Change is scary. No matter how much I pretend that change is easy it really isn’t. There is a a heavy aspect of fear that hovers around change. Most of this fear revolves around how others view you and how you think you are viewed by others. It’s complicated. But change is important for many reasons.

After reading Elsie Larsen’s post How I Changed My Life on A Beautiful Mess I decided to start following a similar plan, though I’m not as organised yet. Maybe that’s my next step.

Some of the things that I have done:

• Rejoined the gym. It’s 24 hour so when I wake early I can go to the gym before school. My next step is to try and go three times a week. I am managing twice a week at the moment. I like to run on the treadmill and do some weights. I use the Zombies, Run app.
• Dance class. My cousins, who have moved up from Wellington, somehow convinced me to join them for a two hour dance class on a Monday night. It’s part body conditioning and part choreography and I absolutely love it!
• A proper skin routine. Throughout my teen years and right up until recently I took a rather relaxed method to looking after my skin. By relaxed I mean that it was normally just water and whatever soap I had by…and nothing else. So I am slowly working out a routine that works for me. It means spending some time on pinterest because there is a lot to looking after your skin.
• Listening to Podcasts to build up all areas of knowledge.
• Building my reading habits to move outside my comfort zone.
• Saying no more. (Not going to lie, this is one of the hardest ones. I’m a born people pleaser.)
• Bought a new car. (So very adult of me.) My old car was dying a slow death. Part by part was being replaced and it was causing more issues that it should have been.

My next steps are:

• Food and nutrition. I don’t have a terrible diet. I love fruits and vegetables but I also like cheese and chocolate. I’m trying to find a healthy balance. Which, unfortunately, does not mean chocolate in one hand and vegetables in the other.
• Better sleeping habits. My sleep patterns have always been terrible but I am trying to adjust them to suit me. I normally wake at 5am during the weekdays and 6am on the weekends. I try to be in bed between 9.30pm and 10pm though that does not always work.
• Find a better work/life balance. Teaching is almost two full time jobs and anyone who would like to argue this point is more than welcome to teach my classes for a week and complete my marking.
• Write more. NaNoWriMo is coming up and I want to be able to have more fun with my writing.
• Update/change my style. Nothing dramatic. I just feel like I want to change up some things.
• Update this blog more. I use the excuse that I am too busy but I am finding reasons to procrastinate.

I have some other long term goals but I’m not ready to talk about those just yet. Some are to do with my mental and physical health but it’s all about the small steps. And sticking with my plans – adjusting them with I need to and letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose.

What goals do you have? What changes are you wanting to make?

x Jaime