5 Things

There are 5 essential things I need to do every single day in order to keep moving forward with my goals. Sometimes, life can seem overwhelming, so narrowing my focus down to these 5 things will (hopefully) help me seem less frazzled and make my goals seem less impossible. Earlier this week, I suffered a sort of meltdown. I couldn't sleep, so I got up and wrote in my journal until almost 4 am. What did I write about? Basically, the fact that so many of my goals feel so impossibly out of reach. I want to lose weight, but it's hard to stay consistent with good eating habits. I want a career as a writer, but it's so hard to get published or make any money. I want a nicer house with a garage so G can work on his old Hornet. And I want a baby. But when I put all those things together like that, it feels like there's all these huge, unattainable goals just out there mocking me.

So, I'm going to try just making sure to get something done from eat of these 5 things every single day. If I can stay consistent and make it happen, then I'll be moving in the direction of those goals and dreams. What are the 5 things?:

1. Eat Right - I have lost over 10 pounds, but I still need to lose 41 pounds before I hit my goal weight. Then I want to actually keep it off. This will help in my self confidence, but will also make it better for when we start trying to have a baby.
2. Write - This means either working on my novel or writing articles online for adsense revenue. Either one works for the writing, but bonus if I can get both done in one day. Right now it doesn't equal much money, but eventually I have to hope that it will produce the millions.
   
3. Exercise - In the same basic category as eating right, I want to also exercise. It will help me lose weight faster, relieve stress, and gain energy. I recently found out that I can use the gym and classes at my husband's work for free! I just have to get a health check first, so that's step one to using the gym. Other than that, I walk or use the stationary bike here in the house.
4. Read - Definitely the easiest one on the list, but no less essential. Reading is important for my career and for my peace of mind. I love to read. As a writer, it is good to stay up with the market and to see how other writers handle plot, imagery, mechanics, characterization, etc. Right now, I'm reading Stephen King's 'IT' on my Sony Reader. This is the easiest of the 5 to fulfill because I can simply read for half an hour or so before I go to sleep.
5. Clean the house - Ugh. This is one of the hardest for me. I hate cleaning, but there's always so much that has to get done. I can't imagine what this one will be like once there actually is a child living in our house. Hopefully doing all of the other things on my list will lead to making enough money someday that I can hire someone to do a lot of the cleaning for me. :) In order to keep it from getting out of hand, I need to do a load of laundry or clean the kitchen or something every day. For some people this is automatic and not worthy of going on the list, but for me, it's torture.

I am going to work to stay consistent with these 5 things. Every day. As long as I move forward with each of these, I will be moving in the direction of what I want in life. Simple as that. The more I can do, the further I go. Every single choice I make regarding these five aspects of my life makes a difference. My goals aren't nearly as unattainable as they sometimes feel, and I need to remember that some things are under my control.