After last week's class, my eyes have really been opened to how much negative self-talk I engage in every day. I realized that it happened a lot, but not as often as it does! I caught myself dozens of times, saying negative things about myself or my abilities. It yes, all of it does make me feel like crap. So, for the time being I've just been trying very hard to at least stop the negative thoughts. I can't always replace them with something better, but I can at least move on to thinking about something else.
After this week's reading, I've realized I can also use shot-term goal setting to help me with my commitment issues. I am going to start with the same goal every day: to write in my progress journal. After this has become easier, I'm going to set other short-term goals to strengthen my commitment and to help me work toward my over-all goal. The chapter on commitment really emphasized it's importance to me - once again - and I really need to work on my commitment to work toward altering my behavior in any significant way.
This has been a weird week for me. I've been sick and I had to miss classes, so I haven't had as many opportunities to practice my hand writing. The bulk of my practice comes from taking notes in my classes, and the rest of my practice comes from doing paperwork for my job, and a little bit of journal writing. One thing I want to do is set the goal of practicing writing with my journal every day (at least one entry). I feel that this activity is the most enjoyable for me in regards to practicing writing, but it is the activity that I engage in the least. There's something wrong with that picture! So I am setting this small goal for my self, at least one journal entry a day. I think, in order to achieve this goal, I will need to set aside a specific time-slot to do the journal writing in. I need to make this as structured as I can so I will be sure to do it. I am going to set aside 15 minutes every morning at 8:00 to write in my journal. I have already missed this time frame today so I will have to write in my journal later on. But starting tomorrow, 8:00 a.m. is journal time.
I have to admit, I am very impressed with how well I have done this week. I honestly feel like my stress has minimized. I really haven’t done anything new this week; however, I have kept up with all the different steps I’ve taken in the past few weeks. I did have my nails done to prevent me from biting them. This has really helped prevent me from chewing on them – they are too pretty so I don’t want to ruin them!
For the first time yesterday I noticed I can almost fully open my mouth without my jaw popping! I was very excited about this. I still do not know if my progress is due to my night guard or my reduction of stress. I would like to think it is a little of both. I really feel like my hard work is finally paying off and I hope to continue down the right path.
I have decided to change my project. I need to get permission for this from professor Guyton. My original project was writing a book/manual on tango, but I just didn’t feel like it was the right project for me and it has not been working out. I am planning, instead, to do the p90x workout program. I have spent this week researching and purchasing the equipment I need. I hope to begin on Monday after I create an eating/food/diet schedule that parallels the recommendations made by the program.
I have been clearing out my dining room as this will be the room that I use for the 90 days of the program. I feel that the results of the program are far more measurable, and this is something that I have wanted to do for some time. I feel far more excited and motivated about it than I did the writing project. Also I have lined up a weekly trade with a friend of mine in which I’ll trade a private tango lesson for a private yoga lesson. This will help me keep flexible during the program.
The challenges I had this week had to do with the decision to chance and recognize the need to… I have some self-doubt about doing the program. However, I feel excited about it as well.
This week has seen a lot of measurable progress with my goal. My times have been more consistent than they have been in the past. In thinking about Orlick's book, I feel I have been gaining insight into my goal pursuits. Clearly my biggest hurdles have been distractions. This is a lifetime habit of mine, ecspecially with running, so it is taking dilligence with positive self talk. Happy to say when I focus on it and realize I'm getting distracted while training, I'm able to divert the negative crap that holds me up, and replace it with positive thoughts and I'm able to carry on. In the past I could only do this when the pain was not getting to me, but over the past couple of weeks, I've been able to self talk myself through the tough spots of my training. Its increasing my confidence with my own ability and is causing me to find the joy of running again. That's not to say I don't have days where the last thing I want to do is take the time to get a workout in, but I finding I have the skills to get past that feeling and looking for excuses to not run. My daily goals have become more fine tuned which has aided my training. I find that realizing the joy of little successes, takes my attention away from the end goal yet I'm getting closer to it. In the past my goal aspirations were as if I was waiting for paint to dry or watching grass grow. What happens when you watch grass grow, you lose focus and get disinterested. So I have stopped watching the grass grow and focused on small tangible daily goals. Its been a good week. I have started the taper before the marathon and although I don't like it, following the plan will give me confidence that I'm doing all I can do to prepare properly. Till next week.
This week’s blog shall be short and bittersweet as I am getting quite sick and sicker ☹ Thus, it hasn’t been the most productive week exercise wise, very productive quitting smoking wise, and continuing to improve the diet. Had a big discussion, which has led to an even bigger shopping trip for hearty soups and medicine. And with that feverish commentary (literally), I’m eating the only thing my stomach will tolerate today – mmm mmm more chicken soup... hopefully I’ll see you all tomorrow with bright and shiny demeanor (or medicinally glazed over). And to all those of you who are also sick out there, FEEL BETTER SOON!
