Design your life
So first of all, I have written here for a while and I shall explain myself. I want to be able to give my readers and followers the best content. I want to build a relationship with each and everyone of you. I want the content to be relatable, and my work to add value to the people who read it.
This is why I am slowly but surely redesigning the content and focus of my platforms. Instagram will be the biggest focus for 2017 so if you really like what I write please follow me on there and keep an eye. I will share educational, nutrition, motivational and recipes on there!
The Facebook page might disappear for a while and the website will have the more lengthy and in-depth articles and hopefully by mid-2017 great videos for you all.
The news I would like to share with you is I am now part of a company called Pinnacle Life. Pinnacle Life is a company that has a holistic approach to training. All of us trainers will go through a life coaching course at the start of next year. Our goal is to help our clients (online or face to face) be the best version of themselves inside and out. I believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body are strongly linked and this is the approach I would like to take with my clients and my blogging journey. So you will see more mindfulness posts, inner strength and how to deal with mental challenges and attract positivity and success as well as training and nutrition.
We as a team are working hard to become better inside and out as well so we can offer the best. So on this note this post is about building a better life for yourself and taking control of it.
2016 is coming to an end and each and everyone one of us will have 365days to reflect on.
For me it’s that time of the year where I sit down with myself and just write. I write everything I’ve done wrong (and I’ve done a lot of that this year), good, the things I feel are missing from my life (how to fix that) and most importantly what I am grateful for.
I have always been good with words, and enjoyed writing down my thoughts. During my time at university I used to have something called a “thought journal”. Instead of keeping a regular journal where I wrote down everything I did on a daily basis, which I find to be a waste of time, I wrote down only the thoughts that mattered. The happy and sad ones. I wrote down things to let go of them instead of them turning into anger, frustration or even over-excitement.
I knew I was onto something there. Words have a power over our minds. When we say things aloud, we makes waves. When we write things down, we commit to them consciously and subconsciously.
So for 2017 I want to start something called “Life design” journaling. This will basically be a review of myself and life on a regular basis, as well as setting goals. Setting goals as I am starting to realise is a powerful tool that is very often overlooked.
This is how you can start “Life design” journaling and goal-setting.
Review the past year/quarter/month
It’s basically viewing yourself as your own “business” and looking at what worked and didn't work over a period of time to help you clarify the challenges you face. You can record these by answering questions such as “What worked?” “What could have been better?” “What did I learn?”. Then answer the questions in paragraph form. Once you start writing you will discover more questions to ask like “ How might I solve this challenge?” “How can I improve this moving forward?”
Attempt to discover new possibilities and solutions throughout this exercise.
2. Envision what you want.
Some people view this as a silly things to do. “Why would I close my eyes and envision what I want?”. You need to. It makes it realistic for your conscious brain to work on and sits there in your subconscious brain secretly working. If you don't believe in the power of envisioning then I urge you to do some research about how some of the most successful people got to where they are today.
Don’t get me wrong I am in now way saying that envisioning will do the work for you. It will just put your mind in the right setting for you to work hard and accept the good things.
But what it also does is force you to compare what you want and the way you wish for your life to be and if that lines up with how you are living at the moment. Start to live your vision everyday by writing down the qualities that make your ideal world. How would people treat each other, etc? Once you have finished that vision, you can focus on you and imagine how your daily existence fits in with that world.
3. Create a ritual.
Every Monday, sit down and look back at the previous week and write down what you have accomplished, what’s still hanging over your head and what you’re focused on for the upcoming week. I would ideally do this as part of my morning routine and take 10-15minutes out to set down on my desk before I start my week. Find a time and day that work for you.
Then each day glance at your list to make sure you are making progress. Feel free to make notes on the really good and terrible days.
4. Close open loops.
As part of the list you create on Monday set aside section to write down your concerns, nagging lists, concerns and issues. This will free up room in your mind, you will find yourself less stress and more creative.
Template you can use (to get you started):
What were last week’s successes?
What could have been better last week?
Weekly focus
Top 3 weekly goals
I am grateful for
Brain dump
This week’s self-care
Adjust as you go and make it personal.
You can do this every week and then on the last Monday of every month do a monthly “review”. Eventually your life will start planning out the way you are planning it.
Remember to be patient and kind to yourself. Things take time.
Happy Healthy Living,
The Gymcess
