Backstory: I’d forgotten about this one—how fun! I think the idea for this Nudge may have come to me when I checked out a new-to-me bookstore several months ago, when I ended up in a new-to-me neighborhood. Even though I live in a smallish city (San Francisco is roughly 47 square miles; for comparison, Los Angeles is 302 square miles), there is so much here I have yet to explore. Weather permitting, here is my chance to do just that.
Backstory: This Nudge didn’t come from the bowl. This is one I dropped in because I’m struggling today. Maybe it’s the post-holidays blues. Maybe it’s the cold and gloominess of the season. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a real affliction, in case you didn’t know. Maybe it’s the ongoing frustration of not having a clear path, a clear purpose.
I’m not sure what’s up (or down) with me right now, but I feel the need to find something to get me up in the mornings. Something other than piles of laundry that need to be addressed or bills that need to be paid. I am dragging through my days, so much so that yesterday, as I lay in bed dreading my day (and it was a Saturday!), I had a small fantasy about pulling everything off the top of my desk and burning it in the fireplace. Yes, I know that wouldn’t really solve any problems—likely make some worse—but the idea of having a clean start is appealing.
Where is my magic? What happened to my mojo? I need to find it and put it back to work.
P.S. I did check in with myself and know it isn’t chronic depression, lack of sleep, or illness causing my malaise. If your blue mood is lasting longer than is okay, please schedule a checkup with your doctor or reach out to someone for help. xo
Backstory: This is about shaking things up. Getting out of the routine (aka rut). Nudging myself, literally, out of the nest of my own making.
I work from an office in our home. I love doing this, but I have to be hyper-aware of the toll isolation takes on me. In previous years, I made a point of going out to lunch once a week with a client to make sure I had human contact. It’s a little harder to do now because most of my clients are remote. (One of my all-time favorite clients lives in Detroit.) I spend all day, every day, on a computer, communicating with friends, family, and clients through emails and text messages. When I start talking with my Head of Security (Louie, the dog) and expecting him to answer, I know I have to get out.
Maybe I’ll take my laptop to a coffeehouse. Maybe I’ll take a folder and review it in the park (sitting in my car, if the weather is too chilly). Maybe this is the week I check out the other nearby library branch, to see if they have a cool workspace.
P.S. Whatever you do, wherever and however you work, take this week to look at your routine and think about how you can mix things up. If you’re a full-time stay-at-home mom, maybe you take your stack of bills to be paid and do them from the cute little café you’ve been meaning to check out. If you work in an office, maybe this is the week you take a 10-minute break outside. It might be just walking around the building, but it gets you out. Instead of eating lunch at your desk (I was so guilty of that back in my corporate days), you eat outside or eat at your desk then get outside for a walk for the rest of your break time. Can you review that report at a park bench? Can you take your laptop and reply to emails from a pretty spot? Do it!
My nudge for this week is to take a break.
Instead, I am going to take some part of this holiday week off to maybe:
I hope you can do the same for yourself. In fact, consider this my very gentle nudge for you to do just this. 🙂
With my best wishes for a happy, healthy, fun new year! ♥ Kathleen
My apologies for being a day late on this. I pulled the Nudge, then got distracted by other things in life. (Hello, Holiday Season!). Back on track this morning. Have a great week! xoxo
Backstory: I have a small confession. One of my “crazy” dream jobs is to be the person who creates the names on nail polishes. Just imagine: I’d get to research trends, expense mani-pedis, create fun puns all day long—and get paid for it! I’m not sure how to go about putting myself in the running for open positions (Hello, Sally Hansen!), but for now I can spice things up with a hot new color. 🙂
Backstory: Oooo, this is a good one! It’s creative, it gets me manifesting, it’s fun!
The idea is to pick one of my goals or dreams—any one—and create something that represents to me what it would feel like to have it be my reality. It is putting the Law of Attraction to work for me.
In the past I’ve clipped images from magazines and pasted them onto a poster board in a collage. (If you’re more artistically gifted than I am, you might draw or paint yours.) The resulting vision board is then placed where I will see it every day.
