Goals Archives -

Random Time, Two Random Goals.

Mar 062013

You can set goals on meaningful moments. Like New Year’s Eve or your birthday, the start of a new week or a sparkling new month: Those times when you’re on the brink of something new, the future seems wide open. You feel like you can have a clean slate and a fresh start. It’s always good to write down goals, dreams and wishes for that upcoming time that’s still for the taking; it helps you charge more confidently towards those things.

But you don’t have to wait for those moments. You can decide on goals to set yourself pretty much at any moment. Random Sunday afternoons, dreary Wednesdays, slow days at work. Or you know, watching the first episode of Sherlock Season2 and you are just not really following what’s happening on screen but at least Benedict Cumberbatch is really attractive. For example.

For me it’s not so much about a clean slate. This is super random, with no fresh start of any kind in sight. It’s fucking Wednesday evening, I am in the middle of a psychology course I am teaching, I am already two weeks in my yoga studio subscription, and March is already almost a week old by now. It’s more an attempt to scrub my slate clean by paying more attention to what I want.

I do some things just fine on default, but there is nothing like clearly defined written goals to keep me going in the right direction. Because so help me baby Jesus, Duran Duran, and Steven Spielberg, I am getting out of this fucking rut.

Anywho, these are things without deadline or without achievement attached, because that is not what this is about. These are just things I want to continuously do. Because I feel they can help me feel better and get my normal act together.

1. Clean up my diet. I eat alright most of the day, but caffeine and refined sugar have crept right back in as a staple of my diet. And when I am busy or stressed, I grab easy snacks, eat more processed stuff or forget to eat entirely, resulting in being superhungry and eating something weird at home straight from the fridge.

Also, despite eating more vegan food, I haven’t kept a vegetarian diet the past six months. Long story short, I started craving meet really badly during the summer. After some debate, I had some. Very strong, but I did like it. Since them I have (organic) meat every once in a while. I am not experiencing any health issues from it (yet), but although I was okay with it in the beginning, it doesn’t sit entirely well with me morally. I mean, it’s still animal. I don’t mind being labelless about what I am eating, but I don’t like not knowing whether I want to convert or revert. At least for now, I am reverting back to vegetarianism.

I am also going back to 80% alkaline, mostly raw food and 20% treats (quite possibly that latte, your honor). Upping the green juice, green smoothies and healthy snacks* in between.

2. Train my brain. Laugh at me if you want, but I am very paranoid about becoming stupid.

I am convinced you need to keep developing skills and stimulate your brain if you want to continue to keep the same cognitive capacity. If you don’t use it, you lose it. One sure way to lose your wits is by passive relaxation (or at least too much of it) and complacency. I do not want to lose any academic edge or trained ability that I have achieved over the course of my education. In order to keep that from happening, I gotta up my brain-training game which has been virtually non-existant for quite a while.

As my huge pop culture knowledge and super short attention span prove, I have been watching way too many television shows as well as firing a million impulses per hour at my brain through the Internet. That’s not what I want to do to my head.

Instead, I want to write and read for relaxation like I used to. Instead of watching television shows (for the umpteenth time) I want to use music as background noise when I am doing random household chores, and preferably sing again. I want to hoop, run and do yoga for fun instead of refresh Twitter, Facebook and Gmail. I want to learn how to do epic brain teasers, make cryptic crossword puzzles( in English, I can do Dutch) and do superhard Sudokus**. I want to read scientific literature and classic novels. Honestly. What is the point of working at a university if you don’t exploit use their resources? What is the point of having a personal library to die for*** if you’re not going to read what is in it?

So basically, I want to take better care of my brain, by choosing better things to do than overstimulating it with television and Internet. Now if only Mindfeud wasn’t so damn addictive that’d be grand.

And there you have it. A relatively upbeat non-whiny post about my goals. In a nutshell: Food for health and food for thought. Should be doable!

Now, tell me about you? What are your goals/priorities at the moment? Kisses!

*That’s totally my downfall. Once I’ve had my healthy foods and crave something sweet/salty during the afternoon, I just grab something that looks good.

**I know, I know: 2008 called and wanted its trend back, but I just fucking love Sudokus.

***Some people have shoe collections. I have books.

May Manifesting: The Wrap Up!

