emails each day).  It keeps me motivated and inspired to keep going!

Hope this helps your family as much as it has mine!!  Have a great week, everyone!

Here I Stand, Resolute

Here are five of my 2011 resolutions...may God help me in these endeavors (or at least help me make it past the month of January!)...

1. Update our bedroom. You can't see it in the black and white picture (on purpose), but our walls are a shade of green that I'm becoming more and more uncomfortable with each day.  I'd like to paint the walls and bring in some decor that channels relaxation, comfort, and natural airiness.  

Inspiration...

Young House Love, Master Bedroom

 2. Take more walks.  

3. Tame the pile-o-dishes before I hit the sack each night.

4. Make our bed each morning.  

5. Finish a book! I'm excellent at starting them (really, a pro), but horrible at finishing them.  I'm resolving to not pick up a second book until I've finished the first one.

Need help deciding what your resolutions should be? Click here for a New Year's Resolution Generator.  

May God bless you in 2011!  

Encouragement + Motivation + Printable

It started with a lesson I learned while on the Jenny Craig program...

Positive Reinforcement is Not Just For Kids

Rewarding myself each week for accomplishing my goals has proven to be just what I need. Who would have thought such a simple idea would work?  I think as adults, we think we just need to toughen up and tirelessly push ourselves to great heights in life.  No pain, no gain, right? For me, this mentality only led to a road of guilt when I didn't reach the goal like I had wanted....and that only made the thought of working towards my goals so much less desirable.

So, the motivation that worked for me was changing the way I thought about working towards my goals...from a negative experience to a positive one using this method...

1. Set 1-3 goals at the beginning of the week that are achievable and have a clear action step.  Example: Tell my husband one thing I like about him each day.  Goals that are too big can become daunting and discouraging.  Achieving one small step can give you big motivation to take the next.

2. Choose a reward for accomplishing your goals and write it down.  Then, make it a point to follow through with the reward and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.  :) Rewards don't have to be expensive or even tangible items.  Examples: Buy a good book, take myself thrift store shopping for 1 hour, indulge in a good chick flick, manicure, etc. It makes a world of difference to have an appealing reward to shoot for.

3. Put your written goals in a place where you can see them daily.  It's way too easy to get busy and forget about them.

4.  Don't beat yourself up if you didn't accomplish all your goals for the week.  Scale back your goals a little so that they are ACHIEVABLE.  Then, when you get those goals down, stretch yourself a little further.  Progress, not perfection.


Want to give it a try? Click on the following image to print it out.