So this year instead of making year-long resolutions, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project. As she documents in her two books, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, each month Gretchen Rubin sets resolutions based on a theme and she charts her progress on a "Resolutions Chart." I really enjoyed reading both of these books, and I couldn't wait to plan and start a happiness project of my own.
For the first month of my happiness project, I've decided to focus on building a healthy base as I start training for the half marathon Jesse and I are running in May. Here are my four resolutions for this month:
1. Get enough (but not too much sleep).
It's not often that I don't get enough sleep, but sometimes I let myself sleep too much, and studies show that getting too much sleep is often just as harmful as not sleeping enough. With this resolution I hope to go to bed earlier, sleep 8-9 hours, and wake up when my alarm goes off instead of hitting the snooze button. I also want to start taking steps that I know will help me sleep better, such as turning off the computer 30 minutes before my bedtime and reading instead.
2. Act more energetic.
This is one idea that Gretchen Rubin repeats in her happiness project book: act the way you want to feel. If you want to feel more loving, act more loving. If you want to feel more friendly, act more friendly. I figure it can't hurt to try it out, especially since I notice myself commenting on being tired even when I am not very tired. Hopefully I will begin to feel more energetic and this will translate into better workouts.
3. Track what I eat.
Whenever I track my food, I am more mindful of what I eat and I, therefore, eat better. I also tend to lose more weight when I am tracking my food, which would be a nice side effect, even though my ultimate goal is just to eat healthier.
4. Drink (more than) enough water.
This is one area I am always trying to work on. I hardly ever drink enough water, and sometimes I get headaches because of it. Lately I have been trying to drink a glass of water in the morning before I eat anything, which I believe has helped. I have also tried keeping a water bottle next to me at all times. Hopefully these actions will help and this goal will keep me mindful of how much water I am drinking each day.
Alongside tracking my resolutions, I will also give myself a happiness rating each day to see if I actually do become happier over the course of my project. This is something that Gretchen Rubin did not do but that I am interested in trying.
Well those are my resolutions for this month. I'll keep you all updating on how my project is going. Hopefully this will be something I stick with, since I am known to start resolutions and journals and never finish them!
Until later,
Amy
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