Blogs are good for holding yourself accountable!

I read my past blog posts this morning and would have been absolutely cringing if I had not put any of the things I had mentioned into action.  But credit where credit is due, my family and I are doing quite well.  Here is a little run down of achievements, and things needing a little or a lot of work.

Achievements:

• Mindful Finances - doing well, asking myself the question 'Do I really need this?' before buying, most of the time this works, I would say an 80% improvement.  This has also helped with less clutter, more quality and less quantity.
• Take pleasure in maintaining your home - hall and living room currently being re-decorated, an absolute achievement.  New shower has been ordered, that makes me very happy.
• Family time/Go on adventures  - we have booked a holiday and heading off soon to spend a bit of quality time together.
• Eat Well/Exercise - yes! yes! yes! we have changed the way we eat, we have cut out most fats from our diet and eating much healthier, this has been a massive achievement.  Increased exercise too, building it into the day, dog walking, gym or wii dance, also bought a medicine ball and do toning exercises, its amazing the exercises you can do with 1 medicine ball.
• Enjoy the moment - started a Random Shots at Life blog, this is 1 picture a day of daily life, this has helped me be more aware of the little parts of the day and be appreciative of them, I would say this has increased my ability to be and stay in the present moment.
• Try new things - I have signed up for a friend's charity cycle ride around a small Scottish island with ladies I have never met before.  Im really looking forward to that.

Positives needing a little work:

• Make time for friends -  Last month make time for friends got a bit conflicted with mindful finances, had made a few arrangements and cancelled due to money involved.  On a plus note, I have a few get togethers arranged this month which I have managed to do using vouchers.  Roll on curry night with the girls!  This is a lesson to be creative when arranging time with friends.
• Document your wisdom and others - not been feeling full of wisdom recently. But on a positive note have found others with incredible wisdom.  Check out:  Disrupting the Rabblement and The Bold Life, just two of the blogs I have discovered recently that connects with me.
• Make Space - there is less clutter coming into the house but still a lot that can go.  I also need help with making space in my head, im easily distracted and being bombarded with information constantly takes me off on tangents.  Especially when I go online.  Becoming Minimalist has been recommend and I will work on this through March.

Needing a lot of work:

• Find joy in your work:  this is a proper challenge, and I have been struggling with it for a while.  I am bringing in my personal commandments of 'think for yourself' and 'co-operation, respect and love' to get me through this, but I also think its impacting on my ability to 'lighten up'. 
• Lighten up:   I have decided to take a piece of advice from Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and 'act the way I want to feel'.  This is going to take a power of self-awareness, and Im up for the challenge.

In summary.  What I would love for March is to read up on Becoming Minimalist and to lighten up.

I will report back on where that takes me.