Makin' Tracks ~ Using Tools to Track Progress

Here we are on the second day of February and don't you think January seemed to fly right by? How are you doing on the goals you set for yourself for the New Year? I have to admit it has been a bit of a slow start for me but I am definitely gaining momentum. Do you set New Year's Resolutions? I used to and realized, after several years, that all I was doing was making a list of things I wanted to accomplish during the year. I neglected to create a plan or to even think about why I wanted to accomplish these things. I never asked myself how my life would change upon completion of certain projects. After realizing that setting New Year's Resolutions did not work for me, I started reflecting on what was important in different areas of my life. For example, how did I feel about the current state of my health, relationships, career, or finances. Was I happy with the balance of work and fun in my life? After deciding that I wanted to focus on health and wellness goals, I developed a program for tracking my progress.

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It consists of four forms where you can journal your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual states. There are sections for recording nutrition, exercise and spiritual practices. I included space for recording weight and even weather. Tracking headaches was one of my goals and I found that the weather (cloudy days) would often trigger a headache. Sometimes, certain foods may have an effect on mood, or physical symptoms, such as bloating or inflammation. You are what you eat has become a commonly accepted fact and is the reason I included a nutrition log. There is also a weekly and monthly summary that makes it easier to make connections between what may be going on emotionally, nutritionally etc. and symptoms you may be experiencing. I have offered it to many clients who have found it to be very useful.

I am in the process of creating a pdf file that I can upload and have available online (free) but if in the meantime, you feel this could help you in reaching your goals, please email me and I will be happy to email the forms to you.

Do you have personal goals you would like to share? If so, what method do you use for staying motivated and tracking your progress?

Surrounding Yourself With Beauty

29 Gifts ~ The Final Six Days

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” 

~ Anne Frank ~

 When I committed to doing the 29 Gifts Challenge I really underestimated the amount of effort it would take to think of things to give every day. The first few days went by smoothly and it was easy to think of things to give or to do for others. Then life got a little busier and I found myself struggling to come up with things. Sounds insane in a world that has such great need, doesn't it? I guess for me, it was not about just sending a check to all of my favorite charities, though that would have been easy enough to do. There is no minimum amount that constitutes an appropriate gift in this challenge. I was trying to be more mindful and more aware of opportunities to give that might come my way in my everyday round. What I found is that one of my personal goals for January conflicted in a way with my vision of my commitment to the 29 Gifts Challenge and I had to sort of adjust that vision in order to fulfill my commitment.

Day 23 ~Extra Play Time...I've been really busy with work projects and home projects and while our two sweet pups have been given lots of love, daily exercise, food, and you know, the necessities, we haven't taken a lot of  time to romp and play. Today though, I found a bit of extra time and it was a beautiful day outside so I found myself releasing gift #23 to the puppies in the form of extra play time. I took a couple of toys to the back yard, tossed them across the yard and praised them lavishly for bringing them back. Then we engaged in games of hide and seek, chase, and tag. I turned on the hose and let them lap up the water for as long as they wanted and them seemed to enjoy it. When we were through, I came back in the house to work, and they both, exercised and exhausted curled up in my office to take a nap. I don't doubt that it was as much fun for me as it was for them. :-)

Michael and Minnie Mouse ~ Sleepy Puppers

Today I am grateful for:
1) Two adorable pups           2) A beautiful day               3) Time to play

Day 24 ~ A Basket of Toys for the East Valley Crisis Center ~ I had this little basket sitting around my office in case children happened by and needed a distraction. I work with women and the possibility is always there, though it hasn't occurred in three years. I think it is safe to send it off to where it will be more useful.

And I am grateful for:
1) Rainbows     2) My husband     3) Work that I love

Day 25 ~ We who write blogs generally write to an audience who we hope will find some value in what we have to say. One of the ways that we know people are finding value is that we receive comments on our blog posts. I love reading your comments and I make time every day to comment on several blogs. In today's gift, I took some extra time to comment on as many blog posts as I could. There are some fabulous women writing some fabulous blogs...I sometimes wish there was more time to visit everyone everyday!

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Today I am grateful for:
1) All my blogging friends     2) My computer       3) My smart phone (that allows me to twitter, fb, & blog :-)

Day 26 ~ We received our annual for tax purposes statement from United Food Bank in the mail today. Rick and I have several charitable organizations that are dear to our hearts and our local United Food Bank is among the top. Hubs talks about "the early days" when he made a single pizza or can of tuna last him for three days and we are grateful that our own pantry, fridge and freezer are full. The food bank was not on the schedule for donation this month, but after receiving the statement, I felt compelled to send off an extra donation. Perhaps the Universe is telling me something this day :-)

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Today I am grateful:
1) That I always have enough food    2) A fun date night     3) Home

Day 27 ~  Mom picked up the computer we purchased earlier in the week and was needing some help setting it up so after our Saturday matinee Rick and I drove over and helped her get her up and running. It feels odd calling this a gift, but I am sure Mom sees it that way. I helped her get online, set up her email, facebook and gave her a little lesson on the workings of Windows 7. She's one happy geek wannabe and expressed an interest in taking a class at the local community college. I hope she does because I'm sure she'll enjoying getting the most out of her new toy.

