#sonotladylikegoals2016 - One Little Word

It's been awhile since I did something art-y to celebrate my One Little Word. Too bad I'm not really keen on the one I made.

In fact...I hate it and think it's super ugly!

But I'm going to take some inspiration from my word of the year, and leave it for awhile and then revisit it in a month or something.

SO UGLY!

I have encountered a major artist block it seems. But it's best to just try and work through it, and create more. Even if the outcome is not ideal.

Although, she kind of looks like a nebula or cloud of outer space gases or something, which I am quite enjoying! But really, the more I look at her (in person), the more I am just not loving her. But I have an idea in mind for the re-working.

My One Little Word lesson with this piece of art is such: I need to learn to take the time to plan, or sketch out my art, or at the very least not rush through the process to get to “The End”. I’ve always been okay with embracing the “ugly stage” of my art, but this is teaching me that sometimes I can’t recognize the ugly stage until I stare at it for a while. And that there’s no shame in needing time to figure this out. I am a lifelong learner, and I’m just happy and grateful that I have art in my life.

xo

I Quit Facebook

Further to this post from a couple of weeks back, I have decided to quit Facebook. I can't delete my account just yet as there are still connections I would like to maintain, but I have deleted the app from my phone, significantly altered my email notifications, and stopped just randomly checking it throughout the day (over and over and over again...).

Internal Monologue: WTF is with sending me an email every time a "Friend" posts a photo, or changes their status, or comments on someone else's post, ad nauseum. Get it together Facebook. It's like you are becoming as desperate as your users to show how popular you are.

This time of year is a great time to evaluate the things you spend your time and energy, and make sure you are focusing on activities/people that bring you joy, challenge you, excite you, inspire you.

And to shed the weight that is pulling you down.

Facebook was really pulling me down. My attitude, my mental well-being, all that. I don't need to get constant reassurance that my family is full of racist, sexist, xenophobes thanks. That made for an awkward family Christmas get together that I don't need to repeat any time soon.

One of my goals this year is to spend more time focusing on my mental health, and ways I can make the good spells last longer. Or at the very least, cultivate less voracious bad spells. Meditation is on that list. So is better aligning my positive thoughts and desires for my life with how I am actually living my life. And today that means quitting Facebook.

I know that everyone is gonna start busting me for "Facebook is what you make it" and "don't read what you don't want to read" and blah blah blah. But I cannot control the things that come across my feed. I control the people I am friends with yes, and if I see their posts in my feed, and I can control how often I am on there, but Facebook headlines are specifically designed to make you react to them and then click. And I just don't want to deal with that anymore.

FYI it feels so damn good to be away from that place.

xo

#sonotladylikegoals - A Little Help

I like to keep things simple for most things in my life. The more steps I add, and the more complicated I make things, the more I don't do that thing. Because it's too much trouble. Especially with goals. Setting goals and being accountable is hard enough for me as it is, so why add unnecessary trouble?

But I do enjoy a simple tool or trick to help keep me on track, and so far this is the best one I've found.

I used Elise's Daily Goal Tracker last year at work, and it was really awesome! Her motto for this process is "progress - not perfection" and I think that really helped me on those off days, and especially when a week was left uncoloured.

This is not only a good way to keep on track with a goal, but it also encourages starting good habits (and maybe kicking bad ones...) and sticking with them. And I love that there is no pressure. So what if I miss a day or two (or ten)?! I just let it go and move on to the next day. And looking back at the entire year I can see that for the most part I accomplished what I set out to do. And that feels really amazing! Never have I found such a profound or obvious objective recap of the success of a goal set...and met!

Get her 2016 Goal Tracker here. It's only $4USD and you get a couple of digital files in different sizes, and the option of starting your weeks on a Monday or Sunday. I definitely recommend getting this file, printing it out, and posting it somewhere that you will look at everyday.

I had one at home that I put in a closet, and totally forgot about. This year I plan on posting one at work and one at home again, but this time in a better place! I haven't thought about my Work Goal yet, but the "get outside once a day" was definitely a lifesaver for me last year. My Home Goal is going to be "Wash At Least One Dish Everyday". Sounds lame, I know, but I have a major motivation problem when it comes to washing the dishes. I have also tracked a definite correlation between my overall mental health and whether I keep up with the dishes. Go figure.

I have posted my Home Goal sheet in the kitchen on the face of the cupboard above my sink. Can't get more obvious than that!

It's my real life kitchen! Wheee!

Do you have a simple tool or trick that you use to keep you on track with your small goals...BIG GOALS?

xo

p.s. My Home Goals sheet is working already! I posted the sheet on the 30th, and I washed my work dishes that night. It might not seem like a big deal, but it's a big deal to me. I use this because it works, and here is the boring proof. Huzzah!