Time in Your Hands:
10 Self-Improvement Ideas Challenge
Taking advantage of time at home whether self-imposed or incidental could be as easy as to pick up this list and commit to try each one for size. You could try each on a different day, layering one idea that resonated with you on top of one idea already being used, or you may combine a few at time if that is optimal for you.
The point is that time in our hands these days is a rare opportunity and using any of these ideas as prompt may ignite a new habit or regimen that could prove of beneficial impact for you and those who count on you.
Enjoy this list, and if you want to process a challenge associated with the interesting times we are experiencing as a collective in these recent days, please call to claim you free 30 minutes lite-chat session via Zoom. It may be the shift you need right now.
- Start a gratitude journal. Limit it to a page or two. At least at first. If you are like me, soon you will have to time yourself to not go over the 5 minutes this is intended for. But do not be surprised if at first it is hard to find that silver lining. Stay with it, even if it is just a sentence, gratitude will start changing your inner workings and you may experience a shift in perspective that may come to a pleasant surprise to you!d
- Write your personal guiding values. This is simple. I will give you specific instructions. First, take a piece of paper and create three columns. On one column write PERSONAL, the next RELATIONSHIPS, and the last WORK. Then going down list things that are important to you on each area. Don’t worry if some items fall on more than one area. Just jot it down. Yes, like a grocery list. There you have it, your personal guiding values. Use this to prioritize your day to day activities and to do list so you may be working in a way that honors your values. Make sure all areas have their fair share of balanced attention.
- Develop an emotional vocabulary list. Use a thesaurus if you have one or pull a thesaurus on google for this activity. Pick one of the following basic emotions; fear, sadness, happiness, joy, disgust, loneliness, surprise. Then write each down on a notebook or piece of paper and next to each one write down as many other words you can think of that have the same meaning or sentiment as the picked emotion. When you have exhausted your imagination, look in the thesaurus to see if you can add some more. Try to use your body to say the emotion words that you were more taken by to enhance its meaning. Do the same for the other 6 emotions words given at the start. This might help you become a better communicator in situations that are delicate but need to be shared non-the-less. This may also help you expand your understanding of your various emotional states as you explore lexicon and somatic combinations to communicate! (Notice how anger was left out of the list!).
- Pick a goal for this year. Write about yourself as if this goal already happened. Do it in a way that the story reflect how you look, feel, how your day looks like and feel, how your relationships look and feel, etc., because this goal has already come to be.
- If you are in a relationship, write 5 things to do for a date (considering the current challenges). Then share with your partner. Ask your partner to contribute 5 more. Schedule each idea in collaboration with your partner and complete the dates. After each date discuss if it is a 'keeper' or a 'once was enough'. Replicate the ones you keep, come up with a new one for the ones you won’t. No cell phones or electronics allowed unless is a romantic movie being streamed!
- Same as #5 but for the whole family. You come up with the first 5. Ask each family member to contribute 5 more. Do the same as #5 above to complete the activities. No cellphones or electronics unless the activity is a movie being streamed!
- Same as #5 but for each family member individually. If you have children, step children or foster children, or a grandparent or any extended family staying at home too, come up with 3 different things to do just with that person alone (considering the current challenges), and don’t forget to ask them to contribute their own idea. These activities do not need to be long and could be as simple as baking cookies together to anything else. The point is to provide alone time with each individual doing something special alone. No Cell phones or electronics allowed unless the activity is a movie being streamed!
- Clean your email box. Delete, unsubscribe. Do it only 1 hour to 90 minutes at a time maximum. Do this as many days in a row as needed until back to where it should be, if there is such a thing. The key is to schedule this time and to not go over 90 minutes per day on this task.
- Polish your resume. Also, any electronic social/professional profiles. Update your letters of references and send your contacts an email just saying hello and wishing them well. Just a few sentences will do. Refresh any contact information that you discover in need of updating.
- Write a handwritten letter to your loved ones. This may even be people in your home or far away. The post office is still selling stamps online and delivering mail. If you have little ones at home, get the kids involved too! If you have teens at home, give it a go, and good luck!
Extra challenge:
Commit to a daily walk. You may do it alone and use the time to listen to an audio book or favorite music jam. But also, don’t forget to invite your spouse or another loved one at home from time to time, and yes this count double for #5, #6 & #7 above. Enjoy!
I hope these have ignited some great potential for you!
My heart is with yours. From time to time I feel the pinch too. May these challenging times be useful for your growth, and that you find that you can adopt some or all of these as part of your best practices. Send me an email letting me know what you think of any of these ideas, and do not forget to claim your free 30 minutes of lite chat session by Zoom. Call and leave message or text at 757-304-8035.
Health and Light to you and yours,
Sandy Herek, Life Coach.
Ignite Best Practices, LLC.
601 N. Mechanic Street. #201
Franklin, VA 23851
[email protected] www.ignitebestpractices.com 757-304-8035