Primed for the Holidays
This year has been so busy I rarely paid attention to Christmas:
- Zero Christmas cards written to long-distance friends.
- No clue on what to gift to friends’ kids and family.
- Last-minute shopping (nope, I’m not done with my shopping yet).
That explains why I signed up for Amazon Prime (free trial) because e-shopping is far more convenient than trying to beat the crowd in the mall.
Last-minute shopping is one thing, but what I’m feeling now shows something deeper about my relationship with Christmas.
It seems like Christmas lost its “magic” on me.
Or maybe I’m just tired?
Or maybe because of the stress of finding the right gift EVEN THOUGH we know our gift will be valued for whatever it is..?
Not sure.
Feels Like Forever
Working this week felt like forever because I couldn’t help but think about the holidays – the days I plan to take a break.
It’s been a busy year and I understand how important recovery is to increase productivity.
While sitting on the couch, play video games or watch TV all day sounds like a good way to recover – it’s not what I plan on doing.
Instead, I needed to use the time to prep myself up for next year.
And when I say “prep”, I mean getting myself ready to work even harder next year.
The thought that came to my head was to do twelve “30-Day-Trials”.
How likely am I going to follow through? I don’t know but it’s worth the try.
I’ll start with improving my physical health through exercise and sleep. #letthesquattingbegin
Shocked
I’m planning to use Wednesdays as my “workout day”.
To initiate this new ritual I plan to add in my week, I did 100 squats and 50 push-ups in about 10-minutes before going to work.
Then I felt a little light-headed after. The next day, I felt sore. My legs and chest muscles were shocked.
The beginning is always the hardest. It’s when you can come up with a gazillion reasons why you cannot accomplish what it is you attempt to accomplish.
While people workout to lose weight, my goal is really to become healthier and increase the quality of my sleep.
I plan to do that again this Wednesday and Wednesday the week after.
A Year Ago This Week
I wrote about…
- unproductive week at work. *Yup similar pattern here
- feeling overwhelmed before Christmas
- having a rest week and strategic resting
[read here]
Goal Update
Personal Projects
I was paid $35 for creating a personalized design for a co-worker. *cha-ching*
I also printed one of my designs on a mug and personalized it as my Secret Santa gift.
Both recipients were happy with the design 🙂
Health
Followed through my plan to workout for 10-minutes on Wednesday.
There was a lot of hesitation at first. I can hear myself saying “Hmm what if I wait it out ’til next year?”
But I ended up doing it anyway.
This is why I take a 60-sec ice-cold shower every day. It’s to train myself to do it anyway even though I don’t feel like doing it.
It’s my mental cure for laziness.
Finance
A friend asked a question about universal life insurance. I did not know exactly what the answer was but it prompted me to dig into the subject further and provide an answer.
Next year, I’m gonna put more focus on learning about life insurance. Not in a way to become a guru but learn enough to address my potential clients’ concerns.
When I bought my life insurance, I didn’t really know much about it. Even today, I haven’t spent the time and focus to understand it deeply. This has to change next year.
