How Simple Routines Can Transform Your Life (Even If You Hate Routines)

What is a Routine?

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary a routine is a habitual mechanical performance of an established procedure.  Snoooozzzzeefest, right?  Maybe, but bear with me while we talk about why you need this in your life, and when it’s good to shake things up in your routines. 

Why Do You Need Routines?

Routines are essentially a string of habits that you intentionally bring into your life.  They provide structure and many good habits strung together leads to less stress and over time, transformational change.  If you have ever found yourself saying, “I wish I …." at some point during the day the a routine can help you. "I wish I..."

4 Things I Want to Accomplish Before I Die

I have been struggling to land on some meaningful goals for this year.  Not typically a problem for me as I usually have a whole list if you recall.  I have some things that I have been toying with, but nothing has felt right to me this year.  Nevertheless, I have plowed on with what I landed on - the vague search for the real meaning of happiness

That search led me to this book called "Cultivate" by Laura Casey.  In the book she compares gardening to life, and more specifically to how God works in her life.  It has some thought provoking questions in it.  This isn't one of them, but for whatever reason this is the question that kept distracting me as I read this book.

How to Go From "Busy" to "Meaningful"

Lately, I've been feeling like I never have time. It's true. I don't. I'm always busy. Busy with work, busy with maintaining a clean, organized, Pinterest worthy home. Deciding what healthy, wonderful meal I am going to whip up while my cookies are baking in the oven.  Keeping up with current events, posting my wonderful life on FB and liking all my 500+ friend's post so no one feels slighted (kidding, I don't have 500+ friends. No one really has 500 friends.)

Then, there is the volunteering at school, so my children know I love them. (But, let's be honest, a large part of why I do it is so other people see that this SAHM has her it together because since I don't work a 9-5 I have to prove I am busy.)

How to Get Shit Done

Nagging Tasks.  They are tasks that you "should" do, but aren't urgent so you keep putting them off because it just seems like soooo much effort to just do it.  I would wager that most of the things on our long "To Do" list are nagging tasks.

Things like fixing the caulk around your sink, changing that burnt out light bulb (or light bulbs) or the air filter, finally putting your kids' school pictures in the frame, and dare I say actually hang them on the wall?  It's things like sewing that button back on your favorite shirt (oh, heck with it, it's been five years), cleaning up the pictures on your phone and creating a nice family photo album, or making those recipes you've been saving on Pinterest.  Nagging tasks also could be all those projects that you started and have yet to actually finish.

3 Types of Happiness

Happiness ......we spend so much time pursuing it, talking about it, asking "Am I happy?", justifying our decisions under the "I just want to be happy" banner, but how many of us actually can define it?  It is usually not given a lot of thought beyond, "I'll just know it when I see it."

Well, this lack of defining leads to a lack of planning, which leads to wasting a lot of time spinning your wheels, not getting any happier, or bemoaning your circumstances.  Last week we went over why your circumstances aren't likely the source of your unhappiness (How Your Circumstances Influence Your Happiness. )

It's really hard to find something if you don't know what it looks like.  Once you know what it looks like, then you really do know it when you see it, and you have a better shot at finding it.

So what is happiness?

How Setting Specific Measurable Goals Could Be Holding You Back and What to Do Instead

As an HR professional and performance coach, a large part of my career centers around helping people, teams and companies improve their performance and achieve success, and a crucial component of success is setting good goals.

So how do we typically set goals?  We start with a statement that usually starts with "I want to....." (lose weight, quit smoking, simplify my life, grow my business, etc."

How to Know When It's Time to Let Go of a Relationship

Someone years ago shared this poem with me, and it has really stuck with me through the years.  The author is unknown.  I have heard that it has been attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, but who knows?

The poem says that there are people that come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  

A reason relationship is when you need something at that moment in your life and in walks this person.  Then for what ever reason they don't hang around long, just long enough to teach you or give you what you need in that moment.  Sometimes these relationships come into your life in a positive way, and sometimes the lesson sucks, but it's something you need to learn.  The free-spirit party girl I hung out with one summer who got me out of my shell after a rough breakup.  The