What I learned in 2019

Like many of you would have I too took sometime to reflect on 2019 year - I lay on my bed & I started to write, write all of the things that didn't quite go as I had planned or intended & I had to really dig deep to find things that did go well. Why is that? I know I am not the only one! Often we're very critical of ourselves, failing to see all of the good & the successes, zooming in instead on the shortfalls. 

In our marriage Jeremy & I bring very different things to it & I know that is what makes us work, differences are necessary. I bring a half empty cup & Jeremy brings one that is half full (actually overflowing is probably more accurate) & that is ok, in fact it's good, very good. If we'd done this reflection exercise together & then compared I can bet his page would be laden with things that went well & challenges to double those successes again. Whereas mine was full of things that didn't go so well & remedies to improve. Both of which are ok but what I learned is that I need to look for the good to because it's there & it's abundant. 

I'm not great at goals, I tend to have too many & execute none of them. This year is much like that again, I have a lot I want to improve on but the prominent theme is that I don't want to waste my time. 2020 is going to be the year that I stop doing things that waste my time doing unimportant things. I read a couple of books over my break & I'm gonna share a quote by David Hieatt from Do Purpose: Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more because it will make you want you to prioritise your time too!  

"Each day you're given 86,400 seconds from the 'Time Bank'. Everyone is given the same. There are no exceptions. Once you make your withdrawal, you're free to spend it as you want. The 'Time Bank' won't tell you how to spend it. Time poorly spent won't be replaced with more. Time doesn't do refunds.  Time is your biggest gift. Indeed, it is more valuable than money as you can make more money but not more time. But there is one simple truth: your time is limited. And one day you will go to the bank and it won't have any more for you. And it will be at that exact moment that you will know the answer to this simple question: Did I use my time well? Did I do what mattered most to me? Did I find my love? And did I pursue it like a wild hungry dog?"

Are you using your time well? I know I'm not but boy will I be trying to this year. 2020 is the year of TIME & these are 5 things I will be doing;

1. Getting 8 hours sleep because I know that I am not a nice human with any less. I've been tracking my sleep on my Apple Watch that I got for Christmas & I'm obsessed at seeing how I slept each night. I also know that good sleep promotes good output & I'm all about that.
2. I'm gonna get up 1 hour earlier because last year I was always chasing my tail in the mornings & it heightened my stress. Not anymore...goodbye morning stress. Mostly I will be using this time to study, work, exercise & prepare dinner. We're super women you know!
3. I'm drink at least 2L of water daily & exercising for 30 minutes 5 x week. A hydrated body thinks better & moves better, it also pee's more but ya know, health. People give me the side eye when I talk about working out but for a skinny gal my insides are probably black & that's just plain unacceptable. 
4. Jeremy & I will date weekly, we loosely do it already but now it will be planned so that it happens because we're important. We need to invest in us.
5. Daily prayer & scripture study. This one is really important to me but I didn't prioritise it in 2019 I can't do anything without Him

And a couple other tips for good measure;

• Hide the distractions. Turn off the wi-fi
• Only touch things once. Don't just move washing from one place to another. Don't read messages then mark them as unread. Touch it & deal with it. 

X.

Note - I purchased my book from Hello Darling it is also available on Audible & from Whitcoulls