Next Step #5 - keep walking

I have a new goal for the next 21 days, and I'm not fooling. Next steps goal #5 for 2010 is to walk 10,000 steps every day. Right now I am no where near that amount so it's going to take me some time to work this into my every day life but I know it will be worth it. I know some of you have already been doing this or some variation so I want to hear from you (I'm looking at you Michelle McC.) about how you're doing and what keeps you motivated.  Because well, my last goal didn't go so well.

Next step #4. The plan was to go to bed before 11:00 every night. Did I do that? Some times. Mostly not. The problem was that having it as a goal didn't really change my behavior this time. If I was going to bed anyway I felt good about it, if I wasn't getting there in time I didn't really think too hard about the fact that I was missing it.  There was a reason I was up late and that was just the way it was.  Maybe we'll revisit this one again later in the year. We'll see.

So, what are you working on these days? Let us know in the comments or point us to your blog in the comments. Curious minds want to know what you're up to.

Next Step #4 - Go To Bed On Time!

Let's see.  Since the beginning of the year I've started #1 drinking four water bottles every day, #2 drinking a protein shake at breakfast time every day, and #3 took a three week break from face book. The water habit is going great. The protein shake happens every day, usually at breakfast, sometimes at lunch.

The Facebook break has been great.  Here is what I learned while I've been on break:

• I still don't intend to play Farmville or Bejeweled.
• There are some people I keep up with only through Facebook and I've missed them.
• It's not Facebook that's the problem, it's the way I was using it.
• I need to set limits and live by them.

Full Disclosure: I did visit the Facebook site twice, once to communicate with a friend whose family lives in Hawaii when the world was waiting for a tsunami to hit there; and again when a friend sent me a link to her photo set of a project we had worked on together.  In both cases I visited that direct item or that person's wall and did not go to my wall or check my friend's updates.

Like I said, I never intended to leave Facebook for good.  So, as of today, I get to check my Facebook account! Yeah! The take away from this step will be to work within time limits and maybe even days of the week limits for social media.

Now - as for Next Step #4.  This one is going to be a tough-y especially since it's going to take teamwork from my family.  My goal is going to be to go to bed every night between 10:30 and 11:00. Now, as long as we can get all the kiddoes in bed when they are supposed to be and they all stay there and don't get up to ask us existential questions about why we're all here and how we got here and where we're all going (in the big picture) then this should be possible.

I have been really enjoying working on these mini goals. Is anyone playing along at home? Please let me know by leaving a comment if you want to start some new habits with me. We can support each other as we work towards being more healthy and more disciplined in 2010. Feel free to choose whatever goal works best for you personally and share what you choose.

(The links to all four "next step" posts are in the left side bar.)

Next Step #3 - No Facebook

Eat 5 fruits & vegetables every day.
Walk at least 10,000 steps every day.

Stay off of Facebook for the next 21 days.  Yep, that's it.  That's the one I need right now.  Those first two are really good goals and I am saving them for future steps.  Especially the one about walking.  I'm waiting until there is far less snow on the ground and way more degrees in the daily temperatures.

One thing I have learned about life is that by managing my stress I am a much happier person.  Happier = healthier, right?  I think so.  Therefore, I'm going to limit the online life for the next 21 days and see where we are at the end of that time.  I'm not limiting all social media so I will still be on Twitter @jencrutch and continue to blog.  Can I convince some of you to join me on Twitter?  That would be cool.

A huge difference with this goal is that I don't know if I'll continue after the 21 days is over.  Really, I don't intend to stay off of Facebook indefinitely, but can certainly see how giving it up for a while will be beneficial in the long run.  This one will not be easy for me but I've already deleted the app from my iPhone so that should help.

As for my first two goals, the water and the protein shake, they are going fantastically.  I'm thrilled that I've been able to maintain both of them until now.  They will be continuing.  Did you know that if you pick up something new every 21 days, you can begin 17 new habits over the course of one year.  That's an awful lot of really good stuff.  I'm so excited to see how many new habits I can pick up over the course of this year and what a difference those habits can make in my life.

What's your next step?  Please tell us all about it.  Feel free to link to your blog in the commment if you write about it.

20X40

Thanks to Heather, I have been encouraged to think about what I would like to accomplish before I become the wise old age of 40. My friend Heather is much more ambitious than I am and she has come up with 40 things she would like to do before her 40th birthday. I was having a terrible time coming up with 40 things so I decided that since my 40th birthday is less than one year and two months from now, I'm going with a 20X40 list. I figure I'll see what I can get done in the next year or so, then I'll make my 50 By 50 list and I'll have ten years to get that stuff done! It's good to have a plan. You can make a list, too. Please let me know if you do. So without further ado, here is my list of 20 things to accomplish before I turn 40.

1. Get a tatoo. updated 10/26/11
2. Make a microloan through Kiva.org. updated 6/7/2010
3. Visit our Compassion International daughter Imani in Kenya.
4. Be debt free (except for the house).
5. Make money online (enough to pay for 3 days of childcare per week).
6. Take a vacation with just Jon for at least four days.
7. Finish a quilt. I finished a small quilt for Sarah, and am working on several more 3/16/13.
8. Make a microloan through ModestNeeds.org.
9. Visit Kalavai Colony in India.
10. Take a girlfriend vacation.
11. Visit a new state (some day go to all 50).
12. Find a vendor for my handmade rugs.
13. Start and/or join a bookclub. updated 3/29/2010
14. Attend an art/craft conference.
15. Attend a writing conference.
16. Attend a business conference. updated 4/29/2010
17. Volunteer for a Compassion International local event. updated 2/11/2011
18. Hold a Gather Arts event. updated 7/27/2010
19. Finish the bathroom remodel. Jon finished the remodel December 2011.
20. Take a class.

Next Step #2

So it's been 21 days since I said that I was going to begin a new habit to improve my health and drink four water bottles every day. Remember that? Since 21 days was the number of days the experts say it takes to make a new habit, it's time to move on to another. But before we move on you may be wondering how I've been doing. Well, quite swimmingly actually. At first it seemed really difficult to get all four in the course of the day. I still can't figure out why that would be so difficult but it was. Now I know that I need to pace myself a little better and make sure that I've already had three by the time the kids come home from school. Otherwise, I'll be drinking that fourth one late in the day and that does not bode well for sleeping all night long.

The really funny thing is that as I've been working on this first step, another step has sort of just presented itself. I used to drink protein shakes in order to increase my protein intake and for quite a while now, I had stopped. No reason really, just stopped. Well, over the last 21 days some time, I started again. So now, not only have I established a really good habit in drinking four bottles of water every day, but I've already started working on my next step. Now it doesn't seem like such a big deal to continue the water, and to pick up the next goal of having a shake for breakfast every day. So that's the plan for next step #2. Protein shake every day for breakfast. I'm not making any rules about what I'm eating, or not eating along with the shake. Step #2 is simply to have a protein shake at breakfast time every day for the next 21 days.

Now I'm wondering what will present itself over the course of the next three weeks for Step #3? What's your next step?