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I have had the most stressful summer. This blog started during Spring Break so that I could share my journey to becoming a “Calm Momma”. At that time, I was hoping that I could write some amazing posts and share what I am learning as well as some of the tips and tricks I personally use.
Well, my intentions were good, but then this summer happened. I know that life will throw you curve balls. I completely aware that I have to roll with the punches. But it just seemed like this summer has been the most stressful summer I have had in a very, very long time.
Despite my best efforts to relax and remain stress-free I just couldn’t get away from chaos, busyness or stress. With my mild CFS, this had me so depleted of energy that I was neglecting my husband, my children, my house and mostly my self.
This was exactly what I had started this blog to prevent!! So, I have decided that a change is in order.
I went on Amazon and ordered a book. Yes, despite my love of Kindle books, I ordered a used (although it looks brand new) copy of “The Change Your Life Challenge“. It is a book by Brook Noel.
The Change Your Life Challenge
I need a change and the title of this book promises to deliver just that. That is why I figure that I will work my way through this program and I will report my progress each week in my blog. You will all get to see exactly what I am doing and how this program is helping me.
I promise to go through the steps as they are written and follow “The Change Your Life Challenge” the way it is meant to be implemented.
My blog will now be a behind the scenes look at how I am changing my life (hopefully for the better). And hopefully, “The Change Your Life Challenge” will help me to finally become the Calm Momma that I really want to be.
The book is organized into three parts: Five Steps to a Successful Start, The Toolbox, and Mini-Makeovers. Each part has steps to follow and a certain pace you should take for success.
Keeping the right pace will probably be the toughest part of the challenge for me. I am one of those people who like to dive right in and do a bunch of stuff and then I burn out, set it aside, and never look at it again. But that is also why I plan to blog about my entire experience. You, my readers, are my accountability. And boy, do I really need you!
I have already read the Introduction and the Before We Begin sections and I am impressed with the promises that the author makes.
She even starts the book off with a very inspirational quote from Mary Kay Ash:
There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice. You can decide which type of person you want to be. I have always chosen to be int he first group.
I want to be in that first group, too, and I am ready to start making things happen.
Part 1 of “The Change Your Life Challenge”
This is the Five Steps to a Successful Start. The pace for part 1 can be any speed you want. You can complete this part as fast or as slow as you can. This is where the program builds “a solid foundation for the journey ahead”.
You can’t build a house without a solid foundation, so I guess it would be silly to expect to change my life without one, either.
Part 1 starts off with an anonymous quote:
Luck is a crossroad where preparations and opportunity need.
I am ready for the preparation part, so let’s get started.
Five Steps to a Successful Start
Part one is split up into five steps:
1. Setting Up Shop
In this step, you gather (or purchase) all of your supplies. I had a few things on hand, but I still had to head out to Meijer to grab a few items that I didn’t have lying around the house.
- One three-ring binder, one-inch capacity
- One set of eight blank tabs that will fit into a three-ring binder
- Loose-leaf, lined paper
- A small spiral notebook that can lay flat, 5″ x 7″, 80 – 100 pages (this will go everywhere with me so I had to make sure it would fit in my purse)
- A notebook for recording thoughts (a journal of sorts, but a fancy one is not recommended)
- 100 3″x5″ index cards, lined on one side
- 5 – 10 9″x12″ paper envelopes
- Yellow highlighter
- Four self-adhesive clear pouches or self-adhesive photo pockets that can hold 3″x5″ cards
- Hole punch
- Scissors
- Stapler
- Tape
- 2 durable plastic expanding envelopes with a 1″ capacity
- Optional: folders or pockets for the binder, plastic sheet protectors, 3-hole punch, printing paper that is already 3-hole punched
I skipped the printing paper because I have a great 3-hole punch already. I also skipped the hole punch in the list because of that same great 3-hole punch.
As for the folders/pockets for the binder, I just grabbed some blank tabs that had pockets already on them so I was basically killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
As for the journal, I did go for one a little fancier than suggested. I figured that if it wasn’t a little cute I wouldn’t want to write in it.
2. The Snapshot
The snapshot is a form you fill out to find out where you are, where you want to be and how much of a difference there is. Below is mine:
3. Creating Your Action Plan for Change
The Action Plan is another form that I was able to download from the website. I took my numbers from the Snapshot and figured out where to plug them in. Check it out below (sorry, but I took the photo in landscape so it is sideways):
4. The Headquarters Binder
This is was my favorite step in this section of the challenge (other than the shopping, of course). The first photo of my binder:
5. Rally Your Resources
This is the last step in Part 1 of “The Change Your Life Challenge”. It is mostly the section where you can see what else is available online. There is a Facebook group, online participation, and options to find real groups out in the real world.