Create an Amazing Day in 5 Steps

I woke up this morning a bit before my alarm. That's no surprise, I usually do. I actually had about 20 minutes before I had to get out of bed, and as I was laying there, I could feel how tense my my shoulders were. I started thinking about the Sun A flow from Yoga, but the without really thinking further I reached for my phone to open up social media, like I usually do. (This is a serious addition I'm not particularly fond of, but that's a blog for another day.)

Instead, I put my phone back down, got out of bed and decided I would do some yoga for fifteen minutes, rather than start my day on facebook.

I go into my living room and turn on a soft light and start the poses - mountain, stretching up high, letting my shoulders melt down my back, gentle backbend, back to mountain, forward fold...and slowly flowed through each movement. My hair got in the way, so I got a hair tie, came back, and worked on stretching through the sequence a few more times. I had 15 minutes, I could really get some good stretches in!

Instead, I worked on my yoga for like 4 passes through the sequence. In total, probably only 4 minutes had passed, and then I quit, laid on my couch and opened facebook. (Do you see? Addicted.)

But in this case, it's good because I found myself on a blog that had a podcast that I then listened to and it shared five things you can do to start your day off in such a great way that it will keep on being awesome the whole rest of the day. I got in the shower and turned up the volume, and here's what I learned. (Also: these are not my ideas, just passing them on from Tim Ferriss.) (Also: these are not rocket science, either, well maybe #3 is, but that's all.)

1. Make your bed.
Yeah, do that. It will be the first thing you accomplish that day and will set you up to start and finish a bunch more things. Tim mentioned a monk or something who was sharing about this, but also the military. They always start their day by making their beds. You don't even have to make your sheets all crisp and perfectly folded, either. Just get the sheet and blanket on good enough (especially if your bed is like mine, surrouneded by walls on three sides). And let me tell you, if you are someone who doesn't usually do this, you will be so happy when it's time to go to bed later that night!

2. Meditate.
I don't know as much about meditation as I do about bed-making, but what I do know is enough to say it's good for you. Meditation forces you to slow down. Do you know how fast our society goes? And how much we have to do in a single day? How much information we take in and process and then share back out? And even more crazy are our thoughts, the constant, incessant chatter on and on and on.....

Meditation creates a space for you to slow down and not have to problem solve or worry or analyze or stress. You slow down, take note of how your body is feeling at the moment, relax, and prepare for a great day ahead.

I have done most of my meditation in Hot Power Fusion at the yoga studio but have done some at home, too. There are a bunch of great apps you can get, too. Some free. My favorite is Headspace. Check it out and stick to a routine. Make meditation the second thing you accomplish every morning.

3. Hang upside down.
This one was new. I don't have a space to do this, but from what I remember, he was saying it's important to strech out your spine. I don't remember the details at all, so check out the podcast (#105), but I image some bendy or stretchy yoga could also do the trick.

4. Drink some tea.
He had some crazy concoction of a loose leaf teas and herbs he used for varying reasons, but I equate this to drinking warm lemon water. Detox yourself. Most of us drink a cup (or 8) of coffee every day, but starting with lemon water or some other kind of detoxifying tea would probably be better. Coffee is super acidic, and from what I've learned about pH balance, it's not good for us (especially if you put a sugared creamer in it like I do). Alternative: hot tea to detox and get your organs inside functioning properly before you get your day going.

5. Write Daily Pages.
I've said it before that writing is so helpful for my state of mind. The writing Tim suggests was writing in a private notebook for two purposes. First, to express gratitude for all that is amazing and happy in yoru life. We all know that it's the grateful people that are happy. His second reason is to write through all your anxieties. Put them down on the paper, let them be heard, and then you're ready to start your day. After all, you know you're going to encounter some jackass in your day (random or someone you always encounter) so instead of building up all that anxiety in your mind and carrying it with you, put it down on paper and let it go.

So there you have it friends. Make your bed, meditate, invert yourself, drink some detoxifying tea, and do some writing. He said even if you can knock out three of these you're off to an amazing start.

