September 30-Day Challenge: Develop a Healthy Morning Routine

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I admit that my August 30-day challenge wasn’t exactly a success. My goal to post something on my blog every day was going well until I started travelling during my vacation. With sporadic computer and internet access, it was easier for me to give up rather than try to catch up with a slew of blog posts. I admit it; I was lazy.

I started September afresh and determined to successfully make it to the end of the month with my 30-day challenge. I even started practising for this month’s challenge a few days early, just to get into the groove of it.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am notorious for not being a morning person. I am usually cranky, groggy, silent and/or incoherent, no matter how much sleep I’ve gotten the night before. It’s best to just stay away and not talk to me when I’ve just woken up.

Most mornings start with the alarm going off at 7:00 AM, then hitting the snooze button as many times as I can get away with, until I finally get up in a panic. For the next 45 minutes, I’m racing to shower, dress, do my hair and makeup, and run to the transit stop to catch the streetcar to work. This doesn’t exactly make for a great way to start the day. I’m usually still half-asleep by the time I get to work, and the first few hours at the office are spent in a zombie-like state.

So my challenge for September is to develop a healthier morning routine, where I can transition from sleep to work in a more peaceful and productive way.

This includes:

• Walking up earlier (ideally an hour earlier)
• Doing morning stretches
• Drinking hot lemon water
• Taking a multivitamin
• Making coffee
• Eating breakfast (I never eat breakfast)

It’s now Day 8 of the challenge (plus a few practice days), and I’ve been able to stick to some kind of a routine. Not every day includes all of the elements above, but I’ve been very consistent with my morning stretches and eating breakfast (though sometimes it’s a late breakfast/brunch) – I only skipped one day, when I was too sick to get out of bed because of food poisoning.

The routing doesn’t feel natural and automatic just yet, so most mornings are still a struggle. I am able to get up earlier if I’ve had a good night’s rest – otherwise, I’m back to hitting the snooze button nonstop. I’ve remembered to drink the hot lemon water and take my multivitamin most mornings, but not all.

I’m trying to be self-forgiving and not set myself up for failure by being too harsh. Early mornings are really hard for me, but I feel like I’m making progress. I’m aiming for serenity, not disappointment. So far, so good.

I’d love your thoughts – is there anything else I should be integrating into my morning routine?

On Tough Love.

Source: LiveLifeHappy.com

Twice this past month, I’ve had to have difficult/courageous conversations with people I deeply care for. I’ve had to make painful choices and issue ultimatums, and somehow find the strength to stick to my decisions for my own health, happiness and sanity.

I don’t think I would have had that strength just a few years ago. It’s amazing for me to look back and see how much I’ve evolved in recent years. I’ve become much more assertive when I feel that I (or others who can’t or won’t stick up for themselves) aren’t being treated right, whereas in the past I would have mostly remained quiet and passive (or passive-agressive).

This evolution has surprised many people close to me, some of whom aren’t particularly thrilled at the new, more assertive, me. But I believe that if I can’t live honestly and with integrity around these individuals, then I probably don’t need or want them in my life.

It means making tough choices that sometimes hurt. A lot. But when I believe deep down that these choices areneeded to remove toxic situations from my life, I know I’m doing the right thing in the long run.

And if those individuals with whom I’ve had those courageous conversations still respect me, I know they’re exactly the type of people I really want to keep in my life.

RIP David Rakoff.

I was saddened to hear about David Rakoff’s passing yesterday after a battle with cancer. As a huge fan of This American Life, I always enjoyed listening to David’s smooth and soothing voice as he read his hilarious essays on the program podcasts. Last May, I has the pleasure of experiencing the TAL program that was broadcast live to movie theatres across North America, at which David was a special guest. This is a video of his performance on that evening (he is introduced by the ever-adorable Ira Glass):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldqjM7x6NhE

I remember thinking during the live broascast that David was much thinner than I expected (I imagined someone with a much heavier frame).

I was surprised to read today that Daivd was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto – I hadn’t realized (or I didn’t remember) that he was Canadian. That explains why he had such a wicked sense of humour…

Likes, Dislikes and Pinterest Boards

I’m really getting into the groove of this 30-day blogging challenge thing. I stopped worrying about it so much the moment I realized that my blog posts don’t need to be long, rambling pieces of writing – they can simply include photos, lists, videos, whatever… What a relief.

I’m already thinking about what next month’s challenge could be. And since I’ve been spending so much time on Pinterest this week (hurray for vacations!), I thought I’d put together a 30-Day Challenge Pinterest Board to keep the inspiration flowing.