This week I have been focusing on monitoring my goal progress in a tangible way. I have been keeping a journal of my sleep hours to ensure regularity. Thus far, it has been beneficial to actually see and measure my progress. I can easily see both positive and negative aspects of my sleep patterns. In this way, I have been able to focus on improving the negative patterns I perceive. I have been very busy this past week, which has made waking up easier. I was not able to waste mornings sleeping in. I still have not had a chance to use the new alarm clock app that I downloaded that is supposed to help wake you up in your lightest sleep cycle. As I may have mentioned last week, it wakes you up within a half hour of the time for which it is set. This ambiguity is typically okay; however, this past week it did not fit into my schedule. I am hoping to test it on a day that I am not required to be somewhere in case I experience any malfunctions.
This week has gone by well, but without too much opportunity for further progress. My grade on the exam was satisfactory enough to show me that my attempts to focus and perform well on the self-designated symmetry exercises were well worth the time. I am right not struggling to return to the same routine I had previously established. One issue I am finding is that the material, while fundamentally consistent, has to changed (moved on into other chapters). Given the shift/broadening of the objective, I find myself having to adapt my style of resolution. This week, my approach to encompass the recent changes has not been as strong as I would've liked. Distractors from other tasks have proved difficult to overcome and time management has pose a serious threat. My tentative plan for the following week is to come up with some sort of flexible scheduling that will work with the changing curriculum while allowing me to focus on the fundamentals.
There were not many things I've had to work on this week for my behavior. I haven't had any difficulties, and I'm still working on the same meditation exercises. I'm wont go into great detail for what I've been doing, because it would be redundant. Because I feel that this week has not brought much my way. I've decided to reread certain chapters of our book. I guess i'm doing this so i can see if there are certain things that i can work on that I haven't worked on yet. I've got my time management down, but maybe i should work on my distraction control. This will be the most useful for me right now. If I can bring myself back to a meditative state after being disturbed it will greatly help my strive toward excellence. I don't know how else I could work on my goal to a mindful life. I'll try to find more things to work on by going back to older chapters.
After last week's class, my eyes have really been opened to how much negative self-talk I engage in every day. I realized that it happened a lot, but not as often as it does! I caught myself dozens of times, saying negative things about myself or my abilities. It yes, all of it does make me feel like crap. So, for the time being I've just been trying very hard to at least stop the negative thoughts. I can't always replace them with something better, but I can at least move on to thinking about something else.
ReplyDeleteAfter this week's reading, I've realized I can also use shot-term goal setting to help me with my commitment issues. I am going to start with the same goal every day: to write in my progress journal. After this has become easier, I'm going to set other short-term goals to strengthen my commitment and to help me work toward my over-all goal. The chapter on commitment really emphasized it's importance to me - once again - and I really need to work on my commitment to work toward altering my behavior in any significant way.
This has been a weird week for me. I've been sick and I had to miss classes, so I haven't had as many opportunities to practice my hand writing. The bulk of my practice comes from taking notes in my classes, and the rest of my practice comes from doing paperwork for my job, and a little bit of journal writing. One thing I want to do is set the goal of practicing writing with my journal every day (at least one entry). I feel that this activity is the most enjoyable for me in regards to practicing writing, but it is the activity that I engage in the least. There's something wrong with that picture! So I am setting this small goal for my self, at least one journal entry a day. I think, in order to achieve this goal, I will need to set aside a specific time-slot to do the journal writing in. I need to make this as structured as I can so I will be sure to do it. I am going to set aside 15 minutes every morning at 8:00 to write in my journal. I have already missed this time frame today so I will have to write in my journal later on. But starting tomorrow, 8:00 a.m. is journal time.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I am very impressed with how well I have done this week. I honestly feel like my stress has minimized. I really haven’t done anything new this week; however, I have kept up with all the different steps I’ve taken in the past few weeks. I did have my nails done to prevent me from biting them. This has really helped prevent me from chewing on them – they are too pretty so I don’t want to ruin them!
ReplyDeleteFor the first time yesterday I noticed I can almost fully open my mouth without my jaw popping! I was very excited about this. I still do not know if my progress is due to my night guard or my reduction of stress. I would like to think it is a little of both. I really feel like my hard work is finally paying off and I hope to continue down the right path.
I have decided to change my project. I need to get permission for this from professor Guyton. My original project was writing a book/manual on tango, but I just didn’t feel like it was the right project for me and it has not been working out. I am planning, instead, to do the p90x workout program. I have spent this week researching and purchasing the equipment I need. I hope to begin on Monday after I create an eating/food/diet schedule that parallels the recommendations made by the program.