Tomorrow I'm going to make my bed and do the writing.

What will you try?

Or, what are you already doing?
Leave a comment below and keep the conversation going!

See the Light

It's winter in Chicago, which means the sun doesn't show itself much these days. Yesterday it rained, all day. Seriously, from dawn till dusk. Throughout the day I found myself stopping to listen. "Yep, still raining," I thought, wishing the sun would pop out, dry everything out, and spread some happiness.

I was trying to write yesterday, but more gloom. Nothing was coming to me. But then this morning just before my 4:45 alarm, I realized that the sun has been shining, I just needed to change my perspective.

You get on Voxer for the first time and the first message back is, "So glad to see you here, Michelle."
Sunshine.

Your friend takes you to yoga on her buddy pass.
Heat.
(Like, literally.)

The guy your best friend is dating finally calls her to schedule another date after what seems like forever. (More like 36 hours.) :-)
Warmth.

You wake up to an idea for a blog post and strike while the iron is hot.
Incandescence.

You see some work one of your students is doing, that is extra beyond her classes, and it's really good.
Radiance.

You sleep in for three days in a row.
Brilliance.

A friend who you haven't seen in ages texts and wants to meet up after school to catch up. So you set the date for Wednesday.
Illuminating.

I can't hear much in the way of rain anymore, but it's still winter and I doubt the sun will come out again anytime soon. But, with a little change in perspective (and a trip to the tanning salon), I bet we can all see some light in the coming days.

Where are you finding sunshine on these gloomy days?

Speaking Truth to Power

I did not watch the Golden Globes. But, like many of you I'm sure, I saw Meryl Streep's speech yesterday morning upon waking up.

Look, I get why so many people voted for Trump.

They didn't want to vote for someone in the establishment.
They thought, "He does all kinds of business, he could be good for our country."
They didn't want to vote for Hillary.

I understand.

This post isn't about saying things like, "Are you happy now?" or "Look what you did."

This post is to appreciate someone who used her position to speak truth to power.

Can you image if everyone who held power - and by power, I mean people who have a camera on them, people who have a stage to share their ideas to the general public - but can you image if everyone who was in this kind of position called people of power to account for their poor choices?

Remember The Golden Rule? What ever happened to it? How come our president elect, many times, speaks as if he has forgotten about it?

This is my big problem. Lack of respect for our differences. This country is built on the premise that we are all different, that we came from different places, that we value and appreciate different things, but that together, we are so much better. So when the person who is about to take the most honored office in our great country models disrespectful behavior, it is a problem for me.

Can you imagine if teachers made choices as our president-elect has? Can you imagine the kind of students we would be raising? I think my career is a large part of the reason I just could not get behind Trump, and it boils down to something Meryl said...

Please believe me that my students are watching and listening. Many of them are afraid. I guess I'm lucky in that I was randomly born into white privilege, but friends, let's always remember the Golden Rule. Let's watch out for our neighbors be there to listen.

And to those in power, please, use your position to speak up. I hope the press does in fact hear what she was saying. Imagine if every person who had the kind of platform Meryl has could do the same thing. What might 2017 look like then?

Big Magic

It's 4:52 and I sit here, writing.

Over break, I read most of a book by Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. It's about creativity. It's about having a vocation towards your craft, and getting yourself to do it alongside your day job - like actually sit down and do the work.

Waking up at 4:45. Staying up until 11:35. Fitting it into 20 minutes over your lunch break each day. Consistency.

Which got me to wondering if I could wake myself up a little bit earlier every day and commit to writing, even if just for a week. After all, I did set a goal of writing 100 blog posts in 2017, so may as well get to that sooner rather than later. And, no better way to up my accountability than to share it with all of you here to keep me to it.

For a good part of the school year I haven't been sitting down to write, like at all this year. I think about writing all the time, but just don't do it. This year has me stressing myself out, and so I don't write, but the ironic thing is that I *always feel better after writing. It's like sitting down to do the work actually helps me understand things better and gives me a sense of peace. So why don't I just get to it? Maybe in the evenings I'm too distracted. But at 5:08 in the morning, none of my friends are calling or texting, The Bachelor isn't on, and I'm not hungry just yet, so not thinking about food even. Now that I'm in the chair and doing this, I can see that I'm way more focused.