Today I am grateful for:
1) Mom's delicious green chili burros     2) A fun morning with Rick     3) PF Chang's Leftovers for Dinner :-)

Day 28 ~ I shared with you on Day 26 that we had received our annual statement from United Food Bank. There were a couple of inserts with the statement, one for the Tempe Empty Bowls event and one for the Pound for Pound challenge. I can't do anything about the Empty Bowls event until the end of February, however, the Pound for Pound challenge is going on right now, and it really is a perfect gift. One of my goals for this year is to simplify and shed from my life that which I am not using. I have a few extra pounds that really are not serving me and the sponsors will donate 11 cents for every pound pledged. I only pledged 20 pounds so it doesn't add up to much, however, I am sure there are many of us who together can make a huge impact in the lives of so many. If you'd like to join me, go to www.pfpchallenge.com. It costs nothing to pledge, no weigh ins or before and after pictures. Just your support.

Today I am grateful for:
1) Blankets          2) Birds outside my window       3) An unexpected surprisingly good Sunday Matinee (The Way Back) very powerful movie

Day 29 ~ My stepson, Christopher snapped this photograph his way through Spain and Italy during a high school trip back in 2000. As a memento of his trip, Chris gave me this panoramic shot of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He is really quite a gifted photographer and I was happy to display the photo. I found a thick glass photo frame over at the Metropolitan Museum of Art store over at Scottsdale Fashion Square. I could tell that Chris was pleased that I had taken the time to display his art in such a beautiful way...and I could tell he really liked the frame. I have looked over and over during the last 10 years and have yet to find this frame, so knowing that he loves it, I am re-gifting it to him. He has his own apartment and I'd like to provide a little encouragement for him to dream his way back to Italy...It was his favorite place :-)

Today I am grateful for:
1) Delicious hearty stew       2) Finding the puppers treats for less (saved $8 pkg.)     3) My garden

Wow! There we have it and how amazing it has been to just open myself up a little wider to see all that I can offer. Not just in big monetary ways, but in a "thinking of you," and a "I see your pain," and "How can I help you" sort of way. I typically go through my days offering "gifts" if you will, and so often receiving as well, but I don't it consciously. There were other gifts given and received along the way that I have not posted because it would just take too long to list everything. What I can say, is that by taking on this challenge and seeing it through, I am even more aware of how truly blessed I am to be living a life of abundance and how much more I can share in so many ways. Giving doesn't have to take us out of our daily plan, it can become an integrated part of our lives and make life so much richer.  I would encourage anyone who is thinking about taking on the challenge to jump right in....and I will warn, it is not as easy as it seems :-) I struggled on some days where I couldn't see what I had to give, but then an opportunity would present itself. It is so powerful that I will take it on again later in the year. For now, I'm going to spend some time reflecting on the experience. ~Blessings, Janet

If you want to see what it is all about, you can check out the website here: 29 Gifts :-)

“The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.” 

~ Charles Dudley Warner ~

29 Gifts ~ Days 20, 21 and 22 ~ Catching Up

When I have a hard time remembering what gift I gave a few days ago, I'm thinking it is time to catch up on the Journal :-). On Monday, my daughter invited me over to see her new apartment and we enjoyed a nice visit. She had completed unpacking all of the boxes for her kitchen and pantry and was excited to show off her pride and joy...the pantry :-) She loves to bake and has arranged her pantry like a showcase of baking ingredients and tools. It is really beautiful and fun to look at. I asked her if she needed any help unpacking and she said she was going to do it slowly and that she was a little tired. There were about 15 empty boxes sitting around the dining area so my Gift #20 was to take the empties off her hands and free up some space for her to work around when she was ready. I could tell she was relieved and not having to mess with them herself.

Need some empty boxes? :-)

Tuesdays Gift #21 was a monetary donation to The Ronald McDonald House. I had recently seen an episode of Extreme Makeovers Home Edition and noted how the family had expressed their gratitude for having spent time in one of their houses because their child was facing a serious health challenge. I cannot even begin to imagine having my child suffer from a life threatening illness and I am eternally grateful that she has been so very healthy all of her life.

They do good things :-)

Yesterday's Gift #22 was escorting Mom over to Best Buy to help her pick out her computer. It was really a gift of moral support because she was a little nervous about which one to purchase. I am excited because I know she will love this computer. Her current computer is eight years old and takes about 3 hours (exaggeration) to warm up :-)

I'm so excited for Mom!