Goals, Law of Attraction 6 Responses »

Jun 172012

I promised I’d give you a run down of the things I’ve been able to manifest the past couple of weeks. I think it went pretty well and although I didn’t manifest everything, both what did come into my life and what didn’t gave me some useful lessons. I like this exercise a lot: I think it helped a lot tuning my mind into the right things as well as pick up a few lessons about the Law of Attraction here and there. This post is dedicated to how the manifesting went, the lessons I picked up along the way I’ll share with you in another post! Enjoy!

Money: Project Penny is crazy at the moment: I find coins everywhere. I find coins all over the house, on the floor wherever I am, in the subway station, and also in old jeans, boxes around the house, hardly used purses. The funny thing is that I pick up a coin, put it in my pocket and completely forget about it again until I empty out my pockets for laundry or clean out my purse or bag a while later. I’ve gathered quite a collection.

The little jar I use.

4,50 in coins (all found in this month), a token of a club we go to a lot, two perfume samples I got when I bought some make-up and a lighter I got from a friend. For the record, I’ve been a social smoker before but I kind of lost my appetite for occasional nicotine lately. Now I just use the lighter to light candles and incense. Oh, how things change.

I can also add to that a babysitting gig that just came up out of the blue (20 euros), a belated birthday gift (50 euros), two unexpected Girl Meets Yoga payments (22 euros), I dare to say that May was a financially successful month. I’m not really sure if I should be including tax refund and vacation money because one could argue that stuff always comes in May. Still, I’m still very grateful and appreciative for that too.

Also, I’d be neglectful if I wouldn’t tell you an anecdote of me and my friend Lin that occurred a couple of weeks back at Soenda. We got tokens for food and drinks and we weren’t sure to get 12 or 16. We decided on 12 and when we were walking across the festival field Lin notices something: 4 tokens.

I hate to break out the .gif again guys, but come on:

What I’ve noticed mostly about manifesting money is not so much about the money, but that I get a lot in general! Gifts, such as my dad getting me these cute notebooks he thinks I will like, my best friend dropping off a yoga magazine for me to read or free fruit on the market. Also, other little perks like the coffee girl asking me if I’d like an extra cup around my hot latte (which they actually aren’t allowed to give when you ask), the guy who asks me if I want a glass of ice with my water at a festival. I noticed these things a lot, and they’re really nice.

Health: I have been doing yoga, but it was only nearing the end of this that I cut the shit short and started going every day. Funny though: it’s only just now that I’m really in the mood for other sports too. I want to do a little more running, go swimming for an hour every few weeks and maybe try out Pilates and other types of yoga too. The iHerb order has not been delivered yet (ARGH) but I’m getting it Tuesday, I’ll write about it then. I’ve also found a place where they sell white mulberries, I’ve been eating a lot of salads, superfood smoothies and other healthy stuff. Oh, and I cut the shit short on coffee too: I quit. Which is kind of a big deal for me. Awesome.

Love & Friendship: Very coincidentally (I think not!), I did catch up with old friends from high school at our reunion and that was a lot of fun. Honesty bids me to tell you that the past month hasn’t been great for this area, though. When a new balance needs to be found in whatever type of relationship, things rock back and forth for a bit first. Things are feeling less wobbly now though, which is great for my inner balance too, but I’m taking this month as a time period that was necessary for things to improve.

Work & Writing: This is going pretty well. A few days after I wrote this post on what I wanted to manifest I had the performance review hat led to the renewal of my contract as well as some possibilities for extra hours. Inspired action: Check, and this is bringing me some interesting prospects (it’s amazing what a simple sent e-mail can do). I am writing a lot, having a lot of ideas and feeling a lot of love in this area from readers. Hearts and sparkles to you all.

Beauty & Fashion: No white tee or jeans yet, but I’m loving my off-shoulder sweaters, baggy jeans and sneakers as of late and wear a dress and high-heeled boots once a week. You know, so people won’t think I’m a boy. Make-up wise I could still do a little better, but I have a little Au Natural routine that I spice up with smokey eyes or red lipstick every few days. It works, I guess!

Miscellaneous Specifics:

An interesting new person to be friends with: The more I think about it, the more I realize that although I didn’t find one specific potential friend, I had a lot of postive and inspiring interactions with new people as of late: definitely even more than usual! Met one adorable reader (plus boyfriend) who I hope to see again someday, got to hang out with a bunch of yogis and the most inspiring yoga teacher I’ve had in a while last weekend, and students who gave me awesome reading recommendations. Instead of one new friend-prospect, I just had a whole lot of positive and inspiring interactions.

~~Champagne! -~~ Kind of silly, it was always here in the cabinet: My boyfriend still had a Moet from our last holiday. Now along with the champagne, we gotta find the time to drink it, so I might have to focus my attention on that first.

Young Thai coconuts for smoothies and coconut water: CANNOT FIND THESE ANYWHERE IN ROTTERDAM SO FAR. FRUSTRATING!

A festival ticket: This didn’t manifest, but I believe my focus is going to be entirely elsewhere for the upcoming time and I don’t mind one bit. Because my desire has shifted from going to festivals and partying to other things, I don’t think it’s going to show up anytime soon. But who are we kidding: if it does, I’ll go.

Poetry fridge magnet set (always wanted one!): Not yet!

~~Raw honey:~~ Check! After checking out the organic supermarkets and health food stores and not being able to find it, I realized iHerb is the answer for everything health food-related and got it there. It wasn’t even as expensive as I had feared, so I’m pleased.

A plant for in the dining room: Not yet, but I do realize now that I want an orchid so that’s a little more specific and I intend to get one soon.

So all in all, a pretty good month. Not everything and not everything as expected but I believe there is a definite improvement in my speed and specifics when it comes to the Law of Attraction. Let’s just keep training, shall we? Blog on specific things I’ve learnt from this coming soon! Happy Sunday!

May Goal Wrap Up Post.

Goals, Uncategorized 5 Responses »

Jun 092012

Oh, May. What the fuck happened here. It wasn’t even a shit month or anything, I was fine and dandy, but still. Hold onto your hipster glass and ironic hats, babies: I reached zero of my goals. Not the books I was going to read, not the yoga, not the juice fast, not the 10,000 words. Nada. Zip. Apart from some tequila-filled nights in Spain when I was 18, this May may be the worst example I’ve set.

Turns out when you lose focus, things go to shit. My focus got all scattered this month; I was working on manifesting (post on that soon!), writing the next e-book, and in between those times real life, relationships and work got majorly in the way. Or I let them get majorly in the way. As well as my ego and other issues. Anyway, of course I am a little bummed about it, because I would have gotten a lot more done if I had reached my May goals, but I understand what went wrong and learnt something out of the deal. Plus, whenever I think “I reached zero of my goals” out loud it makes me laugh a little: only way is up!

I’m going to switch between Manifesting- and Goal-Oriented months. That way I can give whatever’s in front of me my (reasonably) undivided attention, allow myself some space to recharge in an area and keep it interesting on both ends. I like switching things up.

I haven’t decided what June’s going to be yet, but considering I’m still finding coins every day I’m thinking I’m just going to keep it a Manifesting Month and go for Goals in July. And I’m excited for both. Have a great weekend, cheers!

Helpers To Create Your Ideal Future.

Dreams, Goals, How to 4 Responses »

Jun 082012

How to create your clear, pure and positive future? Well, lots of work, focus and determination of course and some very specific achievements, catering to each and everyone’s individual needs. However, I can’t really write your business plans or get your medical degrees for you, so instead I’m offering you some helpers that may help you design your perfect future, and getting you a few steps closer!

1. Make lists of what you would definitely like to see in your future. Get a sheet of paper or a notebook and write down the things you want in your future. All the things you want in your life. Maybe a year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, or even 20 years from now. These lists can include things like an awesome husband or wife, adorable children, a dog, a certain bank account balance, a certain house, type of activities, certain contacts, certain places you like to visit often, the luxurious you’d love to afford, stuff like that. Anything you want. Just list it up.

