Life-changers diary, day 2

OK, if you were around yesterday, you've already read my post called "Kitten's life-changers." And if you haven't, do so! Yesterday I made a list of changes that I wanted to make personally in my life, and came up with one rawther ginormous list. So rather than tackle some really big things all at once, I decided to break them up into little tasks. For example, here was my list for today:

Home maintenance:
1. Fold and put away clothes in dryer
2. Pick up items from living room floor
3. Clean litter boxes
4. Take out trash and recycling
5. Sort and wash darks

I managed to do four out of five of these things. There are still some items on the living room floor that have not been picked up, and probably won't be until tomorrow. And I'm okay with that.

In the health category:
1. Brush teeth before bed
2. Wash face before bed
3. Eat an apple
4. Make a salad for the week
5. Eat at least two veggies, including one with dinner

Okay, a few words about this one...I'm a little embarrassed to admit these things, but I need to hold myself accountable, and what better way to do this than to broadcast these things to the entire blogosphere. I have very poor eating habits, and while I have good hygiene in the morning, I don't always follow through at night. Which is gross and disgusting. Lately I've felt much worse waking up in the morning if I don't take care of myself at night.

With respect to today's health goals, I've already brushed and washed, and had my apple. I didn't have dinner tonight because I was still full from the Chinese food leftovers I had earlier in the day. But I did manage to have some celery stalks dipped in tomato-basil hummus. And I haven't made my salad yet because I need to clean my kitchen (!) Cleaning my kitchen will be my home maintenance goal for tomorrow.

At first, I grumbled and complained about giving myself points for these somewhat mundane tasks. But as I checked them off my list, and as I kept finishing my tasks, I felt pretty good! I didn't accomplish everything on my to-do list, but I managed to get most done!

I will update you all tomorrow with my goals!

Kitten's life changers

This evening I was up at the Cat Family Homestead, hanging out with the 'rents and Sister Kitten, who told me about a little activity she's doing with her best friend.

Recently, as she was helping her BFF out with her two little boys, they talked about certain changes that they wanted to make in their lives. Both want to exercise more. Both want to change certain eating habits. Sister Kitten wants to spend less time on the computer and the Internet. So what she and her BFF did was make a list of all of the things in their lives that they wanted to change, and they typed them on an Excel spreadsheet. They assigned each task that they wanted to change a certain number of points. For example, for each day they exercised, they got a point. For each day they went without sweets, they got a point. If they had vegetables at every meal, they got a point. At the end of the week, they decided to tally the number of points they earned, and if they got to a certain goal, they would reward themselves. (Sister Kitten didn't get a chance to explain what the rewards were).

They decided to begin with an eight-week commitment. After eight weeks, I'm not sure what they're going to do. But I thought this was a really terrific system, and it got me thinking. I'd like to set something similar up for myself. After I write this blog post, I'm going to make a list of things I'd like to change about my life, and assign them point values. Plus, I need someone to help hold me accountable. Sooo...I would like to invite all of you who are reading this to participate with me. Leave a note in the comments section if you are interested in participating in this project (I really don't want to call it a challenge), and we can share ideas and thoughts.

Tomorrow I hope to have a list of habits I'd like to change, and will publish it here on the ol' blog. I hope you'll be able to join me!