So here I sit, listening
to the wind chime in my neighbors yard
to the light traffic flowing on the highway a block away
to the keys clacking as I put thought to paper.

And I wonder if I can create any kind of big magic here, before work each day.

OLW & 2017 Vision

Hey Friends!
So the NYE hangover has worn off, my tree is put away and the apartment is cleaned, and so now I'm ready to share some vision I have for 2017. It's going to be a great year!

First, my One Little Word - I love using a word as an intention to drive everything I do for the year. This year...

I love this word. I think it was Brené Brown in Daring Greatly that said that so many people look at life with a scarcity mindset - there's not enough money, there's not enough great men to meet, there's not enough time in the day. Really, there is so many amazing things in this instant of a life we are given. So my goal this year is to look at all the great stuff rather than dwelling on the things I don't have. Let me break it down for you.


Abundance of Mindfulness
It's got to start here. We've got to realize that our thoughts that run on autopilot all day - they shape the way we view the world. So, they can be positive and see all that is available or negative and ruin our days. I'm training myself this year to see the positive in everything, even when I'm stressed, even when I'm pissed off, even when things aren't going my way. Buddha said, "Rule your mind or it will rule you." So much truth there.

Abundance in finances
After last year's car accident, one of my biggest goals is to create financial freedom this year. I've been on Pinterest looking up financial freedom and find pins that say things like, "Money is just energy. It flows to me and from me. This year money will abundantly flow in my direction."

Now, I'm not expecting to do nothing and have tons of money flow in my direction, quite the opposite actually. I'm putting money into savings first, then spending no more than what I have left. Picking up a few extras at school and also getting to work with Arbonne. I'm creating financial abundance this year.

Abundance in my Dating Life
As a single girl in her mid-30's (okay, slightly beyond that) it's easy to use a scarcity mindset about dating, but I choose to be thinking abundantly here, too. Lots of great guys out there. In fact, I was just at Anita's house, looking out of her 42nd floor windows at all the other windows on the high-rises, saying to a giggling friend, "Anita, look at all those condos. You know, there's tons of single guys in those windows!" So true. Cheers to an abundant dating life in 2017.

Abundance in Reading and Writing
50 books and 100 blog posts. I can do it. I love writing so much, it really helps me to understand my world better. And reading, reading teaches me tons of things I would otherwise not know. I'm unplugging from my TV and Social Media more this year so I can achieve these goals.

Abundantly Focused
How many times do you hear yourself say, "I'm really good at multi-tasking!" and there you sit, doing 14 things but not having a lot of connection with any of them? Yeah, me too. So, this year, I want to pick just a few and do one thing at a time. Do one task till it's finished, and even though it's so easy to get sidetracked and begin something new, all I want to do is finish one thing at a time. No more half-assing things. I want to whole-ass them and check them off my list.

Arbonne Abundance
Each year there is an incentive trip with Arbonne - this year it's to the Rivera Maya. If you hit the goals, you win the trip, and hit higher goals, they let you bring someone. I'm working towards that. The numbers you have to achieve in volume sound crazy, but with all the reading I've done I know that business in an MLM does not grow the same way traditional business grows. I keep my mindset and focus and I can reach this trip! Will be amazing to be on it with other positive people just like me!

Abundance in Health and Wellness
Time to start taking care of my health and wellness, too. Continuing to eat pretty clean and adding in the exercise. Beginning 2017 with no drinks in January, and getting back to the treadmill a few times a week. I feel so much better in all areas when I'm getting exercise and that will really help me achieve how I'm hoping to feel (and look!) this summer. Clean eating 80% of the time, throw in some exercise and some meditation and I'm good to go.

2017
Have you seen my vision board? A daily reminder of everything I want to accomplish this year!

What are your goals? Get some pictures, post them up, set your intentions, share it with the world. Let's make it an amazing 2017!

Cheers!