Weekly Challenge

If you usually have a “case of the Monday’s” this challenge is for you. If you just feel overwhelmed all the time this challenge is for you. If you feel like you are getting no where with your goals this challenge is for you.

Here are your 3 levels:

Easy: Stop using Sunday as another day to rush around getting all the stuff done. Use Sunday as a day to refresh your body and mind. Your body needs a break. For me, I do a yoga workout before church to relax my body and get it ready for the upcoming week. I TRY to avoid stressful situations and just spend time with the family.

Medium: Easy challenge + Take time each Sunday to look at your week ahead. What do you have going on? Who is taking the kids to each activity? Plan out your meals and do some meal prep. Think about what will stress you out this week and what can you do to minimize that stress. Remember you control your emotions and attitude. How can you show up as your best self this week?

Hard: This is for my goal getters out there. I want you to think about that goal and what you can do this month to get closer to that goal. What things do you need to do to meet the timeline you gave yourself? Now break it down into what you need to do each week to reach that goal. Final step is to put it on your calendar as an appointment or meeting. Something that is non-negotiable. You will be amazed at how much easier it is to make progress towards your goals with adding intentional action each week.

Our challenge this week is putting our thoughts on paper. You don’t need some fancy inspiration cover notebook or fancy app to do this. Any notebook or even word document will work. If you are like me, you have probably started this multiple times for a few days and just stop. I challenge you to go for the hard level as you will see trends in what you are writing (if you are being honest with yourself.). It will give you insight into who you are, who you want to become, or what keeps going around and around in your head.

Easy Level: Set a timer for 5 minutes and write everything that pops in your head. Don’t stop writing until the timer goes off. If you don’t know what to write, start writing about why you don’t know what to write down or why you think this is stupid. We all have an internal monologue going on constantly in our heads. This exercise is just writing down what it is.

Medium Level: Do the easy level exercise 3 days this week.

Hard Level: Do the easy level EVERY DAY for an entire month. This will start to create the habit plus you will have more to look back on to understand what’s going through your head.

It’s 5 minutes!! It’s only 2.5 hours out of your entire month that will give you a place to vent, dream, analyze, etc.

Try to find a consistent time of day. Maybe when you sit down with your morning coffee instead of scrolling social media? Or right before you go to bed where you can get all those thoughts out of your head so you can sleep better.

This week is an absolute MUST for me. Do you feel overwhelmed with everything and like you are going in a thousand different directions? Or are you in the procrastinator club? Do you have these small tasks that would take 5 minutes but you put off and take priceless mental energy thinking that you should do it?

Here are your 3 levels of challenge:
Easy: Do the small task that you have been putting off right now. When you see something that needs done that would take less than 5 minutes, do it instead of take more time thinking about than doing it.

Medium: Don’t break the chain. It gets A LOT easier when you don’t start and stop everyday. Each day do the small things to allow your mental energy to focus on the big things. TIP: track it with a calendar. This has been my key to success for not giving up. Give yourself a check mark or even a sticker. Find something that works for you. (See comment section to see my trackers I use.)

Hard: This is my go to each week & month and IT WORKS! You will feel like you are in control of your time instead of time controlling you.
Step 1: Brain Dump. Get out a piece of paper and write down all the tasks that are swirling around your head. Just the act of getting them down on paper takes a little load off you. Then prioritize the list giving things a A,B,C ranking. A- must be done this week. B- needs to be done this month, and C- nice to have/wish list/not urgent.
Step 2: Use a hourly planner or just write the days and time periods that make sense for you. Start with your must haves (or big rocks). These are your appointments, meetings, kids events. See all the gaps left? Now fill in the gaps with your A items(medium rocks). If you don’t have enough time for all your A’s, look at your list again and prioritize it. More than likely you will still have time or gaps left. Fill those in with the B’s (small rocks) and even maybe a C (sand).
(Think of your life like a jar: first you fill it with big rocks, then medium, then small. Finally fill it with sand to fill in all those small cracks.)
Step 3: Treat this plan like a commitment to yourself. Make sure to plan downtime so you don’t stress out. Give yourself a ton a grace. I guarantee that you will not follow it 100%, but I can also guarantee that you will achieve more than if you didn’t. This focuses your mind on what’s important and shows you that you can do get it done!

Would love to hear from you if you tried this & your success or even what you learned through failure. Remember failing forward isn’t failing. Learning from failure = success

“I’m not a morning person” people this one is for you. Even if you are already a morning person, keep reading because there are some good ideas that you could make your mornings even better.
This book has 3 levels of challenge to pick from. I’ll put more info in the comments section.

Easy Challenge: Wake up 15 minutes earlier than normal. How? Bribe yourself. Reward yourself with being able to hit the coffee shop before work or pick something that would motivate you. Tip: Make sure you have to get out of bed to turn off your alarm. Taking to first steps will get you moving.

Medium Challenge: Wake up 30 minutes earlier for a WEEK. This will give you a window of me time to do the thing(s) that you want to get done, but never seem to have the time. You can start the day knowing you did something for yourself today.