Today, I thought I’d share a few of my likes and dislikes. Here goes…

LIKES

1. Lists 🙂
2. Literary tattoos (so much so that I recently got one myself)
3. Jane Austen (see #2)
4. Grilled cheese sandwiches
5. Coffee (especially double americanos)
6. Art and travel journals
7. Handwritten letters
8. Quirky, foreign films
9. Chocolate mint ice cream
10. Road trips

DISLIKES

1. Clowns
2. White socks
3. Selfish drivers
4. Bad manners
5. Reality TV (part of the reason I don’t even own a television)
6. Traffic jams
7. Crowds
8. Leggings worn as a replacement for pants (they’re NOT pants, people!)
9. Misspelled words/Bad grammar
10. Loud noise

Care to share your lists?

La Dolce Vita.

Playing with 2-week-old kittens

Visiting family

Taking long naps

Reading a great novel

Enjoying the beautiful weather

Watching Canadian athletes make us proud

Driving along gorgeous wheat fields

Savouring wild blueberries

The Week So Far

Reading… The Book of Negroes bu Lawrence Hill. It’s along the same vein as Roots, but written from a female African slave’s perspective – I’m only at page 50 or so, and completely engrossed with it.

Listening to… The Boxer by Mumform and Sons and Jerry Douglas. Entirely obsessed with this song:

Watching… Fun, quirky films that take are set in France: Chocolat, Amélie… They’re inspiring to watch while creating handmade books 🙂

Discovering… I have way too many interests, which makes spending any amount of time on Pinterest dangerous (yet inspiring). Loved discovering so many new-to-me Mexican/American female surrealist artists at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (in Québec City).

Learning… How to do not much of anything all day. And it feels absolutely wonderful.

Loving… The weather in New Brunswick this time of year (25C every day, no humidity…it’s absolutely perfect)! Also loved the road trip from Toronto to NB (minus the broken car air conditioner) and spending a night in Québec City earlier this week.

Hating… The thought of finding out how much repairing the air conditioning in my car is going to cost me tomorrow. 

Feeling… Exhausted, but grateful that I can spend the next two weeks relaxing, being spoiled by my parents, taking naps, reading, watching films, spending time with old friends.

Wishing… This vacation could last…permanently 🙂

And what have you been up to this week?

Québec, je t’aime.

A few photos taken this past weekend during my overnight stay in Québec City:

Rue St-Jean

Near rue St-Jean

Portes St-Jean (St. John’s Gates)

Sunday morning at the Brûlerie Saint-Roch

La Cavalière de Charles Daudelin (on the steps of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec)

Poster for the Adventures in Wonderland exhibit at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

This trip has convinced me that I definitely need to spend more time in this beautiful city!

Home.

I’ve been on the road for the past two days, travelling from Toronto to New Brunswick. I was really looking forward to this road trip – I love driving on the open highway, singing to music blaring on the stereo, even though I usually make the long trip by myself. I especially love having my satellite radio for these road trips – I can listen to 80s music, all the time, if I so choose. 🙂

Except that this road trip coincided with one of the hottest summers on record for Ontario, and within minutes of hitting the road…I discovered that the air conditioning in my car wasn’t working properly. A few minutes of cool air would be followed with loooooong stretches of hot air blowing into the car (and onto me). Bloody h*ell! This meant driving almost 9 hours in the heat with the front windows wise open, which of course completely tangled my easily-tangled hair. First world pains, I know…but still pretty annoying.

I had the good sense to pre-book a hotel room in Québec City last night – I haven’t stayed there overnight in many years, so this was a great treat. I arrived just in time for dinner, so I walked around Old Québec until I found something interesting. (Read: I picked one of the few restaurants that didn’t have a long lineup.) A nice dinner followed by an even nicer gelato and long walk, and I was ready for bed!

This morning I had a leisurely double americano at the Brûlerie Saint-Roch – a great little coffee house with lots of character – before heading to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Québec’s provincial art gallery). They have a fascinating exhibit on surrealist women artists in Mexico and the US, which included several paintings by Frida Khalo. I’m so glad I caught the exhibit before it ends in just a few weeks…

Then it was time to hit the road again for the last leg of the journey. Thankfully, it was cooler the further east I drove so the heat was much more bearable. Finally arrived at my parents’ home around dinner time, and I’ve been relaxing all evening. I think it’ll be another early night to bed.

I’m too tired to write any longer tonight (13.5 hours of driving in two days will do that to you), but I look forward to sharing some photos of Québec City in tomorrow’s post…

P.S. You may notice that I broke the 30-day challenge by not posting anything yesterday. True enough. But I did write a post yesterday using my smartphone’s WordPress app for the first time. Unfortunately I kept getting a network error every time I tried posting anything (including photos). Now that I have access to a computer, yesterday’s update doesn’t even appear in my drafts…grrr.

