The Happiness Project Day 2

Feeling energized is a lot to ask for in a day and age where slowing down is becoming more difficult by the second. However, I know in my personal experience, when I feel in the groove of things is when I feel my authentic self. That being said, believe it or not there are several ways to boost your energy and focus to help you win the day. These include things like exercising better, going to sleep earlier, organizing the clutter that appears in your mind and in your physical reality, tackling a “nagging task”, and simply acting more energetic.  I believe that deep down we all know what could make us happier human beings, it’s just one of those things that is easier said than done.

For starters exercising is sometimes the last thing on people’s minds, especially if you have kids. To be honest I was going to list all the reasons why I hate exercising, but I stopped myself because I realize that it is just an excuse to get me off the hook. My first excuse was going to be that it required I wake up early or that I have to go after work. There are ways I can accommodate for the way I feel and the time I choose to exercise. For example, I start work at 7:00 in the morning and I don’t get off until 3:00 in the afternoon. At 4:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I can commit to do something active. I want to give myself some flexibility as to what I do because not all days seem to flow the same way. Its important that I take care of my mental health as well, which I have read that exercise helps with that. About 2 years ago I had a gym membership to LA fitness. I absolutely loved going because I felt sexy, relevant, validated, and accomplished. However, after a while I felt like I was there for attention. My boyfriend told me that there are other ways of exercising without having to spend so much money at a gym. In other words, he thought that gyms were overrated. One thing I love about my boyfriend is that he gets me thinking about new ways of looking at things. I happened to agree with him. So many people go to gyms for superficial reasons rather than actual health. If you decide you want to go to a gym, please consider why you are doing it.

As far as going to sleep earlier, it’s a tough one to actually have an opinion on. I do not have a consistent sleep schedule which might pay contribution to the problem. What I do find that helps is taking power naps! In fact, I wish I could power nap on my lunch breaks, but that’s not going to fly. One major issue that I need to cut out consist of energy drinks. They work in the moment, but I know they are not good for me because my lymph nodes become swollen and I get lightheaded.  Steps that I can take to improve my sleep include drinking more water, taking a shower before bed every night, not eating before sleep (at least 2 hours before), winding down with a book, and having a set bedtime (8:00). Unfortunately, waking up is a little weird since my boyfriend’s schedule is all over the place and he is my transportation back to my house. Starting on January 27,2020 I will commit to these steps to actualizing better sleeping habits.

The amount of times that I have worked on cleaning my room is insane, but I always seem to forget the maintenance aspect of it. For example, I have given away an incredible amount of clothes, but for everything I gave away I gained more of something else. I love goodwill so much, but sometimes I feel like I need to get better quality stuff so that maybe I don’t feel like I need more . I struggle a lot with figuring out to be stylish, so I tried to hop on the band wagon of shopping thrifty only to find that the clothes end up tearing on me a few weeks later. In addition, sandals and shoes are either too small or just too old and they just end up taking room. I feel a lot of guilt throwing things away because money was spent on those items. The thing that stresses me out the most when I see it is mail. I don’t know what to do with it and for some reason I think that it’s the adult thing to do to file it away. However, I know that my statement from my bank or irritating credit card companies is useless information for me. The biggest addiction that I have is my collection of books! I want knowledge and I want it to serve me! I always think that someday those books will mean something different to me later down the road. I can’t give my books up and I will only keep getting more. With that being said here are some things I can work on regarding my organization skills. First and foremost I will definitely be throwing away unnecessary mail, I will throw away all the shoes that are too old or too small, I will look at my wardrobe and ask myself if the outfit still serves me, after I have done all this I will make sure that everything has a specific place. I plan on having this accomplished by next Friday, January 31, 2020.

Committing to doing something that you say you are going to do is a self-help kind of thing. It’s essentially creating a habit that can only benefit the way you handle situations and circumstances. Things left undone is like fog on your window in the morning, while you can still drive it makes it very hard to see what is front of you. There are some “nagging” things I would like to check off my list this February. That includes handling car situation, making a doctor’s appointment, sending in paperwork for second job.

Acting more energetic is pretty difficult if you either have a long day or are just grumpy for no reason at all (maybe for me, I might be on my period). The other day I had an idea to jump rope every morning to see if it would help my energy levels. I am going to try this experiment starting Monday January 27, 2020. I am not sure how you are supposed to act energetic, but I will commit to practicing it as much as possible.One thing that I don’t want to forget to mention is eating healthier foods. For a while I was doing really good on my vegan diet until my dad made tamales. Unfortunately, most of the stuff my dad makes is unhealthy! I will commit to eating more whole foods and having portion control.

Today, I have taken the topics that were in the January chapter of “The Happiness Project” and set goals in each area. I will be posting my progress throughout the week. This is the year where big improvements need to be made. Instead of talking about all the things I want to do, they will become the actions that I live by. I hope that my post today inspired something within you and if it did please comment down below. If you have any question or would like to make suggestion for me, I am always willing and open to learn! Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I hope you have a wonderful day!