Mission

I would very much like to take this opportunity to share something very personal and dear to me. As I have mentioned before, establishing your intentions is an important factor in shaping your morals and your person. A few years ago I first read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (which I can't speak highly enough of) where he encourages everyone to write their own personal mission statement. Businesses have mission statements to verbalize their intentions as an organization and I thought it would be a great idea if I did the same. I STRONGLY recommend it, it feels so empowering to put into words what you stand for. I've changed it since the first draft, as my priorities have changed since then. My mission statement will never stop changing or improving just as I do personally.

It means so much for my goals of serenity, balance and wellness that this constant reminder of who I am is written and established, yet fluid and changeable. Not everything is written down. I have so many labels and responsibilities and goals that I didn't want it to read like a list. This is where your personalization comes in, write it how you feel it should sound. I wrote this for me:

"My first and foremost responsibility is to myself. To remember that I cannot be of service to anyone else unless I am whole. I will balance and fill my life, therefore years, days and seconds acting on situations and opportunities rather than being acted on. I will be content with who I am, not complacent with what life gives me. I will always continue to learn, reflect, and absorb. I will listen just as thoughtfully as I speak. I will learn from the mistakes of others without sacrificing my own experiences. I will lead with respect, grace, and integrity. I will cherish the values that were taught to me just as strongly as I cherish my family for instilling them in me. I will uphold my values when faced with trying times, accept that they may change, and never stop evolving. "

I hope that I have been able to inspire, motivate, or change some one's perspective through my experiences just as I am inspired, motivated and influenced by others. Everything I share here is through my own lessons and continuous struggles of which I embrace all of them although sometimes unwillingly at first. Thank you for inspiring me!

Only 24 hours

When people say you can't have it all it's because they aren't thinking strategically. Of course you can have it all! Just maybe not all at the same time. 

Everyone struggles with time management at some point and I continue to as well...often. Living in the moment is great and my wish for everyone is that they get to know the comfort of balance. If you have a busy work schedule, a family, educational goals and a list of many other aspirations and responsibilities you know that you can have it all and it is always worth it!

But wait, there's more! I even used alliteration to make it stick in your head! Prioritize, Plan, and Provide. It's not the 5 P's of marketing but who knows, maybe it'll catch on.

• Prioritize, you don’t have time you make time. As I have said before, I couldn't say that mindfulness is important to me if I didn't take a few minutes at least to meditate and re-center myself as often as I can. I don't want to sound like a broken record when I try to explain how liberating it is to establish your priorities and morals. I would highly recommend writing those down also. I have written my own mission statement as encouraged by Stephen Covey and being able to look back at my intentions and edit them as they change gives me a great sense of personal purpose. What was important to me 10 years ago is very different from today, and hen I have a family of my own, my priorities will change again.

• Plan, spontaneity is great! So plan for it. Make sure that the things you do off the cuff won't cost you more than your spontaneous plan is worth. Sure an unplanned road trip is great, but if you don’t plan to maintain your car regularly then you're not going to get very far. It's not about taking the fun out of things, it's about taking care of the details so you won't have to worry about it and can allow yourself to have fun. I will always promote living in the moment and being present in the here and now.

• Provide, make sure that you have the means to support all of your goals. Whether this is in a financial sense, surrounding yourself with the support system you need to achieve your goals (no one can do it all alone). Providing yourself with the skills you need, to do what you want to do. Do you want to play an instrument? You have to provide yourself with lessons, time to practice, and sometimes the financial cost included in all this. Importantly, provide yourself with forgiveness and patience when you don't fit it all into one day. I didn't practice yoga today, and my reward for finishing my homework is a big bowl of ice cream. I've had a productive day and I smiled through most of it, my ultimate goal is to be happy and healthy. Remember that balance is key! 

My favorite life strategy guide!

Click above for a great perspective changer.

Inner Voice

We all talk to ourselves.

You can't say that you don't. I don't mean out loud, this isn't about the guy in line at the grocery store discussing the weather with himself that you try desperately not to make eye contact with. This is about your inner dialogue. There is a tone that is set in the way you address yourself on a daily basis, for regular everyday moments. Do you berate yourself for being late or stop yourself from speaking up? Did you even realize you were doing it? It may seem as if it is an insignificant issue . Sometimes changing the most minuscule things can make the biggest impacts. Your self confidence and awareness is absolutely dependent upon your inner voice.

You don't have to take it.

There is no way I would now, at this point in my life, let anyone continually speak to me in a verbally abusive way. Yet previously I found my own inner voice to be harsh and degrading. I knew that this wasn't a good way to go through my day. What I didn't realize until recently is just how mean to myself I had become. That is also why active reflection is always so important to me. I had to take a proactive look at how my inner voice was affecting me. Since I began meditating, I've been able to change the tone of my inner voice and the script of that conversation. When you are able spend 15 or 20 minutes focusing on your breath and centering yourself, you are able to take advantage of those minutes to form your intentions and thoughts in the best possible shape. Meditate for 15 minutes in the morning to solidify your purpose. Who do you want to be today?

Just be nicer to yourself.

It shouldn't have anything to do with what is going on in your life, whether you're in a good or bad place. You will never benefit from degrading yourself internally. I won't encourage you to constantly praise yourself or dismiss your conscience  when you know you've done wrong. Positivity isn't about that. It's about remembering to treat yourself with respect on the most private and basic level. You've heard before that you teach people how to treat you, well, this is where it starts.

(Photo credit to www.StatusMind.com)

Inspiration

Happy Monday! I've been lucky enough to be able to get some relaxing in this past weekend on top of the usual homework and work at home that never ends. I was also happy to see a bit of sunshine and really hold out hope that spring weather is here. I think that like many people, when the warmer weather finally arrives, I start to get more energy and feel more optimistic than I have in the last few freezing and torturous months. It seems that while my mood changes as fast as Michigan's weather, my responsibilities do not follow suit.

So how can I possibly keep the momentum and energy that the first signs of spring provide me with? To absolutely sound redundant, creating a routine and always keeping in mind you are your actions, are so important to me. Making sure that I do not rely on motivation alone to accomplish my goals helps me to succeed. I've seen a lot of "challenges" on Pinterest to get people "ready for summer" and more so "ready for bikini season". Where it is great to utilize these plans to keep you on track, it is also important to keep the ultimate goal in mind. For me, that goal is to develop life long habits of wellness. What are your goals?

I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorite tools, motivation, and inspirational people that have helped me in this pursuit.

• I will say first and foremost Steven Covey's  "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" has given me the foundation that I have to even be aware of how to achieve my goals. I would seriously recommend it and if you have read it tell me what was the most poignant habit for you. Personally, I will never forget to begin with the end in mind.

• With my incredibly busy schedule I've found that trying to get to a yoga class after work is absolutely impossible. It's ok, but it means I've had to take a different approach. I found this site that has free yoga instruction that I can do at home when I do have time and energy. Oh and did I mention they are FREE? If you like the instruction I would suggest making a donation as 100% of the proceeds from some classes go to a great cause, the Give Back Yoga Foundation!

• Last but not least I have been following Yoga By Candace ever since I discovered her on Pinterest some time ago. I find her to be incredibly knowledgeable and inspirational. Her videos are also fantastic. I use her 15 minute morning yoga to wake up and it drastically changes the direction of my day.

I really hope that some of these tools can help someone as much as they've helped me. There are so many other inspirational people and ideas that I've become a spokesperson for that I don't think I have enough room for them all but I am always happy to gain more! So tell me what tools have you found that inspire you?