Hard Challenge: Wake up early for an entire MONTH. It can be the 30 minutes or more depending on how much you want to accomplish before the rest of the house gets up. The key to this is consistency and creating the habit.

Write down what you got accomplished during that extra time that would still be sitting in your to do list if you hit the snooze. You will be amazed at how quickly your body adjusts.

Remember your body still needs 7-8 hours of sleep which means you may need to adjust your bedtime. If you feel like you can’t fall asleep earlier, try turning off electronics earlier, stretching, reading a book, or listening to a sleep meditation.

Last challenge of the year. If you’re like me these last couple days of the year I reflect on how my year went. Did I achieve the goals I set, did I do the things I planned to do, was I intentional with my actions,…? If the year didn’t go the way you expected or maybe it did, you are EXACTLY where you are supposed to be in your life. Trust that you are meant for and capable of greatness. Trust that if you aren’t where you want to be right now, something wonderful is about to happen.
We attract what we put out there in the world. You GET to DECIDE how you show up in the world. You decide your actions and reactions to the world around you. You are in control of you.
Take time to think about the amazing things that happened this past year. Don’t dwell on the things that didn’t. Look forward to next year and decide what goals you want to work on & make a plan. Remember a goal without a plan is just a wish.

When I first read this chapter, I was like “I don’t do that..”. Then I read the chapter and wow…. You may think the same thing, but let me ask you: when you are stressed, upset, frustrated, angry, lonely, or sad, do you pour yourself a drink to feel better? Do you binge eat? Do you binge tv? Do you look for distractions with your spouse? Or even sleep, gossip, procrastinate? I know…that hit you hard too, right? Society has taught us that we should be happy. How many times have you told someone to not feel bad or don’t cry or even it could be worse? It’s because we are uncomfortable with those feelings.
Here is your challenge: for the next 3 days when you start feeling ”those” feelings and start to reach for the thing that ”will make us feel better” stop and think about what you are actually feeling and why is it making you uncomfortable. It’s okay to feel that way.

For some people this is the happiest time of the year. For others it may not be as happy with the memory of one’s that have passed or the millions things we need to do that stress us out.
This week’s challenge is letting it go. Giving that stress, anxiety, sorrow to God. God has some big shoulders we can cry on. It is amazing how much your spirit is lifted after taking at least some of that load you are carrying and handing it over to Him. Take a few minutes everyday just to have a conversation with Him. Tell him about all things swirling around your head.
God strengthens us to be our best selves

Who HATES exercise? We know our bodies are meant to move, but we don’t have time or exercise feels like punishment.
This week I challenge you to be intentional about moving your body. Park farther away from the store, have your own dance party while you are getting ready for the day, do something that is fun to do.
When you find movement you enjoy it doesn’t feel like punishment. You look forward to it because it brings you joy. For example, don’t start running when you hate running. I will guarantee you won’t stick with it. Challenge yourself to try a bunch of different things to see what sticks.
For me, I absolutely LOVE my beachbody workouts. Every morning I get up looking forward to hitting that play button in my home. I don’t have to drive somewhere or wonder if someone is staring as my fat jiggle. It’s just me and my personal trainer for that workout. I don’t have to think about what exercises to do because I just follow the calendar. To be honest: do I love every workout…no…but I know tomorrow’s workout will be different and I know that movement I am doing is making me stronger. Not just physically but mentally pushing me to do moves I never thought I would even try.

This week we are using the “f word!”
Failure is something that we all avoid because (insert a million reasons here….). I challenge you this week to turn that mindset around. I want you to FAIL FORWARD. Failing forward means taking those chances that make you have butterflies in your stomach and learning something from the experience.
As long as you are learning and growing there IS NO FAILURE! (Boom… drop).
Don’t be one of those people at the end of your life saying, “I wish I would have….” Get over that fear that is holding you back and go for it.

With the holiday season here, this week’s challenge is perfect timing. We are all striving for this perfect balance in life where everything is perfect and we aren’t stressed out. I can tell you that doesn’t exist BUT I can also tell you there is YOUR perfect life balance out there. Yes, you read that right. YOUR life balance.

Think about it… Why do you get stressed? Is it because you have overcommitted yourself or your kids? Do those things you committed to align with your values? Are they making you a better person or making you a stressed out mess? Are you doing them because that’s “what you are supposed to do” or because “the other moms are doing it?” Comparing yourself to others is the killer of joy.

This week (heck this whole holiday season) I want to challenge you to go back to where you wrote down your values. Think about your commitments and check yourself. It’s OK to say NO. It’s OK to say YES if it is truly something that aligns with your values and brings you joy.

Your kids won’t remember the perfect holiday decoration or event or even a messy house (as long as it doesn’t get out of hand ) They will remember how you act around them. They will remember you taking the time to be present and have conversations or playing with them. They will remember the tone of your voice. They will remember if you are positive and upbeat or complaining all the time. Those are the things that matter. Putting those things first you will find your perfect life balance.

Give yourself grace everyday and love the life you have.