January - Happiness Project

About a week ago I shared with you that my one word for the year will be Happiness. If you missed it you can find that post here. I also talked about a book I am currently reading called The Happiness Project. The book is broken down into months and for each month there is a set of mini resolutions or goals to work towards. Each month I will share my progress on this journey towards happiness.

January's focus was on boosting energy. We all need energy and I seemed to be running out of steam. Maybe I was coming down from my holiday high or being home with kids and now we're back into our normal routines.  Whatever the case I was less energetic and more fatigued. January was broken down into physical and mental energy.

For physical energy my goals were to:

1. Go to sleep earlier

2. Exercise better

For mental energy my goals were to:

3. Toss, restore, organize

4. Tackle a nagging task

5. Act more energetic

1. Go to sleep earlier - I tend to go to sleep at a reasonable hour and some might even say too early. Check, done! Right? Well, I have found myself falling to sleep on the sofa, every single night. I usually wake up around 2 to check the house and then go back to sleep in my bed. Or I just go back to sleep on the sofa. :) Crazy, huh! But that is how I roll. I set my goal as to go to sleep in my bed, rather than the sofa. Fail.

I have only actually fell asleep in my bed a few times but on the brighter side that is an improvement. I am still working on this, trying to make it a habit. In my defense, my husband had been working late hours which added in this habit and plus I like to fall asleep while watching TV. We don't have a TV in our room.

2. Exercise better or start exercising - I use to not exercise at all. When I hurt my knee last year my physical therapist instructed me to start. He informed me, like I didn't already know, I was no longer in my twenties. As if...but truth be told I really did need to exercise and be more active. So this is my workout schedule:

Monday - Piloga

Wednesday - Ab Ripper X

Saturday - Zumba

It's not a lot but I am starting somewhere. I can already see a difference. My energy levels are up and my knee is no longer hurting every time I bend down!

3. Toss, restore, organize - I do 40 bags, 40 days every Lent, so this wasn't something I wanted to dwell on this month but I did manage to clean out some old clothes and toys I had lying around the house.

4. Tackle a nagging task - I cleaned up my act and tackled my paper problem. I finally created a filing system and everything is now in one location. You can read about it here.

5. Act more energetic - This seems like a no brainier, but it wasn't. There were many days last month that I just felt like bump it, I'll watch TV and sat there on the couch like a log. It wasn't until the end of the month that I actually did this goal. And when I did, I discovered that I did have a good amount of energy left at the end of the day. I could fold that load of clothes lingering in the dryer and put them away and I had enough energy to read to the kids, with voices and all! I can be very dramatic!

If you want to follow along February's focus is on Remember Love - Marriage. The goals are quit nagging, don't expect praise or appreciation, fight right, no dumping and give proofs of love.

I will do a recap of each months progress. If I bored you to tears, skip my little recaps, I am doing this to keep track of my progression. I know I told you that today I would share my son's valentines but they are not finished so here's hoping for tomorrow. :) See ya soon!