Being BOLD Daily

Since I quit my full time job to be home (thanks to RF 🙂 ) with the kids, I have made SO many changes – hence #thenewRB.  I felt like I had a second chance of taking back my life and I was not going to waste it.  Of course I wanted a spotless, organized home now that I had ALL this time on my hands HA!  Still waiting on that to happen.  But I wanted more. I wanted to work on me for the first time in my life.

I used to read all the time before I had kids. I loved me a good novel – especially Sophie Kinsella books :).  But then I had three babies and reading went out the window.  One thing I had on my list was to start reading again.  But this time, it was not novels – I wanted to focus on making myself better. The RF world is FULL of inspiration and training – it has helped me get to this new RB in so many ways as well.  One overarching theme I saw was lots of book and motivational speaker recommendations.  That was right up my alley and I was ALL over it!  So I did what any woman would do, I bought EVERY SINGLE DAMN BOOK I heard about :).  But really I did. I immersed myself in soaking up everything I could from all these amazing authors and encouragers – reading and following them on social media.  I wanted to know what they were doing and how they lived their day to day lives.  I am in a BIG believer in not reinventing the wheel – I love following other leaders in my company and seeing what they do and what works for them and seeing if it can be relayed in my business.  That is a wonderful part of social media – learning from our fellow sisters and brothers and being inspired – not comparing – INSPIRED.

Now keep in mind – when I first quit my job in January 2017 – I didn’t suddenly start applying tons of changes to my new life. In fact – being real here – every morning I would drop my kids off at school and then come home and get back in bed.  Like I am talking sleep until at least 10am every day. I neeeeeeeeded rest. BAD. I had not slept like that in almost 14 years.  It was glorious.  I didn’t immediately clean out all the kitchen cabinets and organize every closet in the house. I rested and enjoyed the wonderfulness of lunching with friends and sitting in carline.  Then one day, I woke up (probably at 11am HA!) and felt finally rested. I felt like myself again. And I was ready for change.

So back to the books.  I wanted to make some changes. I wanted to prove to myself that I can be and do whatever I want to be.  SO I read every book, took notes, and soaked up every bit of advice I could.  What I learned that even though all the authors were vastly different, they all said the same things to live a happy, healthy life.  It was kind of a gut punch, because I really did not like what they were saying…

1. Get up early every morning. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
2. Exercise. EVERY DAMN DAY.

Well shiz. I did not want to hear this. I am not a morning person NOPE.  I am not going to exercise, I proudly wear my curvy clothes.  But these things would not get out of my head. The Lord kept telling me – “Give it a shot, I would not have had you read these things over and over and over if I didn’t want you to try. I know you can do it.”

BLAHHHHHHHHH.

So one day – I decided, what the hell – let’s try. I felt insane and prepared for major failure. I could not believe it when I set my alarm for 5:30am.  The books told me how to do it and how to power through.  I practically rolled my eyes out of my head.  But I was going to give it 30 days. And at the end of the 30 days if I didn’t feel like Miss America, I was D O N E.

Note: I was not crazy enough to add exercise in – let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

So I did it, I got up. And guess what? It was GLORIOUS, FREAKING GLORIOUS. It felt so wonderful putting myself first every day – making time for ME.  Our mornings were so much better, that alone was a miracle.  And dare I say it, I had more energy! So you know what that means….I suddenly felt like I could exercise.  So – we had just gotten these rowdy Doberman puppies (Gunnar and Diesel, the bash brothers) and they needed to get out and walk every day. So one day, I put them on leashes and we walked. I had no idea what I was doing or how far we went. I was sweaty and the dogs were awful, but I didn’t hate it.  Next thing I know, I am wearing a Fitbit and looking forward to our walks every day.

Changing one thing – I know it was kind of big to get up so early – changed everything.  I am happier, healthier, lost lots of weight, and I will say it, I DO feel like Miss America HA!  So I want to share with everyone I can about how this has helped me.  If only every woman KNEW what changes she could make if she took care of herself first – huge changes for your whole life!  I will also say – that I committed myself to this.  My whole life I have had fancy planners and big plans…that fell through days, maybe weeks in.  This time was different.  One thing I have read that has stuck with me about this is from Rachel Hollis in Girl Wash Your Face. Essentially she tells us to quit cancelling on ourselves.  When we make a commitment or put something on or calendar for ME, we DO NOT CANCEL.

We only get this one life, in this one body, our people need us running on all cylinders and HAPPY.

Somehow, the girl that slept until 10am every day after she dropped the kids off at school became the morning girl. I have a freaking Facebook group all about this very thing – what in the world?  INSANITY. PS – you can join us here if you are intrigued.

So another major thing I have learned in all this is that we need routine – we need discipline.  It’s how we were made – it makes for happy mamas and wives.  So in addition to getting up early and exercising, I have found, by collecting from all my favorite authors and leaders, my BEST day every day.  There are a few things that I do every single day before my head hits the pillow to ensure that I owned my day and the day did not own me.  Even if me and the day know that I wholeheartedly LOST HA!, I sure don’t feel like it!  I want to share wtih y’all…

Here is a graphic of the things I do every day – you can print it out and check it off each day if you want :). I add boxes to check in my planner every day to hold myself accountable.  Real quick – let’s go through each one together:

1. Get up one hour earlier for quiet YOU time.  What time do your kids get up? Or what time do you need to start getting ready? Subtract one hour and set your alarm. I am serious.  What will you do? Drink coffee that is hot – read a devotional – pray – watch the news – journal (next point will talk to that) – just NO social media or email until you have put yourself first :).
2. Start your day journaling 3 things you are grateful for and then write about a positive experience in the last 24 hours.  This is so awesome. Get yourself a pretty notebook and do this every day.  It needs to be fun and lighthearted. Sometimes I am grateful for sweatpants straight out of the dryer or new coffee creamer. But doing this before you open yourself up to the rest of the world is a GAME CHANGER for your day – you always have something to be grateful for, you just might need to stop and think about it :).
3. MOVE. Get your heart pumping and burn some calories.  Now this does not mean any specific thing. This has to be specific to what you enjoy.  There is something out there that you will love doing – you just have to believe it and give it a shot. I don’t like classes, videos, or anything organized. I like getting outside and walking the dogs. Find your thing and DO IT.
4. Read at least one chapter of a book that makes you better.  There are SO many options and I will share some of my faves at the bottom of this post, but this is a really great practice.  You may think you hate reading or books like this, but I promise not all of them are what you think. You can do one chapter a day 🙂 I do it before bed and before the next point.
5. Before you go to bed, spend the last few minutes journaling your prayers and worries. Put them away before you sleep. I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I have had worrying about everything in our life.  This is awful and I know we all do it. This simple practice will help this so much. Write them out, tell the Lord about them and go to sleep.  Just keep a journal on your bedside table with a pen – it can be quick and messy, but it is a huge help.

So what do you have to lose?  Some sleep? Maybe some weight? The money you spent on cute notebooks? I say it’s worth a shot! Tell me if you are and make sure and join my Confidence for Breakfast group for encouragement :). Oh yeah – here are some books that I love!

Cultivate by Lara Casey A Simplified Life by Emily Ley Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins Finish by Jon Acuff Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod