Milestones to my Ideal - Hacking my brain for 2025
As promised, I am sharing my milestones to my ideal outcome, and I’ll also clue you in on my worst habits that are sabotaging my ideal. One of my milestones is creating weekly content, so here we are on my third week of writing the blog. Woot!
Using the NCI worksheet that I downloaded, I created a detailed description of my “Ideal and Perfect Outcome” (if you’d like to read this, check out my previous post This is Not a Goal). I also created a detailed description of what would happen if I make no changes, the “Least Desired Outcome.” Visualizing both of these possible realities helped me to see how truly problematic the path I was on has been and the stark contrast between my two potential outcomes. In order to avoid the outcome I do not desire,
I’ve outlined some milestones to create desired byproducts:
Monthly:
Create a budget
Examine the big picture/Project Planning
Plan/Execute Workshops
Map Content
Track progress/set milestones
Celebrate!
Health/Stress monitoring
Daily:
Use planner
Meal plan/Meal prep
Block time for step-wise projects
Create Content (blogs/socials)
Tidy/Laundry Daily
Unplugged time/studio time/exercise
Phone a friend
Watch vision board movie
The NCI plan has a sort of Yin/Yang balance to it, so I also created a list of negative behaviors that create byproducts:
Monthly:
Flying by the seat of my pants
Not getting rest/relaxation
Getting behind/ignoring farm projects
Leaving projects to the last minute/skipping
Daily:
Binging TV
Scrolling
Skipping laundry/folding
Last minute food/eating out
Impulse/dopamine buying/acting
Isolating
Creating this second list was, if I’m being totally honest, not super comfortable. I had to look at where I waste time and energy and really think about what my mindless dopamine-seeking actions cost me. The first line of my Ideal Outcome is:
I have a better relationship with my children where I work and inspire them, and we devote less time to screens.
In reality that extends to my hopes for my marriage and for my relationships with other family and friends. It’s kind of crazy what you really focus on when you take the time to analyze your situation. Rather than being in constant fight or flight survival mode as a mother, I would like to do more budgeting and planning (even meal prep and laundry) to structure the time and space to have higher quality time with our kids. I want to really connect with the people in my life in the real world and to facilitate others’ connecting with each other.
I’m starting to meet some of these milestones already here in Perú:
I’ve got a regular schedule for laundry coordinated with Mamá Irma, and we make delicious home-cooked meals each day. It’s hard to plan/shop for the week here yet, but I can imagine how I can better go about that back in the States come March.
I’m in week two of showing up for myself. Each morning I’m completing 10-15 minutes of yoga (shout out to Sarah Beth Yoga on YouTube!). I am also trying to practice better sleep hygiene by not scrolling at bedtime nor when I inevitably wake at 3am. And I have a 1L water bottle that I am refilling on the regular to remember to hydrate.
I’ve expanded my connections on Instagram by connecting with folks that I know in the real world as opposed to only following other artists. I’m hopeful that this will help me to get useful, fun, creative content out to more folks on that platform.
I’m showing up to check in with you all here on the blog once a week on Tuesdays. Programming blog themes ahead of time, even just throwing a title out there for a topic I want to write about seems to be helping. So thank you for tuning in and being good accountability buddies!
What daily activities are you developing into beneficial habits? Are there any “bad” habits that are preventing you from living the life you actually want?
Stay tuned for more:
What’s in a word? For 2025 it’s all about the Journey
Jaguey House in Perú: Walk through photo tour!
Hacking my brain for 2025: Training my “Mammalian Brain”
