By: Jessica Nicholson
Hi and welcome to my very first post on my new blog Synonyms
For Life.
I decided to start this blog to keep track of my lifestyle
changes but to also keep myself accountable to my own changes, and to post things
that inspire, challenge, and interest me but that also titillate and enthrall
me.
I will probably include fashion, music, lifestyle, kids
stuff, fitness, recipes, inspirational quotes, ted talks I love, love stories
and things that challenge me and make me happy etc. this is about life and
loving all it has to offer.
"I just want to live while I'm alive"
We all know sticking with healthy choices can be challenging
at best.
Like most people I have made many choices and changes over
the years some positive and some negative but ultimately all ended up for the
best. For most of my life I have tried to make decisions that have bettered my
life and myself with a few slips along the way and some events that were out of
my control that challenged me to grow in ways I didn’t expect.
Almost a year ago after a long and extremely frustrating and
sometimes heartbreaking journey (I may detail this more later on for release
sake) I got my dream job, the job I have now has everything on my dream job
list, I work in a creative job, I get to work from home so I can be there for
my daughter, it challenges me daily, it’s never boring, I work with a great
team and have a supportive boss who always gives great positive feedback even
when its about things I need to improve on, I am also really, really good at
it. People who thought they knew who I was before I landed this job are often
shocked when I tell them what I do now, they wonder how I landed such a great
job, I however, though I had times of depression, lost momentum and self doubt
leading up to the fated job, knew I was always fully capable of something like
this.
The only downfall of this job is that it is quite time
consuming more so than a regular job, on average I work 75 hours a week, as you
can imagine this doesn’t leave much time for anything else. I know that’s an
astronomical amount of hours to work every week which often includes my
weekends, but it’s a brand new career and I have to put my dues in, which I now
feel I have! It’s time to relax a touch and balance out the rest of my life.
I have concocted a to do list of sorts for my life in the
coming weeks months and years, I’m sure my views, needs and time allocations
will change as time goes on but here is my first draft of my new plan of
action, or inaction as the case may be.
1.
Wake up in the morning early before my daughter
and work out for ½ an hour stretching yoga or some other form of body
awakening.
2.
Spend some real time with my daughter in the
morning before she goes to school making breakfast and her lunch, practice
writing, reading or creativity with her.
3.
Walk my daughter to school and really play with
her, be fully present and engaged in her and not get frustrated that she’s too
slow and we’re late.
4.
Come home do another fitness routine with
weights and cardio for another ½ hour at least every other day. Don’t worry
about how I look, instead worry about how I feel
5.
Put all of my focus into work (I work from home)
for the next few hours really making the most of my time and focusing on productivity
using the 90/20 rule, work 90 mins take 20 min break work smarter not harder
and longer.
This post and video explains it
all
6.
Take breaks sit outside do something mindless
and fun during my 20 mins (only do Facebook or other social media during this
time)
7.
Eat a protein and veg rich lunch (this is
important because I often skip my lunch)
8.
Work until I have to pick my daughter up from
school, leave the house at 2:45pm at the latest to pick her up.
9.
Play with my daughter go to the park spend time
with her, be engaged, come home and make dinner with her
10. Make
dinner, make more healthful choices, and don’t take the easy way out all the
time, more vegetables and fresh food, less junk.
11. Watch
less TV, play board games or do puzzles or play outside or be creative instead.
12. Don’t
get upset if I fall back on old habits, instead love myself and get back on the
horse.
13. Eat
dinner as a family while talking, being engaged and interested and listen to my
family.
14. Play
some more with my daughter then put her in the bath and then to bed.
15. Work
for a bit after she’s gone to bed to make up the time I spent with my daughter
and family.
16. Spend
more time with friends
17. Spend
more time reading, I love to read
18. Be
fully engaged in my life
19. Be
less hard lined about things try to be softer and more understanding of others
views (this is a hard one for me)
20. Do
more things I love so that I can be full up when I need to give of myself to
others, including my family. Love myself to love others better.
21. Listen
more, be more focused and aware, have more empathy especially for those I don’t
understand.
I know this is a big list and I won’t pretend to master
these all right away, I will slip up, I will fall off the horse but. I give
myself permission to “fail” and then get back up and try again. After all what
is life if you don’t at least try?
Lots of love
xo