Here’s a link with a good explanation and some tips on “How to Create an Empowering Vision Board” from Jack Canfield’s website*.
You might also check out examples in Pinterest.
Got my scissors, got my glue stick…let’s do this!
*Per the site, to use this link in my blog, I need to include the following: “Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul® and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com.”
Backstory: I was just thinking about this Nudge. I knew it was on the list, and as my collection in the bowl dwindles, I knew it had to pop up soon.
So here it is. What might I do this week? What scares me? Maybe this is the week I finally…
What scares you (and what are you going to do about it)? Good luck!
What Happened: You know a good way to get over fear? Confront it every day. I walked into this week thinking I’d do one thing, but then decided it would be a good exercise for me to keep pushing, to keep nudging.
Early Wednesday morning, I learned that “Do not be afraid” appears in the Bible 365 times. One for every day of the year. I think, perhaps, this is something we’re supposed to take to heart. Just do it!
As the week progressed, I thought about some of the work I’ve turned down this year. Oftentimes the reason has been scheduling (I can only do so much in the hours of the day), but this year I’ve also gotten more adept at identifying when personalities and work styles don’t click. It’s a tough call. I’ve certainly done my share of sucking it up for the paycheck to work with difficult people (bullies, control freaks, and, let’s be honest, idiots), but I’ve started to identify and acknowledge the deeper costs to me. So not worth it.
At the same time, I’ve been thinking a lot about the types of people and businesses I’d love to work with more, and this week, one nearby company came to mind. I’ve been impressed with their mailers, emails, website, mission, values, and services. Every time I receive a promotion from them, I think, “Wouldn’t it be great…?”
So I took this one step further and checked out current job listings. Sure enough, they had one that fit my skills and experiences, and I applied.
Turned out they’d already hired someone, but instead of a standard form rejection letter, I got a personal reply asking, “Would you be interested in doing some freelance work for us?” Heck, yes!
Ah-Hahs: As much as I think I could have been a brilliant fit for the staff position, I am not disappointed. I feel like I am getting closer to what I am meant to be doing. After all the closed doors I’ve walked past this year (sometimes doors I’ve closed myself), I trust that the door that opens will reveal something that is right for me.
I am so darn proud of myself for trusting my gut, following my intuition, pushing through fears, and taking chances.
And that, my friends, is a successful Nudge.
Backstory: I was just thinking about this Nudge. I knew it was on the list, and as my collection in the bowl dwindles, I knew it had to pop up soon.
So here it is. What might I do this week? What scares me? Maybe this is the week I finally…
What scares you (and what are you going to do about it)? Good luck!
Backstory: It’s not the worst hot spot in the house, but as I take in what’s there—what has been sitting there for years—I’m ashamed. Photos of cute toddlers (who are now teenagers with driver’s licenses), old CDs that have lost their cases (can’t recall the last time I listened to them), favorite items of jewelry that need repair (and so have been unworn and unappreciated), Mardi Gras beads…Mardi Gras beads? Really?
Backstory: Oh, geez. This must have been added to the list in a moment of frustration, not because I felt it was going to nudge me into any greater awareness or move me closer to finding My Purpose in Life, but simply because I am sick of how things pile up.
Two of my favorite sweaters have been in a box under my desk for…well, at least a year. Next to them is a pile of clothing that needs mending, next to a box of writing exercises and short story ideas, next to a yoga mat (covered in dust)…. How does this happen? This space should be my work space, my creating space. Instead, I look around this room and am eternally distracted.
And so this week, I start small with one task that I hope will make a small difference.
P.S. This week in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. More and more the focus of this holiday seems to be on over-eating, over-spending (even with Black Friday discounts), and over-sharing that leads to conflicts with family members. This year I am going to nudge myself to step away from the fray for a few minutes and jot down a list of things I take for granted, and for which I am thankful. You will be on the list. I am grateful that you have joined me on this wild adventure of Nudgings, and I celebrate that we are making our lives better with each small Nudge. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!