I was in a total life rut – on paper things looked great but every morning I just woke up in a funk. One morning I decided to snap out of it and go for 30 days of positivity (instead of all the other “fixes” I had tried – lose weight, workout more, better job, etc). It is the best thing that I have done for myself in years.
30 Days of Positivity Tool Box:
1. A good morning play list. I decided to start my days with my favorite inspirational and fun music. My playlist included Enya’s “Pilgrim,” Lee Ann Womack’s “I hope you Dance,” Maroon 5′s “Moves Like Jagger,” Alan Jackson’s “That would be Alright,” and Pink’s “Perfect.” This playlist is pretty embarrassing – but, it gets the job done and leaves me smiling.
2. Evaluate my own progress the same way I evaluate Bogey’s progress. Bogey is my 8 month old hound/terrier mix. She is sweet and smart. BUT we also have those days where she is determined to take every single pair of underwear out of the laundry basket and leave them all over the house. When she does this, I think of how far we have come in the last month or two. And, if I’m really stretching, how far we have come in the last six months. Does she still pee in the house? No. Does she still chew on my shoes? No. See? Progress. So, when I mess up, I ask myself, “Do I still chew on shoes?” No. And, I also remind myself of how many amazing things have happened in the past few years AND just because things may not be moving as quickly as I like (as in right now), I will eventually meet the goals I have set, it just takes time.
3. Happy quotations, jokes, and pictures. I love quotations – so, every day for 30 days I found a great inspirational quotation or a funny joke for the day. It kept me focused on the happy things. On top of this, I took the time to dig up old pictures, print up new pictures, and put them up in my office and house. Every time I look next to my computer I see my high school best friends, my “sisters,” and my family – I think of the latest adventure with the crew and look forward to Thanksgiving and the holidays.
4. I gave Ryan the freedom to charge me a dollar. I gave my boyfriend Ryan the freedom to charge me a dollar if I was ever negative. This forced me to be mindful about the words coming out of my mouth. I also told my close friends what I was doing so I would have some added accountability.
5. Lower expectations. That sounds weird. However, I was expecting myself to exercise 2 hours a day, work 10 hours a day, clean the house, walk the dog, train the dog, do the laundry, wash the car, start a new venture and eat perfectly … EVERY DAY. When I didn’t succeed at making the day 30 hours long, I felt like I had failed. I really embraced doing a little thing each day that would help make me successful. If I had an apple instead of a candy bar I was like “Lauren you ROCK!” In the past my inner voice would have said something about my willpower being pathetic or something … Such an awesome change.
30 Days of Positivity Results:
1. The checks we had been waiting on for months all came on the same day, right after I committed myself to nothing but positive thoughts for the month.
2. We won a contest to play with my all-time favorite golfer, Graeme McDowell.
3. All the wildflowers bloomed! And then fall started to come so I could wear my favorite hoodies.
4. I was given greater responsibility in my largest web analytics consulting client, positioning myself to do even more of this work in the future.
5. I tackled my huge to do list and felt like a rock star doing it (motivated by joy rather than guilt).
6. I’ve rubbed off on the people around me – people in my life have pulled me aside and thanked me for making them see how much is GOOD in their life, rather than just focusing on what needs to be fixed. This has been the most rewarding part.
7. My favorite thought for this challenge was: Be so happy that other people get happy just by looking at you.
Instead of searching for all the causes of happiness/unhappiness, the decision to just be happy for a few days made the rest of the time a breeze! Life is better when I’m happy. I feel better about myself when I’m happy. When I put good energy out into the world, good energy comes back to me AND vice versa. I understand things won’t always go as planned and bad things will happen. But, if we give ourselves a positive outlook, we are empowered to make our lives and the lives around us better AND we will be better prepared for the bad stuff too. I hope if you’re reading this, you take a chance on 30 days of positivity!
Good Luck!
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-power-of-30-days-of-positivity.html#ixzz29Yz6TOBJ
1. The checks we had been waiting on for months all came on the same day, right after I committed myself to nothing but positive thoughts for the month.
2. We won a contest to play with my all-time favorite golfer, Graeme McDowell.
3. All the wildflowers bloomed! And then fall started to come so I could wear my favorite hoodies.
4. I was given greater responsibility in my largest web analytics consulting client, positioning myself to do even more of this work in the future.
5. I tackled my huge to do list and felt like a rock star doing it (motivated by joy rather than guilt).
6. I’ve rubbed off on the people around me – people in my life have pulled me aside and thanked me for making them see how much is GOOD in their life, rather than just focusing on what needs to be fixed. This has been the most rewarding part.
7. My favorite thought for this challenge was: Be so happy that other people get happy just by looking at you.
Instead of searching for all the causes of happiness/unhappiness, the decision to just be happy for a few days made the rest of the time a breeze! Life is better when I’m happy. I feel better about myself when I’m happy. When I put good energy out into the world, good energy comes back to me AND vice versa. I understand things won’t always go as planned and bad things will happen. But, if we give ourselves a positive outlook, we are empowered to make our lives and the lives around us better AND we will be better prepared for the bad stuff too. I hope if you’re reading this, you take a chance on 30 days of positivity!
Good Luck!
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-power-of-30-days-of-positivity.html#ixzz29Yz6TOBJ
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