{My}Happiness Project ~ March #thesearethedays #happinessproject #aimhigher

Aren’t you proud of me ~ getting this post up at the beginning of the month!? I know, I’m impressed too 😉

Update: No need to be too impressed….I wrote the post but didn’t publish it until now. oops.

I’m really excited for the focus this month and can’t wait to implement it.

AIM HIGHER

I know, pretty broad right? Aim Higher ~ what does that mean? In her book, My Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin narrowed it down to these 5 areas:

* Launch a Blog

* Enjoy the fun of failure

* Ask for help

* Work Smart

* Enjoy now

These were the 5 areas that Gretchen felt needed the most focus for aiming higher. As you know, I’ve decided to follow along on HER plan for my own project, modifying along the way as needed. So many times throughout the book I found myself nodding in agreement, seeing so many similarities between her and I.

As an example, Gretchen says that when she’s feeling blue, working cheers her. In fact, sometimes when she’s in a bad mood, her husband will suggest she go into her office for a while.

I totally understand. I have a few *happy places* in my life, and writing/blogging is certainly one of them. Which leads me to the first on the list:

Launch a Blog ~ Obviously I don’t need to start one, but I do want to improve it. I want to write more frequently, and like Gretchen, spending time doing that, cheers me. I LOVE it! Some of you may remember when I ordered my new laptop last year. After dealing with repeated laptop issues and ultimately not having one that worked, I had had enough. So I ordered a new one from Amazon and awaited our next Condo trip to meet my new friend. Because my needs are fairly minimal {ie. I need it just for basic browsing and blogging, not gaming or anything like that} I didn’t have to look for anything too high-tech. I decided on a Lenovo Chromebook with touch screen. And it’s good, but I have to be honest and say that I didn’t realize how much I would miss Microsoft Office and the ability to save and crop photos the way I’m used to.

Then, for the second time in the past couple of months, it stopped letting me log in under my account and would only let me browse as a guest. Which is *fine* except it doesn’t remember anything. *UGH* I have a blog post waiting in the queue but I have some photos in it that I want to crop before I publish it, and being frustrated at not being able to resulted in me browsing laptops on Amazon again. And then I ordered this beauty and I once again awaited my upcoming Condo trip to get my hands on her.

My blogging world is finally complete…or at least just a whole lot easier.

Enjoy the fun in failure ~ I think for me personally, it makes more sense to label this *Enjoy the fun in trying*. Failure isn’t something that necessarily worries or scares me, so I don’t have difficulty accepting it as an option. But, while it can be difficult to find/make the time, trying something new energizes and excites me.

I will have more details in the coming weeks and months on the first task on my list.

Ask for Help ~ Oh my, this one is difficult for me. I’m not good at it at all and would rather just find a way to get things done myself. This is also why I know my limits when it comes to volunteering for things or committing to attending things…if I can’t reasonably do it myself with minimal conflict or hassle, then I don’t. And I don’t feel guilty for it honestly. As I’ve discussed before, my main focus is the kids and work {and the Captain when he’s home of course}…and at the heart of it all, my sanity. I know when to say no and I know when I need to step back and *hibernate* for a while.

Work Smart ~ I don’t believe in multi-tasking, but I do believe in effective prioritizing. I’m fairly decent at doing this with the house chores ~ switching the laundry first, then unloading, loading and starting the dishwasher, and then making lunch or sitting down to fold the load I took out from the dryer. Essentially a few things are going on at once, but only as a result of proper prioritizing. I need to get better about this with my blog. Sometimes I just browse and don’t make any real progress. But that is going to change. I’ve been googling like crazy {as I always do}, looking things up on Pinterest {that site is a gem} and making sure I spend my time actually blogging. I always have numerous posts crafted in my head but I have difficulty transferring them to here. It may seem strange, but having my new laptop will also help with this. I can organize my files and create the quality I want to.

Enjoy Now ~ Carpe Diem ~ Seize the Day ~ Live the Moment….it’s all the same right? I try to do this in my life for sure, but it’s always a good reminder. Recently I’ve been trying to have an even greater awareness by staying off my phone in certain situations: when friends come for dinner and games, when I’m at a lunch date, while spending time with the kids {except taking photos}, etc. I’m faaaaaaar from perfect, but these are a few ways I have felt like I can be more IN the moment. Sometimes when we are doing something as a family, I’ll take a few photos at the beginning to document and then put it away so I can really be a part of the action.

Last week, while at the condo, my cousin and I took the 11 kids swimming, while our other two cousins were at the gym. With 11 kids ages 2-10, you might think it was a recipe for disaster, but it was honestly a fun and easy task. The biggest reason: We were IN the moment. We weren’t sitting on the sidelines, busy on our phones. We were IN the water. The oldest kids could swim, so that helped. The two middle aged kids {5) stayed close to the shallow platform {the pool at Ptarmigan Village is MADE for families with small children and is the #1 reason our kids learned how to swim!}. And of the 4 littles, 3 were in life jackets and I stayed in the water with the one who wasn’t. It was such a fun way to pass the time and the kids had a blast. And we both enjoyed bonding with our nieces and nephews {first cousins once removed if we want to get specific}.

So now the plan for March is to aim even higher. As I’m finishing up this blog post I’m planning to spend some time with the kids, WITHOUT my phone. It’s much too easy to get caught up with the relaxing world of iPads and computers, non? I’m also working on a bit of a personal project that fits right into my personal declaration that this is the *Year of Me*. As mentioned, I’ll update more as it goes along. Two things that are involved are tanning and massages, so just yesterday I went for a water massage {to try it out} and spent some time at the tanning salon. Both were divine and soon to be repeated. 🙂

I can’t make any promises that I’ll get better at asking for help, but I can commit to my efforts to working smarter. And of course to *enjoying the now*.

What things would you add to your list to Aim Higher?