I am one month in on Project 180 and today I’m checking in. If you missed the intro post to this six month challenge I’m tasking myself with, you can read it HERE. But the gist is, I am going to focus on three areas of life for six months, leading up to my next birthday, in an attempt to really do a 180 U-turn and up level who I am.
Life is a journey, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s a straight path to what you want, and other times it’s a winding road. And just because it doesn’t go exactly as you had planned, or thought, or hoped, doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. Accept it for what it is, and continue forward.
So the long and short of it is, Month 1 was not what I had hoped it would be. I’m not very religious, but I am familiar with the saying that goes something like “make plans and God laughs” and that is how I felt from the get go— before this whole thing even officially kicked off on July 30, I got sick. And have been sick and still am sick all of August. Not cool, universe! Not cool! But I didn’t let that totally derail my start like I usually would. Let’s jump into the specifics!
Health
My various rolling ailments and underlying sickness all month really zapped me, and put a big pause on all of my fitness aspirations for Month 1. It really became about treating all of my ailments as they hit me and getting better. I wish I could say I’m back to 100%, but I still have a couple of lingering issues and plan to call the doctor today.
I did work on some less active areas of my health goal. I had previously created a roadmap for how I wanted to approach my weight loss journey, using a system called Your Path Forward by Sarra Cannon. I set up all the steps and created my gameboard at the beginning of the year. I did make it a few steps in, but then things just kinda fell off. So I spent some time this month rearranging the path for what made sense for me now, and I’m excited to tackle them slowly but surely!
I also outlined some small, specific steps I can take with fitness as I move forward through this challenge. I heard a podcast this month with author Lester Clowes talking about his book Stop Lying To Yourself, and while it shared some tips that I’ve heard before, it really resonated now. Isn’t it funny how that works? Basically, take the most embarrassingly small step you can. So that’s what I plan to do. Also, I plan to read the book.
Creativity
All along, while I was crying to myself over failing at my health goals, I was continuing to work on my newfound love of collage. I started out the month with a weeklong staycation, and at first I was going to give up on my initial idea of documenting it in a junk journal— but I’m glad I decided to do it anyway. No, my staycation was not what I imagined given my sickness, but I created a page for each day and it was a good way to rest and be creative and let go of my plans.
At the same time, I started working on an altered book and I have been working on it off and on all month. And I really am loving it. I have a theme for it, so I plan to continue whenever the spirit moves me and I have/find the supplies I need.
Systems
Once I realized I didn’t have to succeed in all three areas, or at least in the ways I had set out to at the onset, I thought I can still do work on my systems goal. Ideally I just want to have systems and schedules and routines in place for various things in my life. Morning routines, PM rituals, weekend resets, cleaning schedules, and the like.
It’s funny because right around the same time I came to this decision, the Lazy Genius podcast was saying about NOT setting up more systems. It was funny. But I really felt pulled to do this. I had cut back on all my routines during the summer, but now that we’re moving closer to autumn, I just want to try again and see how I receive them.
So I started with some mind map brainstorm sessions and then each day for the past week or so, I have been working on setting up different ways to prod me along in my attempt to have all the systems be a part of my regular life. I set up phone alarms for the different areas of my morning routine to prompt me to move on, a recurring task in To Doist for my PM ritual with the various steps set up as sub-tasks that I can check off, and time blocking weekend hope and have to dos.
All in all, I am happy with how Month 1 has gone. No, it’s not how I had pictured it but I did make progress in each area. Small, slow progress is still progress. And September is a second chance to try again.
Do you hit roadblocks like this too?
Photo by Adrian Dascal on Unsplash