2. Vision Boards! As always, this is an excellent way to think about what you want in your ideal future and bring it one step closer to you. So make visionboards. Cut out cute pictures from magazines, print them from Tumblr or WeHeartIt, draw and doodle, write down power phrases and goals and just go to town on that white sheet of paper, creating your ideal future on paper. (Pro Tip: Tuck it away for a year or two and be amazed how much will have come true. Crazy.)

2. Write little stories. On paper, describe an ideal day in your ideal future and the things you would do on those days. For instance, mine is a 3-day period: First day is taking a yoga class in the morning and using the rest of the day to write while drinking juice and eating salads. Second day is teaching workshops on subjects that I love, third day is doing a whole lot of yoga, catching up with inspirational people, visiting a fun place or doing something adventurous or spiritual.

3. Visualize. Like the story above, except this time you don’t write it down, you just imagine as vividly as you can how your ideal day in your ideal future would be. Visualize from getting out of bed to going back to sleep, how that day from your perfect future would be. Not just what you would do, but what you would wear, how you would feel, what things you’d say. Imagine it to the tiniest detail and just soak up the image.

4. Make it a meditation exercise. You could do this by recording the visualization described above as you do it: walking yourself through an ideal day in your ideal future. Once you’ve recorded it, you can replay it and listen to it before you go to bed or whenever you meditate. Once you get over how weird your own voice sounds (trust me, you will eventually), it’s a nice technique!

5. Incorporate the ideal future in your present. There are elements of your ideal future that you could integrate into your day, right now. They may be the simple things, but if you can, you must. Because when it comes to this sort of stuff, nothing work like experience: Even the tiniest details are already setting your brain up for the potential perfect future. The more it can already see in real life, the easier it is to believe the perfect future will be yours.

If you work in details of your ideal future into your daily life, you’ll eventually end up at your ideal days. For example, although I don’t have the time to write all day every day, I can spend some time of my day writing. Also, I already do as much yoga as I can and I already drink my Yogi tea, green juices and superfood smoothies. Incorporate an element or two in your day: pull things from your ideal future into your present, so they can eventually fully express themselves in your future.

That’s it for today, folks. Is the new header any good? I’m messing around with the lay-out a little bit. Suggestions are welcome (although it’s doubtful I have the necessary skills to work with them). Kisses!

Dream on.

Dreams, Goals 8 Responses »

May 232012

You know what I love most about being 24 years old? Even more than the always fun and embarassing “How old are you? “Twentythre- FUCK, no! Sorry! I meant twentyfour”-exchange? That I know exactly what I want. I mean, it’s embarrassingly out there and a little delusional, but I’m okay with it. The heart wants what it wants, non? Care to take the tour?

I want to write. I will keep writing articles and blogs and manuscripts. I am going to write whole series of self help books available on my website, to the best of my ability.I will self-publish until any division of Hay House wants to sign me. Yes, Hay House. The publishing house of Louise Hay who pretty much paved the way for any self help author, and the publishing house of Steve Pavlina, Mike Dooley and Wayne Dyer. I want to be their published author*.

One day, I want to give workshops. Of course, this has a lot to do with me absolutely loving the sound of my own voice and the fact that once I start talking I can go on and on for hours**. But more than that, I come with a message.

And that is that self-help and spirituality is not woo-woo bullshit only appropriate for hippies. Personal effectivity is not just for business men obsessed with time-management. Positivity is not some meaningless label on a greeting card and the Law of Attraction is not just some crazy idea a brilliant marketeer dreamt up.

All of that stuff? It’s interesting and for everyone. It’s fun and if you tailor it to your specific needs it can improve your life beyond your wildest dreams. One day, I would love to be able to teach that in filled lecture halls where I can have friendly chats and cupcakes during the breaks.

Third, I want to practice yoga. I mean, crazy amounts of yoga. Because it makes me feel great, because it does my body, mind and spirit a world of good and because it is so challenging and fun. Because I feel there’s something in it for me on more levels than I can ever wrap my head around. Not because I want a medal or glory, but because I am curious. I want to see what I can do next. I hope and will train to one day train for national competition. And I will be patient and persistent to be able to go to Teacher Training. Whether it’s in 5, 10 or 20 years, I hope I can one day encourage, support and uplift yoga students the way my yoga teachers have always done for me.