Yea! It feels so good to be caught up...now to go and catch up on a few other things :-)

Today I am grateful for:

1) My washer, dryer and laundry room :-)
2) Colored markers, pencils and crayons
3) Blue Jeans :-)

29 Gifts ~ Day 20 Time for a nap

It had been a very busy few days and I hadn't been sleeping well, however, on Sunday morning, the hubs and I took time out for a morning matinee and went to see The King's Speech, which we thoroughly enjoyed. After lunch, Rick's son, Christopher came by to help with some yard chores and to try out Rick's new miter saw. I could have joined in on the yard work, or gotten involved in any number of household projects, and instead curled up on the sofa with a nice soft blanket and settled in for a two hour nap. Gift number 20 was a rare nap for myself.

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Today I am grateful for:

1) Delicious fresh broccoli from Mom's garden
2) Shopping and lunch with Mom (a much too rare pleasure)
3) A nice evening walk with Hubs and the puppers

29 Gifts ~ Days 17, 18, & 19 ~ The Gift of Service

Sometimes gifts are bittersweet and this is how I feel about this one, well actually they are three. My daughter, who has been staying with us for a month after a break-up moved into a new apartment over the weekend. I had imagined something different, but there we were and she had made a decision I wasn't happy with. In fact, I was angry, hurt, and disappointed. There were a few ways I could have handled it and I chose to take the hurt, the anger, and the disappointment and turn it into a gift.

While she was at work I went to Office Max, purchased boxes, and then came home and began the processing of packing up her things. In just a little over a month, she had moved half of her apartment into my kitchen and my guest bedroom and bath and she hadn't stayed long enough to really even settle in, but long enough for there to be a lot of stuff :-). As I filled each box, I labeled the side and the top with the room where it would go, the contents, and whether it was fragile. I drew simple little pictures of her valentine box, something I knew would touch her. I placed them all near the front door so they would not have to be carried very far. (Moving can be exhausting :-) and even though I wasn't happy with her decision, and I wasn't going to support what I felt was a mistake, I could at least do this.

For Day 17's gift I packed up the contents of her kitchen (10 boxes) and on Day 18 I packed her bedroom and craft area (another 10 boxes) There were items I wasn't sure what to do with, so I just assembled several more boxes and put them on the bed. We have some relationship work to do, yes we do :-), but this gift was done with love and that is a step in the right direction.

Friday evening was date night so Rick and I were out and when we returned home she had left a note thanking us for allowing her to stay and for packing the boxes, expressing disappointment at the outcome, and confidence in her decision...as well as noting her new address.

This will be her new address card design

On Saturday, I was having a really hard time when she and her ex came to pack up the moving van. I could talk with her, but because of the tension that had been between us, I could not offer to help. Fortunately, my husband stepped in and asked her what the plan was. He cleared the wedge between us and I soon found myself offering my Day 19 gift, helping her move the boxes from the house into the van and into her car. Her dad was going to help her on the other end. When it was all done, she hugged me, told me thank you again, and that we would work on it. We both cried...and told each other "I love you."

Brandi and I during one of our adventures :-)

 Today I am grateful for:

1) A mother's unconditional love
2) An independent and fearless daughter
3) My supportive hubs :-)

29 Gifts ~ Day 16 Transforming Disappointment

Here we are on day 20 already of the 29 Gifts challenge and I am a bit behind in my posting so I will be doing a little catch up in the next couple of days. Working through a family challenge has been at the heart of activities during the past few days and I will be doing some sharing on that in coming posts. For now though, let's go back a couple of years :-) and my Day 16 gift where I was able to transform a personal disappointment into a gift for many others.

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Two years ago I was approached by members of author and spiritual teacher Deborah King's team to join a select group of coaches in teaching her method. I am always open to new ideas so I agreed to a meeting. However, being new in the coaching business at the time, I was not familiar with King's work so I went out and purchased her book and read it that same day. Much of what she had to offer I had read over and over in many other books that had resonated with me and I believed they would with many other women as well.  However, Ms. King's inclination toward using celebrity lives as examples does not work for me. I prefer a quiet and more intimate approach in my teaching. However, I did not realize that until I had bought into the program and purchased twenty-four of her books.

Over the next two years, I came to know myself more as a facilitator of personal growth and healing and I came to know that there are many paths to that destination and that we must choose that which works best for us as unique individuals. I've been holding onto these books because I realize they will have much healing value for many people, I just wasn't sure how to go about releasing them into the right hands. The 29 Gifts challenge inspired me to look for the right place and I did not have to look far.

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts is where I received my coaching and hypnotherapy training and I will be forever grateful to the many wonderful teachers who gently guided me. KC Miller, founder of the Institute, author of Toe Reading: Are You Walking Your Destined Path? and amazing spiritual coach is just the right person. I emailed her and asked her if she would be interested in a donation of Deborah King's books, Truth Heals and she graciously accepted. This is one of those gifts that I am blessed to plant a seed and another will be blessed to watch it bloom. Knowing that is also a gift. Disappointment in investing in twenty four books that I was not able to use in my business is transformed into the amazing gift of being able to give back.

Today I am grateful for:

1) Recognizing that I can transform disappointment into something good
2) A delicious Berry Good Protein Smoothie for breakfast
3) Freshly tilled front flower beds that will grow beautiful spring blossoms