Lifestyle Experiment - January - Routine Maintenance

I'm excited to shake things up in different areas of my life each month and I've come up with several different Lifestyle Experiments I'd like to try over the course of the next year.  

Some are things I have never attempted, others I've tried in the past and either had little success or fallen flat on my face.

I don't like to fail. I don't even like doing "ok" at things. I tend to be pretty hard on myself when I do. Beating myself up is one of the many "skills" I've acquired that I'm slowly learning to let go.

My challenge for January isn't the least bit exciting, remarkable sexy, or innovative but it is something that I know I can accomplish. It's always good to start off on the right foot and this month will get me set up to succeed in whatever awesome things I decide to do in the coming months.

Morning and Nightly Rituals

In order to establish and maintain cadence and help me to achieve balance in my life I am going to open and close each day doing the same things.

5 things each morning and the same 5 things in reverse order each night.

Pray

 

Start Drinking Water

 

Meditation & Affirmations

 

Body Weight Exercises

 

Read

 

The alarm is set for 7:00 every day. Snooze is not an option and I have to get started right away. It doesn't matter if I'm sleeping in my own bed or somewhere else.

I'll probably spend the first week or so experimenting with how I do the bedtime routine. It's important to me to spend time with my wife each night after our kids go do bed. They are normally in bed at 8:30 and asleep 15 minutes later. I might do some things with her I might do it alone. I might do some things while we watch a movie. Who knows... However it happens I'm in bed by 10:30

I'm not giving myself a set time period for each step in the process but always in the same order. Some days I'll spend longer on one thing and less on another. I'm shooting for 30 - 45 minutes.

I am giving myself the option to make adjustments only if they are in order to improve upon what I'm starting with. I can never adjust based on lack of motivation or other excuses.

Over the next week I'll write quick posts explaining why I have chosen each activity as an essential element to open and close my day.

 

Happy 2015!

 

 

 

2015 - A Wonderful, Awful Idea

My head hit the pillow last night around 10:30. I was beat!

Lately I have had a very difficult time falling asleep. I've got a lot on my mind. Some nights I try to go to sleep at the same time my wife does. Other nights I know I am going to toss and turn for and hour, get out of bed and wander around the house, work on a project or something else. Netflix is the devil when you cant sleep.

But this night was different. I could feel it. I was going to be asleep in 5 minutes tops.

NOPE!

I got an idea, an awful idea, a wonderful, awful idea...

One of those ideas that just wont go away and won't let you sleep.

I am a big fan of experiments of all kinds.

The other night my kids and I did a fun one. Boil some red cabbage, eat the cabbage for dinner and save the water. It will be a deep blue color. pour in some vinegar and see what happens.

Try it!

The experiment that kept me up past midnight is a bit different.

Yesterday I had been thinking a lot about the "Packing Party" I'm coming to the tail end of. I have been amazed by how few items I have actually needed the past 6 weeks. I started to wonder what else I could do to further improve my life...

This train of thought brought me to the idea.

I am going to do a different lifestyle experiment every month in 2015. I will focus on specific areas of my life where I feel I've been struggling and try to shake things up a bit. Possibly things like sleep habits, fitness, nutrition, spirituality, social life, parenting, minimalism.....anything.

At the end of each month I will report on how the experiment went, decide if I want to continue on with whatever change I had made, and let you know what I will be doing the next month.

I have a couple weeks to decide on January's adventure. I don't have anything in mind yet for the first experiment so I better get cracking.

If you have any thoughts on what I could do for one of these experiments I'd love to hear them.