Surely sharing this with you is going to make it fucking embarrassing the moment I end up alone, miserable and poor in a barrel somewhere one day without having any of my dreams come true. I’ll be that blogger who had a big mouth that one time and you can laugh at me with your friends. But besides that little dignity (which is overrated), I have nothing to lose.

Because even if I don’t become a published author, I will keep writing and writing and writing. Writing is awesome. And it will be read by at least a handful of people. If all else fails, I’ll just make my parents read it. They’ll be proud and I’ll be happy because I’ve written something. Things that gives at least a couple of people joy can never be a waste of time.

Even if I don’t get to talk to lecture halls full of people, I am still willing to explain anything self-help to anyone who wants to know. I mean, anyone. Fuck, if my neighbor’s poodle ever expresses an interest in manifesting a labrador friend, I’ll sit in the door step and draw it out. So be it one or one thousand people, anyone I can help is an extra person who is better because of my free time and obsession for self help material. That’s always going to be worth it.

Even if my yoga practice never takes me anywhere except the pool of sweat on my towel, it will be a wonderful addition to my life just as it is. I learn so much, I meet so many fun interesting people and it makes me feel great. Plus I’ll be fit, get abs and will one day touch my forehead to my knee in this position. Good enough for me.

We’re so used to keeping our dreams to ourselves, afraid of judgment, condescension and people putting us down. Afraid of the humiliation that other people know what we wanted when we fail to get it.

I’m no longer going to do that. Because even if I might not be able to do it all right now, if I keep working, training, practicing, I will be one day. If people tell me I can’t, I shouldn’t, or that I’m a joke? That’s going to be painful but not an insurmountable road block. I’ll get over that eventually and keep moving forward. I’m willing to work and I’m willing to suffer for what I want.

And even everything I do is not enough to make my dreams come true, it will never have been for nothing. Because the person I’ve become along the way, the things I’ve learnt, the people I’ve met and the obstacles I’ve overcome will all have been worth the trouble I went through.

No matter how small or grandiose your dreams, you can never really fail when you are trying to make them come to life. As long as you keep that in mind and have fun in the process, you can only come out better.

*In all seriousness: I would probably take any agent and any publisher offering me a contract and a reasonable advance on a book. However, if it could one day be Hay House I think my brain would explode from happy hysterics.

**Runs in the family. Thanks, dad.

When To Say ‘Fuck You’ To Your Goals.

Fuck you, Goals 11 Responses »

May 092012

As stated in this post, I had the ‘brilliant’ idea to eat raw food until dinner for four days out of seven a week. It’s not necessarily a bad goal, it’s just that I noticed it didn’t work for me at all. I’ve tried my hand at it for a day and it made me horribly depressed. And when something depresses me, I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be doing it.

It’s not that raw food depresses me. Raw food is awesome. Salads, juices, weird funny looking crackers and raw cacao desserts: Be still my heart. But, me telling myself I can’t eat something? That is a strategy I’ve used well in my teenage years and believe you me, that did not work out very well. We should not do it again. Because…it’s depressing.

It was the restrictive and limiting idea of this goal that made me cranky. It made me unhappy to know I would have to have 4 days out of 7 when I wanted to have a sandwich or a nice soup for lunch, I wouldn’t be able to. 4 days out of 7 to opt out of an offered brownie? Boo! I don’t want to do that!

I didn’t make me happy to know that I’d have to skip on a lot of the things I like every once in a while, just because it’d be my Raw-Until-Dinner day. It felt wrong. It didn’t make me happy. And things that don’t make me happy? I do as little of those as possible.

I eat what I want and what I’m in the mood for. I bet there will be plenty of days where I’ll eat raw food all day, just because I feel like it and because it makes me happy. But it’s not going to be obligatory or something to check off my list. I’m going to do it because I want to.

There’s nothing wrong with a little Spartan Warriorism in your goal setting. But it should always be the type of Spartan Warriorism that makes you want to pound your chest and scream all proudly, that makes you feel all tingly and excited of ‘what a kick-ass, exciting goal’.

It should not be the type where you feel like you have to stand in row and feel unhappy while fighting the other bare-chested Spartans while you’d much rather be out painting the abs on Gerard Butler. Goals don’t make you feel depressed, that don’t excite you and make you curious and happy? Those are the wrong goals.

