Tag: strategic life

Solving the Health Puzzle

When I was younger, I looked at health as the composite of two things. Eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. If you did these two things, you would be healthy. Mother Fran and Papa Jack took care of the healthy diet for everyone in my household so all I had to do was get plenty of exercise. Wait, they helped ensure that as well. My parents were always kicking us out of the house to go and play, go weed the garden, go shovel the dirt around the pond. Plus my siblings and I loved to shoot hoops, ride bikes, climb trees and play catch. Getting exercise as a kid growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s was easy.

Now that I have Embraced the Gray, I know that living a healthy lifestyle is about so much more than food and movement. These two things are absolutely critical but they are only two pieces of a larger puzzle. I have done a ton of reading on this topic and listened to many podcasts and audiobooks that it is time I summarize for myself (and for anyone else interested) what a more complete health puzzle looks like. This is important to me because energizing others to choose health is part of how I live my life strategically!  

An incomplete health puzzle…

Continue reading “Solving the Health Puzzle”

We Really Can Do This!

 

I spent one day recently engaged in completing some Strategic Planning exercises to help me clarify how I will use my Health Coach Certification. The exercises I completed were helpful and fun and by the end of the day I had written a mission statement and a list of actionable steps to get me moving in the right direction.

Mission Statement: “To energize adults living with chronic disease to maximize their health, wealth, and happiness by adopting new habits, embracing positive attitudes, removing barriers, and focusing on what brings them joy“.

Lake Girl@mylittlebluekayak.com
What new habit are you thinking about embracing? Let me know in the comment section below!

Continue reading “We Really Can Do This!”

2018 Goal Review

2018 is long gone and it is past time that I took a peek at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year to see how I fared. Overall, I am pleased with how I did and have started the process of writing my 2019 goals. I wonder what it is like to be one of those people who have annual goals written by the beginning of the year. I wonder, but I don’t stress about or even bother to dream about it!

2018 Happiness Goals

I am happy when I hike!

Continue reading “2018 Goal Review”

Good Habits = Success

I am sitting in my living room at 7:30 in the morning looking at my nicely decorated Christmas tree. My honey is sleeping and Fenway is waiting patiently by the front door, a sure sign she is ready to go out for a walk. I love a quiet, lazy morning with time to reflect, relax and strategize. After the walk that is!

I am not a technical person, but have been experimenting with a new app called Productive. The free version let me track 3 habits that I wanted to incorporate into my life and I had so much fun (and success) doing that, that I asked for a 1 year subscription for Christmas. So now I can track unlimited habits and am enjoying the process. This is not a review of Productive, there are a bunch of apps available to help develop good habits and increase productivity; this is just the one I stumbled upon, liked the look of and decided to check out.

Still learning to embrace technology!

Continue reading “Good Habits = Success”

Flip The Switch

In the past, I tended to get in a groove and just flowed from one activity to the next. I would go to work and stress out about it. I would grab a beer with friends and complain about it. But I wouldn’t spend much time thinking about what I wanted or how I could make life better. There is something to be said for being in the groove but it can lead to complacency.

Even now, I get comfortable working a few shifts, doing my yard work on the side, cooking awesome meals for my honey, helping Child #1 and her honey with some small projects and writing my blog posts. I like my life and tend to get comfortable sitting on my couch. But as we know, life doesn’t get better while simply sitting on the couch.

To keep from getting too comfy on the couch, I have been spending some time thinking lately. Can you smell the smoke? See the flames? Hear the crackling?

For me, thinking is a powerful but underutilized tool!

Continue reading “Flip The Switch”

Finding it Impossible to Change? Try This!

I am a 50 something year old woman who is learning to embrace the gray by being comfortable in my own skin and by  letting go of societal expectations regarding what success, work, and retirement looks like. Several years ago, I took 2 months off to hang with Fran after hip surgery. After those 2 months, I went back to  full-time work as an Occupational Therapist in a Skilled Nursing Facility. But I returned a different person with a whole new set of priorities in life. My biggest goal became moving back to the Finger Lakes so I could be near my family, my honey and the lake.

Going back to work was tough!

Continue reading “Finding it Impossible to Change? Try This!”

2018 Goal Progress

OMG 2018 is more than half way over. It is amazing how quickly time zips bye, and if we don’t pay attention, those goals we set way back in January become forgotten. Goals that are written down in January and never looked at again are simply words on a page. They are like wishes, they sound good but are not going to come true without hard work, perseverance and tracking.

It is time to review my goals for the year to check in on my progress. Here in My Little Blue Kayak, I spend my time paddling toward optimized health, wealth and happiness. Therefore, I tend to write goals in these categories. In January, I posted my 2018 goals and you can check them out here. In that post, I also explained how my goals each year, fit into the bigger picture of how I want to live my life strategically. Go check it out if you have the time!

Continue reading “2018 Goal Progress”

Stop Trying so Hard!

People spend a lot of time talking about trying to get healthy and the need to take better care of themselves.  Is health something that can be obtained and maintained? Are people in general healthy or unhealthy? Is it simply an illusion? I mean most of us spend our lives thinking about and attempting to obtain it, maintain it and don’t want to lose it.

When I talk about health, I don’t mean just the absence of illness or injury. When I talk about health, I mean the whole shebang! I mean eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, being physically active, having positive relationships and taking care of oneself.  Taking care of oneself  includes those little daily habits we engage in and decisions we make in the quest to optimize health.

Is health an illusion?

Continue reading “Stop Trying so Hard!”

Tying Up Loose Ends

If you are a frequent paddler here at My Little Blue Kayak, you know  I am not a fan of being super busy. I prefer a leisurely paddle to the middle of the lake, followed by 15 minutes of basking in the sunshine to an all out race across the lake. With that in mind, I have been super busy the last few weeks and haven’t had a chance to write. Spring is my busy season with yard work gigs, nursing home shifts and opening up the cottage for the summer.

I still don’t have much time, so I thought I would tie up some loose ends from earlier posts.

Tie up those loose ends… and boats!

 

Continue reading “Tying Up Loose Ends”

Staying On The Path

Back in February in a post titled “Don’t Just Go Through the Motions”, I shared my goals for 2018.   My goals are recorded on 3 notes on my Google Keep Page under the titles Health Goals, Wealth Goals and Happiness Goals. My Google Keep Page come up automatically every time I turn on my computer. This way, my goals are always accessible for me to review. My Google Keep Page contains 2 other notes related to my goals. One is where I record the next steps I need to take to reach my goals and the other contains reminders to prioritize my goals.

One note is titled “Sculpt My Life – Next Steps”.  This is where I write down the next steps I need to take toward reaching my goals. Periodically, I review my goals and figure out the next step for each and jot that down on this list. The second note is titled “My Strategic Life Reminders”. This is where I jot down helpful advice I have read about or heard about that I think will help me in my pursuit of health, wealth and happiness goals. They are reminders to prioritize what I say is important to me.  Currently, this list contains the following 3 bullet points:

  • What 1 thing do I want to get better at today? What opportunities will I have to practice it? Do it every day…
  • You are never going to feel like it
  • Act on ideas within 5 seconds or you will pull the emergency brake

Which direction will you follow?

Continue reading “Staying On The Path”