ReplyDeleteI have been clearing out my dining room as this will be the room that I use for the 90 days of the program. I feel that the results of the program are far more measurable, and this is something that I have wanted to do for some time. I feel far more excited and motivated about it than I did the writing project. Also I have lined up a weekly trade with a friend of mine in which I’ll trade a private tango lesson for a private yoga lesson. This will help me keep flexible during the program.
The challenges I had this week had to do with the decision to chance and recognize the need to… I have some self-doubt about doing the program. However, I feel excited about it as well.
This week has seen a lot of measurable progress with my goal. My times have been more consistent than they have been in the past. In thinking about Orlick's book, I feel I have been gaining insight into my goal pursuits. Clearly my biggest hurdles have been distractions. This is a lifetime habit of mine, ecspecially with running, so it is taking dilligence with positive self talk. Happy to say when I focus on it and realize I'm getting distracted while training, I'm able to divert the negative crap that holds me up, and replace it with positive thoughts and I'm able to carry on. In the past I could only do this when the pain was not getting to me, but over the past couple of weeks, I've been able to self talk myself through the tough spots of my training. Its increasing my confidence with my own ability and is causing me to find the joy of running again. That's not to say I don't have days where the last thing I want to do is take the time to get a workout in, but I finding I have the skills to get past that feeling and looking for excuses to not run. My daily goals have become more fine tuned which has aided my training. I find that realizing the joy of little successes, takes my attention away from the end goal yet I'm getting closer to it. In the past my goal aspirations were as if I was waiting for paint to dry or watching grass grow. What happens when you watch grass grow, you lose focus and get disinterested. So I have stopped watching the grass grow and focused on small tangible daily goals. Its been a good week. I have started the taper before the marathon and although I don't like it, following the plan will give me confidence that I'm doing all I can do to prepare properly. Till next week.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s blog shall be short and bittersweet as I am getting quite sick and sicker ☹ Thus, it hasn’t been the most productive week exercise wise, very productive quitting smoking wise, and continuing to improve the diet. Had a big discussion, which has led to an even bigger shopping trip for hearty soups and medicine. And with that feverish commentary (literally), I’m eating the only thing my stomach will tolerate today – mmm mmm more chicken soup... hopefully I’ll see you all tomorrow with bright and shiny demeanor (or medicinally glazed over). And to all those of you who are also sick out there, FEEL BETTER SOON!
ReplyDeleteThis week I have been focusing on monitoring my goal progress in a tangible way. I have been keeping a journal of my sleep hours to ensure regularity. Thus far, it has been beneficial to actually see and measure my progress. I can easily see both positive and negative aspects of my sleep patterns. In this way, I have been able to focus on improving the negative patterns I perceive. I have been very busy this past week, which has made waking up easier. I was not able to waste mornings sleeping in. I still have not had a chance to use the new alarm clock app that I downloaded that is supposed to help wake you up in your lightest sleep cycle. As I may have mentioned last week, it wakes you up within a half hour of the time for which it is set. This ambiguity is typically okay; however, this past week it did not fit into my schedule. I am hoping to test it on a day that I am not required to be somewhere in case I experience any malfunctions.
ReplyDeleteThis week has gone by well, but without too much opportunity for further progress. My grade on the exam was satisfactory enough to show me that my attempts to focus and perform well on the self-designated symmetry exercises were well worth the time. I am right not struggling to return to the same routine I had previously established. One issue I am finding is that the material, while fundamentally consistent, has to changed (moved on into other chapters). Given the shift/broadening of the objective, I find myself having to adapt my style of resolution. This week, my approach to encompass the recent changes has not been as strong as I would've liked. Distractors from other tasks have proved difficult to overcome and time management has pose a serious threat. My tentative plan for the following week is to come up with some sort of flexible scheduling that will work with the changing curriculum while allowing me to focus on the fundamentals.
ReplyDeleteThere were not many things I've had to work on this week for my behavior. I haven't had any difficulties, and I'm still working on the same meditation exercises. I'm wont go into great detail for what I've been doing, because it would be redundant. Because I feel that this week has not brought much my way. I've decided to reread certain chapters of our book. I guess i'm doing this so i can see if there are certain things that i can work on that I haven't worked on yet. I've got my time management down, but maybe i should work on my distraction control. This will be the most useful for me right now. If I can bring myself back to a meditative state after being disturbed it will greatly help my strive toward excellence. I don't know how else I could work on my goal to a mindful life. I'll try to find more things to work on by going back to older chapters.
ReplyDelete