So I impolitely told this goal to go fuck itself. I made a wholegrain bagel with avocado, had a latte and it was AWESOME. I have felt great ever since.

Making May Magic: Goals This Month!

Goals 14 Responses »

May 012012

New month, new list of crazy shit I want to pull off.

Read 4 (fiction!) books. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Oh my God, after the three whole books you read last month?! You really aim for the stars, don’t you?!” Well, um, yeah, I don’t have a witty response to that. Click.

I want to do a double yoga class 3 times this month. I’ve gotten over my irrational reluctance for them but I don’t want to make it too hard on myself by ‘having to do them’ every week, so I’m making it three for May. But who knows? Maybe I’ll break my personal record and do one every week anyway.

One Juice Fast. Just for the hell of it. I can manage not to chew one day this month. Right?

Write the first 10,000 words of my next e-book. Because once you gather momentum, you might as well keep going.

I want to blog every day. I’ve been managing 6 days out of 7 every week in April, but I’d like to have an update every day. So let’s give that a go in May. If I start making stupid shit up just for the sake of content I’ll go right back to 6 blogs a week.

During the last week(s) of April I tried my hand at eating raw foods until dinner and I really liked it: the sustained energy, continuously feeling full without feeling sludgy and of course…the bananas. So, to continue with the slow but steady trend: I want to do the Raw Until Dinner Thing 4 days out of 7.

From this point forward, I want to put in the time and effort I believe is most beneficial to me, my body and my yoga practice. I want to do 6 yoga classes a week.

I’m continuing the 15 Minute To Look Pretty thing. I have been very detached from how I look for a long time but I now realize I’m not just the inside, I’m the package too. So I might as well make it a representative of the inside. Plus, I just treated myself to a gorgeous red Chanel lipstick (click) that is just begging to be used.

Make a to-do list for every upcoming day. This is an experiment, but a serious one: I notice that if I have a plan, I get a lot more done in a day than if I just wing it. Worth giving it a try this month.

April’s Fool: Goals Recap.

Goals, Personal 5 Responses »

Apr 262012

Oh, how I love April and how I loved April of 2012. Now that the end of the month is near I figured I’d do a quick review on what I did and didn’t do. You can find the original goal list here.

I did read 3 books. Granted, it was the Hunger Games trilogy and holy-how can you not read those books instantly after the other, but I did read three books. I really enjoyed reading, it’s such a lovely refuge and great way to relax. However,if history tells us anything I will still go back to not reading because I’m kind of a dick like that. When will I learn?

Intouchables, Hunger Games…and hopefully I’m going to a movie with my boyfriend Saturday to save my Unlimited Movie pass. I secretly still love the idea of going to the movies whenever I damn well please. Now if only I’d really do it that’d be peachy. Two out of three, but I’m making it 3 before the end of the month. Promise.

I did the two back-to-back yoga classes. It always takes me some inner struggle to do it but once I’m over that I remember why it’s so amazing and why I want to do it. More double classes in May, that’s for sure.

I haven’t done the juice fast, actually! Bad, bad hipster! However, I did have a few Raw Food days where I ate raw food all day and something healthy (but cooked) for dinner. This I really, really liked. More on that in the May Goals!

Holy fucking shit. I published my first e-book. ‘Girl Meets Yoga’* happened and the responses have been so overwhelmingly positive. Everything that happened since has far exceeded my expectations, so I am thrilled and can’t believe it half of the time. I keep waiting for a creepy little man to jump out of the bushes and go like: “PSYCH! You’re on Punked and you actually SUCK!” True story. Nevertheless, thank you. I’m amazed.

Whereas it wasn’t an actual Month Goal, it was a Life Goal that happened: Got my tattoo. Very painful but exciting. (Click).

I did not go to yoga 5-6 classes a week. I think I managed 5 classes a week for the first two weeks. After that it was first finishing of the e-book, then I had a tattoo that’s not Bikram-Ready yet: all the sweating will have to wait until the tattoo is healed completely. Luckily, that moment is approaching rapidly and then I can go and establish my yoga practice as I’ve been wanting to for a while.

