life goals.

Instead of doing my monthly goal list (that I'm pretty sure no one but me reads), I wanted to change it up because I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how I want to change me, change my life and become the best version of myself. So, here goes...

How I am going to live my best life...

1. Establish a morning routine.
This requires I establish an evening routine and go to bed promptly every night (Sunday - Thursday), in order to be at the gym Monday - Friday by 5:00 am. This means I need to be in bed no later than 9:30 pm. Which means I turn off the tv at 9:00 pm, floss/brush/act, wash my face, use night regime, and finish getting ready for bed. From experience, I also either have to leave my cell phone in the bathroom or downstairs. When I bring it up with me, I'm usually on it for at least an hour before I finally get drowsy enough to pass out.

2. Be consistent with going to the gym.
This requires that I actually GO. Ha. The plan is to go every morning before work - so get to the gym when they open at 5 am. On the weekends, I would like to let Saturdays be my "rest day" because I feel like it would be really busy at the gym and I don't love lots of people in one space. So, then I would pick back up on Sundays when they open at 10 am. This allows me to go to church at Summit on Saturdays.

3. Give up the worst habit I have.
I don't know if you can really call it a habit at this point...after all, I've been doing it for over 10 years. If I could go back to my college self, I would say: "don't do it because it's not easy to stop." I know I have an addictive personality -- it's the reason I never let myself do anything other than smoke some weed in college. Who wants to get addicted to coke? I enjoy being a highly functional (most of the time), contributing member of society thankyouverymuch. It is time to be determined and disciplined and make this happen...I can't keep putting it off because it's only going to make it harder.

4. Study my butt off.
There are less than 75 days until my exam and it's time to kick it into overdrive. I only missed passing last time by 5 points. It's time to win back those points and put a check mark on this career bucket list item.

5. Treat myself with the respect I deserve.
I know there are certain things I should avoid to keep my body happy and yet I will indulge. Just because I can doesn't mean I should, so I am going to commit to a clean eating, paleo/primal-based diet. It's very similar to how I already eat just taking it up another notch. To me, this means nothing mainstream (soda, regular candy, potato chips, etc.) and sticking to meats, veggies, some fruits, water...I've already quit eating skittles. I was able to replace them with Black Forest Gummy Worms. The bears are good too, but it is too easy to eat too many and then feel icky afterwards. But, a few worms and I've had my sugar fix.

This also applies to men, but since I am intentionally not dating right now because of my exam, I can hit pause on this part of reinvention for a few more months.

6. Establish a beauty routine.
I have started to invest in various skin care products, tools and taken an interest in taking better care of my skin. To really get the best results, I need to do it consistently. Like, the Beautycounter Overnight Peel - that could be used after I wash my face, put on my R+F and then add that. I was getting good at doing my clay masks every couple of weeks and trailed off from doing that. An important factor of this puzzle piece is that the first piece has to be in place and working in order for me to be able to stick with this step. Right now, I'm showering at night and just rolling out of bed in the mornings so there is no productive routine happening, other than using R+F consistently and 2-3 times a week using my pore sucker (that has really helped, I think with helping clear up my forehead).

7. Do my chores regularly.
It's getting better, but there for awhile I wasn't cleaning anything or really doing any chores other than unloading/loading the dishwasher. I do plan on full-on cleaning my floors again, hopefully before Thanksgiving, but maybe it will be in between Thanksgiving and Christmas because it's so laborious. But, even just vacuuming the stairs. I did it for the first time just about a month ago...and that's after living in my house over 6 months, after the movers and the mattress delivery guys rolled through and everything. Ick. This is not me. I am known as being a clean freak so I really want to get back to that...it makes me happy.

8. Become financially independent.
I really believe that my grandma has really set me up to be successful financially...I'm just waiting for the checks to arrive so I can put my plan into motion. The first step includes Baby Step #1 (opening a separate checking account for an emergency fund and dropping in $1,000.00) and Baby Step #2a (paying off and closing my credit card accounts). After that, I plan on doing Baby Step #3 (adding 3-6 months' worth of expenses to the emergency fund) before going back to Baby Step #2b (paying back my parents). After that, I plan to save, save, save and put every dollar towards paying off my house earlier (goal: by my 40th birthday).