Our Pretty Powerful Blog

It’s been more than a month since my last post, for which I apologise! Even though I only have a mere 8 days of the Pretty Powerful Life-Make-Over Program to complete I just somehow cannot get around to actually finding time to concentrate and complete them!!

Since starting my studies on 14 Friday life has revolved around nothing else but food, cooking, studying, assessments, completing assignments, attending lectures, doing research and in between, being a supportive wife and mother and home-maker! Oh I do get a few hours sleep in between all that and I do manage to find time to shower….but out the window has gone those lazy hours of nothingness to be filled with reading books, movies, relaxing, holidaying etc

I have now drawn up a schedule and will definitely be completing the last 8 days before the end of April, so continue ‘watching this space’! I cannot complain at all, I am loving what I am doing and in all honesty, if it wasn’t for this program, I would never have taken this leap into the great ‘unknown’!

xx ~E

As some of you might know, I started my full-time studies on Monday 14 February. It has been, to put it mildly, rather challenging to juggle everything that already goes on in my life with this new full-time commitment. I’m getting there, slowly, and of course my studies definitely come first. As soon as I settle and have some kind of routine going, as well as facing the time challenges I’m now experiencing, I WILL finish the last week of the pretty poweful course. Only 8 days of ‘lessons’ to go, and I just can’t seem to get to them…but I will, even if I only fit in one a week for the next 8 weeks, I will!

~E~

I cannot really relate to today’s exercise. I suppose because on one hand I’m not really interested in making huge amounts of money, I’m comfortable just as I am, we lead a simplistic life and I personally want for nothing. I understand that wealth can buy a myriad of materialistic things, that to be financially secure is everyone’s goal, but I honestly don’t need or want the “millions”. My wealth in life is based on what I already have, family, friendships, honesty, integrity… those are my riches. I understand the need to plan and to save and to spend wisely and have been doing so for many years, whether I’ve earned fortunes, been unemployed or earned a pittance. I honestly believe that my ‘relationship’ with money is a healthy one.

~E~

So today is all about not stressing AT ALL. I think I’ll rise to that challenge and create an entire stress-free zone today! I’m going to breakfast with some dear friends, so lots of laughter is on the cards, then I’m going to come back home, and in a stress-less way (lol) go about completing the remaining tasks on my to-do list. Only 3 more days of relative ‘freedom’ and then I’ll be ensconced in full-time studies so I really want these last few days to be calm and focused and to complete my to-do’s so that come Monday I have no ‘baggage’ or unfinished business that needs taking care of.

~E~

P.S. two posts this morning because for some reason, yesterday I wrote the blog entry but didn’t publish it! Doh!

Today’s lesson includes 10 very quick and easy de-stressing techniques which I’m pretty sure you can do anywhere, anytime. Some I know of and use on and off and some I don’t, so in keeping with today’s lesson, I will just have to persist. I will need to keep remembering these techniques whenever I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and if one doesn’t work, at least I now have alternatives. Of course, the one technique I find REALLY effect, which isn’t on the list, is laughter, I love laughing and it doesn’t take much to get me going and it’s a really quick and sure-fire way of de-stressing almost immediately.

~E~

It was this little pearl of wisdom that really resonated with me today, “Remember – if you want to achieve a different result, you need to do something differently. If you want to learn to stop worrying so much and start living stress-free, you need to start doing something different to what you have always been doing.” I should KNOW this! I’ve almost completed 80 of my 90 days on the Make-Over Program so it stands to reason that the same effective tools I’m already equipped with should help me with any stress or worry I feel at the moment. I’m definitely going to be reinforcing myself with the use of those tools combined with today’s stress strategies and that little blue worry box is going to be put back in use too.

~E~

Again, these stress prevention exercises come at a really good time. I spent the weekend discussing stress with people and I’m often amazed at my absolute inability to just ‘chill’. It’s not the pace of life or the fact that I am unorganized, but very definitely my pending ‘change’ in lifestyle that has me stressed at the mooment. So I’m definitely going to take some of today’s lessons and think of effective, logical ways to lessen my stress. The bonus for me is the stress prevention strategy workbook today, it really helps to work through each step and puts my ‘stress’ in perspective.

~E~

Today’s exercise couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. I have many balls in the air at the moment, as yes; I’m feeling the stress of juggling those balls, of not dropping an important ball. It is definitely the prospect of ‘change’, pure and simple, that is causing my stress. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I am the ultimate worrier, so if this week’s exercises help me to understand, identify and ultimately manage that worry and stress, I can ask for a no better, or indeed much needed lesson in life!

~E~

I’ve been wondering what the opposite of procrastination is and came across “Anticrastination”: “to expedite desired actions, in order to counteract habitual avoidance behavior”, and found it an apt enough word pertaining to the sense of triumph over procrastination that I feel I have achieved.  This doesn’t mean that I might not fall into the procrastination trap again in the future, so today’s exercise and pointers are great guidelines to keep in mind and put into use should that happen.

~E~

As much as I would LOVE to be doing something today JUST for me, or doing something I love, it’s a little bit of an impossibility. I’m sitting in a sealed room being driven crazy by floor-sanding machines and dust! Then again perhaps having something done in the house which really needs to be done whilst I’m at home to supervise, qualifies as time extremely well spent today?

~E~