I think I blogged 6 days a week? I lost track. Let’s go with ‘yes’. Someday I will make it 7, but sometimes I really can’t think of anything and I feel like a cheerleader whose high kicks are really just uninspired little jumpies that make people feel uncomfortable.

Re spirituality & Law of Attraction: I started doing the worksheets again, did two or three every week. They’re so structured and work wonderfully for me. If you want to see them: Click!

I haven’t been upholding the 80 Healthy Foods vs 20% Spoil Foods for the entirety of April, but there has been a gradual improvement. Now that April’s almost over I drink coffee only twice a week (!!!), I eat more raw than ever and I feel it’s good for me. Definitely a move in the right direction.

Green juice every day: Check. Was easy because I already did it almost every day, but now it was every day. Green juice still epic. Nothing else to report.

20 minutes a day to look nice…um, yeah: is 15 okay? I definitely care a little more about how I look and spend a little more time on appearance, but apparently I can do it really fast. Once I’ve found my mascara, at least.

And there you have it: my April. I can’t wait for May, it’s going to wonderful too, I just know it. This weekend I am meeting the editor of Magazijn (gorgeous!) for coffee, doing a shitload of grading for my teaching job and spending a night out dancing with Lin and our boyfriends. Great weekend to end this spectacular month.

*Want a hardcopy? Taking orders until Friday night, I am placing the order Saturday morning!

Let me Be April’s Fool: Goals.

Goals 6 Responses »

Apr 012012

Honestly, what day more perfect to loudly proclaim my goals than today? If my goals are outlandish and outrageous? I am kidding. If I can’t take the pressure and actually spend the entire month procrastinating and eating Ben&Jerry’s? I was kidding. If I was a diabolical evil genius (who’s to say if I’m not), I’d be laughing maniacally.

And you know, outlandish and outrageous goals are good to have. They challenge you and teach you things, and if you make goals targeted to who you’d like to be, it serves you in becoming that person. So even if I don’t quite get there, I’ve still done pretty good and am closer to what I believe I can do anyway.

Less time in front of the computer and more time spent with my nose in a book. I want to read three books this month. Not the non-fiction self help stuff I am always browsing through, but three actual good fiction books.
I also want to go to (at least) three movies. I have one of those unlimited movie passes and always use it way too little. Added note: If I don’t manage to do this, I’m calling it quits and l cancel my card. If I wanted to waste money I’d donate to the Koney 2012 movement.
I want to do two double classes of yoga this month. I love double classes but always dread them a little too: they seem daunting at first. I just need to get over it and do it!
I want to do one juice fast this month. And not one where I drink juice all day and eat a huge dinner after, but one where I actually only drink juice and tea all day, eat a small salad, and then go to bed. Without a brownie for dessert.
Publish my first e-book. Because honest to God, I can’t be 24 and NOT have at least some sort of book out. Last year I did a Bikram Yoga 30 Day Challenge for charity and while the money I collected back then from family and friends is long and donated, the actual e-book that was supposed to go with it never saw the light of day. But it will. And I hope you will love it.
I want to go to 5-6 yoga classes a week. It’s fine to have a day off here and there but I fare well by consistent and intense practice.
Write (at least) 6 blog posts. Same as the yoga: it’s fine to have a day off here and there, but it’s consistent and intense practice that’s best for me.
Spend some time working with the Law of Attraction and a Gratitude Journal. Why? Because it’s good for my mood, and my life. I think an hour a week will suffice to start with. Maybe more if I’m inspired.
Uphold the 80%-20% diet ratio as much as possible. I’ve already decreased my caffeine intake to only one cup a day and I plan on slowly taking it down even more. More raw food, more greens, more healthy junk food. No more refined products from the cafeteria.
Drink half a liter of green juice. Because the energy you get from it is amazing.
Spend at least 20 minutes in the morning to look nice. This probably makes me sound like a slob, but my criteria for my appearance are pretty low: I just don’t want to smell or show my butt crack. Pretty easy to meet these criteria by showering and wearing clothes.

I think that’s quite a good start for April. I’m excited about this month. Lots of goals, my birthday on the 18th (!) and a kick ass party to end the month with. How about you? Do you have any spectacular goals for this month and why?