Thriller.

In a fantastic mood right now because I am officially ON VACATION for the next two weeks – woo hoo!

I thought I’d share a few thrilling performances to go perfectly with my mood.

This first clip goes to show that you can make the best of any situation, no matter where you are. These are prisoners at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Centre dancing to a choreographed version of MJ’s Thriller:

Those who know me well know about my slight obsession with anything created by or featuring Taika Waititi. This video is part of the closing credits of the 2010 coming-of-age film Boy – Taika (as MJ) and the other stars of the film mix Thriller Haka moves with the Maori-language song, Poi E. Flippin’ brilliant!

And finally – Buckingham Palace Guards having fun with what would otherwise be pretty mind-numbing work:

Now if only I could find a copy of my figure skating club’s 1984 end-of-year show…we performed a Thriller number (complete with dry ice and full makeup and costumes) and it was awesome!

Happy Friday – enjoy!

On progress and courage.

Lately I’ve been reflecting on how much has happened in my life and how much I’ve changed in the past few years. When I first moved to Toronto almost 7 years ago, I was keeping busy creating handmade books as gifts to friends and family. I certainly wasn’t taking bookbinding very seriously, although I really enjoyed it as a hobby.

The first year I was living in Toronto, I would drive by a local scrapbooking store on a regular basis. I don’t scrapbook, but I do have a paper fetish, and this store always had beautiful papers displayed in their front window. One day I stopped in to have a look and found many, many pretty papers for my collection. As I was paying for my purchase, the lady at the register (who turned out to be the owner of the store) asked my what kind of scrapbooking projects I was working on. I replied that I wasn’t a scrapbooker, but I was planning to use the papers for my handmade books. She offered me a job teaching bookbinding workshops in her store, right then and there! I was flabbergasted, to say the least… I had often thought that I would like to teach workshops, but I didn’t think that a) I was good/knowledgeable enough to teach, and b) anyone would be interested. I was wrong on both counts!

This then gave me the courage to approach another shop to see if they would be interested in selling some of my handmade books. Again, I wasn’t really expecting there to be much interest, but when I met with the owner to show her my products, she took everything I had – thus wiping out my entire stock! Since then I’ve had a great relationship with this owner, whom I consider to be a trusted advisor/mentor/friend.

Since then my confidence in abilities has increased and my courage has grown in leap and bounds – a significant thing for someone who is as shy and introverted and I am. And with that confidence and courage, I’ve started taking greater risks, which are paying off: I’m getting accepted into prestigious/coveted shows, getting my products into the hands of celebrities (and loving their reaction!), and most recently convinced the Toronto International Film Festival to start carrying my products – I’m thrilled to report that my books will be available in their shop starting later this month!

I’ve made so much progress as a person and artisan and business person. I’m building solid relationships and making great connections. And people seem to really like what I make, which makes me want to make more stuff!

So I encourage you to take a risk – it doesn’t have to be huge – that will bring you closer to one of your dreams. Make a phone call, send an email, apply for that big show – just do something.  You may be quite pleasantly surprised at the reaction you get.

Day 1 (almost)

Day 1 of the 30-day challenge and already I’ve missed my deadline… I had the bet intentions and was planning to write about something intelligent and sophisticated, and I figured I had the whole day to write the post…but then I got completely sidetracked. Drats. I only just got home and realized I missed my Day 1 post by just a few minutes. Ah well…

That hasn’t stopped me from brainstorming 30-day challenges for the upcoming months:

• Photo a day
• Sketch a day
• Handmade book a day
• Bring lunch to work each day
• Eat breakfast every day

I also thought it could be interesting to focus on a different aspect of my life each month (financial, spiritual, relationships, health & wellness, etc.). So many ideas, and yet the days are (already) too short!

The 30-Day Challenge

At my office we recently started something new during our bi-weekly staff meetings: Each staff member takes turns starting off the meeting with a short TED video on a topic of their choosing. It’s been great so far, and sets a fun and inspiring tone for the meetings. It was my turn to pick this week’s video, and after much internal debate I chose this one by Matt Cutts:

I love these types of challenges (i.e. personal-development opportunities that provide immediate feedback), and so I was inspired to try it myself. For the past several days I’ve been mulling it over and trying to decide what my first 30-day challenge could be.

I’ve finally figured it out: I’ll write a blog post every day for the next thirty days! My blog has been woefully neglected these past several months, and this is just the incentive I need to change this. So starting tomorrow, I will make every effort to share something here (big or small).

How about you – have you ever undertaken a similar challenge? What was it, and how successful was it?

Please share your experiences and any ideas for future challenges!