It's really amazing how one small change can lead to so many big things. And how that one big thing can seem so daunting until it's broken down into several small changes.

At the end of last month, I laid out my goals for May. I swore that I would come back to that post every day and read it morning and night.

Well, I did. I made that one small change in my routine. And here's what happened:

1. I paid off one bill. It wasn't the bill I had initially set out to pay, but it was a surprise that I was ready for when it happened.
2. Because I was so focused on paying that one bill, I finally got our savings account equal to about 1 month's rent. Not a goal that I had listed, but something that a) bothered me before and b) was now on track to do... monthly? Really?
3. I did not get one client per week. I got one client for both Beachbody and Say It Simply. But they are long term clients and I am incredibly thankful to have them on board.
4. I meal prepped and food planned on Sunday. It was a great system that I will fully enforce next month as well.
5. Dedicate one hour per day to me... this did not go so well. If you look back, I had a bit of a break down mid-month. For a couple weeks I cleared my schedule of everything except for the absolute biggest money earning/able to live as a human obligations that I could. This included dance class, cooking during the week, cleaning up the apartment, anything that did not directly relate to me being alive. What I learned from this was: a re-discovered love of writing, and needing to get in shape mentally. I've been so focused for so long on the physical; my weight, my environment, and the food that I ate, that I had been completely neglecting my mental well being. I need both.

This brings me to June's Goals. Since the act of writing them down last month worked so well, I'm going to do it again.

1. Finish the short story I've been writing.
2. Pay One Bill.
3. Get one more Beachbody Client and Say It Simply client.

I will come back to this list and read it every day. I will cement these goals in my mind for another month. 
Do you want to try with me? List your three goals below... what do you want to achieve in 30 days?

 

This week I did an experiment on myself.

The issue was this: I had a routine. And this routine allowed me all the time to do what I needed to do for the day-to-day, with no time to do what I really wanted to do so I could live my fullest life.
(If you've been reading my blogs, you'll know I've started my own business, and I've been an active Beachbody coach. If you haven't, then hello! Thank you for reading so far!)

So, let's paint a picture. It's Monday morning. I'm fighting traffic in my car on my one hour commute to work. I have a 12 oz Wawa coffee and a breakfast sandwich which I will eat when I get to the office. If you were to glance in my car, and I'm sure someone did because traffic is boring, you would have seen me; red faced, tears pouring down my face, in my business causal finery, imagining that I'm talking to G-d or Universal Intelligence or some other consciousness (because the idea of yelling at no one in an empty car makes me fear for my own sanity), and screaming,

"I've done everything I'm supposed to do and I'm not getting ahead, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO ANYMORE."

As I sat in my car, in the silent aftermath of my outburst, the thought hit me: cancel everything.
I cancelled my dance class, I cancelled my yoga, I cancelled any ideas I had of cooking during the week. I cancelled any additional workout plans I had (which opened up an entirely different mental kettle of fish, but that's for another blog).
I cancelled everything except for my job. In essence, I took a vacation from my routine.
Now, suddenly, I had all this free time... to do my best work.
I know what that phrase means to me. It means writing that story that's been brewing in my head for weeks. It means writing that proposal for a biography for my father. It means working on client pieces for Say It Simply, and finding Beachbody clients. All things I actually enjoy doing that also have the potential to make money.
And after one day, I found myself in another, happier routine.
• • •
In every self help and wealth generation book I've read, the underlying message is to be true to yourself, learn your true purpose, and have no fear to go after it. As my cousin told me, "Get over the shame of creating your art and making that time for yourself."
• • •
What would happen if you cancelled everything you felt you "had to do" except for the one thing that is actually paying your bills. What would you do with your time? Comment below by filling in the blanks: "I'd cancel ______ to do _____ instead." Be honest (but not rude).

Today marks the fourth year since my grandmother passed away.
I look like her... a lot like her. So does my cousin. Between the two of us there was no doubt that she existed on this earth.

But there's more then just genetics.

My grandmother was the matriarch of our family. She outlived my grandfather by 25 years, continued working, and kept all sides of the family in touch. Her one brother had six children and I have more cousins then I can count... my grandmother knew and loved them all. My cousin knows them all better then I do; and if you are one of said cousins reading this, I'm sorry. The family tree branches get all twisted up in my head.
I digress... it's more then just genetics.

My grandmother was accepted into the University of Chicago at age 16. She taught chemistry there while working on her Master's degree... which she achieved by age 20.
After getting married, moving to New Jersey, and having a family, she went back to school, got another degree in computer science, and landed a job as a project manager at CSC. 
The software she wrote as a project manager is still used by United Stated Air Traffic Control System.
Literally every time a plane lifts off and lands safely it's because of something she wrote.
In her early 50s she was diagnosed with breast cancer... and BEAT it.
My grandmother has some big shoes to fill, and I tell myself that if I "grow up" to be even half the woman she was I'd be proud.

But she wouldn't.

She would want me to surpass her, do better then she did in all areas. She would want me, and the rest of the grandkids and cousins, to live the happiest and most fulfilling lives that we can make for ourselves; to never settle for what we think is, or are told is, expected of us at the time.

Every day, for the last four years, I've looked in the mirror and seen my grandmother. Maybe it's time I finally started acting like her too.