Choose life. Life is wonderful.

Wednesday 9 January 2019

SUCCESS

 Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.

 Booker T. Washington

My word for this year is 'success'. I read somewhere that rather than make New Year resolutions it is good to give yourself a word for the year. So my word is 'success' - I'm not sure in exactly what yet. There are a few things I want to achieve this year.

I would like to get my house under control. I am the only one who lives here, but I collect far too many craft materials and don't have enough time to use them or enough storage to keep hidden away. As a result I tend to move stuff from room to room in an attempt to tidy up. I am not quite sure how I am going to do this, but plan to start on my back room.

My back room
I think I need to make small changes and be consistent with them.

I am keen for Peter and I to find a hobby we can do at home and keep us busy together. We do far to much sitting around, working on the computer and watching TV. We are not bored but I feel that healthwise we need to be more active. I think I might start with some water colour painting and see if I can persuade Peter to do some too.


I would like to increase my fitness. I have customised exercises I should be doing for my knees and my back and I intend to get back to doing them on a more regular basis, as well as get back to walking each day. We seemed to stop doing a lot of good things over Christmas and the New Year. We also ate too much and I went right off my Plant Paradox diet. 


I plan to start a more professional blog. I haven't quite figured out the niche yet - probably Plant Paradox recipes and I need to sort out a few financial aspects so I can afford to set it up.

I plan to start writing a children's book. I have had a few ideas for this for a few years.
 
I don't think these are really resolutions - they are more just general statements of what I would like to do. But now I have written them down and shared them I have made myself accountable.

Tim Herrera suggests the S.M.A.R.T method for setting goals and this may be useful for daily or weekly goals.

Specific: Set concrete, clearly defined goals with specific points of success.
Measurable: Whatever the goal is, find ways to measure progress.
Achievable: Aim high, but within reason. Your goal should be a stretch, but something you could actually achieve.
Relevant: Find a goal that matters enough to you that you’ll be motivated to stick with it.
Time-bound: Set a reasonable timeline for your goal, and focus on the small wins along the way.

I think I need to break my goals down into more measurable bites. This links back to our quote at the beginning - attend to the small things. 

I intend to give the 3x3 method proposed by Michael Hyatt in his podcast Lead to Win. a try. This is where you set up 3 goals for the year; 3 goals for the quarter; 3 goals for the week and 3 goals for the day. He has a great looking journal that goes with the method but with the exchange rate with the US dollar it becomes very expensive.

Why do we make resolutions with the New Year? There is no real reason for it.  It's a completely arbitrary time, but it seems a time we reflect on the past year and think about how we can change things as we embark on the New Year.


Here's a baby pig

My daughter posted this little pig below on Facebook and I thought I would share it with you.




Kimchi

Photo source
 I decided to try making some Kimchi. I haven't really used it before. I was interested because it is fermented and according to the  diet program I am following, good for gut bacteria.I found the recipe here  for ginger, carrot, daikon Kimchi (Vegan.) 

The recipe made 2 jars. 


 

So far I have used it in a stir fry and it was quite tasty, and on an open sandwich with tuna.

Poetry

I love poetry and come across many poems in my reading. this is one i would like to share. It is beautiful and somehow haunting.


To The New Year

 W.S.Merwin

With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
  untouched and still possible



Interesting sites



1. Great rooms of 2018

Photo source
These are the most liked rooms for 2018 on Apartment Therapy. Click here to see them.




2. Mermaid paintings

Photo source
 



Click here to see the mermaid paintings of Ralph Cahoon.





3. The comfort trap.

Photo source





Why the pursuit of an easier life creates a harder one and what to do instead. Click here to read more.

4 comments:

  1. The need for systems to organise ourselves (ie you and me) must be in our DNA ..lol.. I love the pig, love the mermaids more! xoxox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have lots of little systems. I just need to link them sll together. Still aiming to get everything organised with the program you gave me ages ago. One day I will get there!

      Delete
  2. Organization..I think I am there.But doing things for me! I want to get there! Always love your Blog Lindy
    love from Canada
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete

I love comments so please feel free to comment.