As I mentioned in yesterday's video, which you can watch above, I am going to start sharing a lot more of my journey here on my blog. Sharing journal entries, exclusive photos and videos which won't be shared elsewhere and sharing lots more inspiration, motivation, things I've learned, mistakes I've made etc.
In sharing more of my journey I hope I can bring you as much value as possible. My hope is that you can take motivation from my actions and pursuit of my goals and to learn things along with me.
So to begin this first entry I thought I would go through my own personal written journal which I've started writing for myself over the last few weeks and pick out some of the most interesting things I have wrote since starting to journal.
As I went through my written notes, one theme became very clear to me as you will see as I share some of my passages. My very first entry was after a few quite lazy days, when my sleep had been quite bad. I'd be going to bed late, waking up late and then as a result not been particularly productive with the day:
I need to get back on track again and get momentum heading in the right direction again after a few days which weren't great and definitely could have been better....
At least I have started the day off well by meditating and now journaling - something new to try. I was sceptical about this at first (journaling), but as I do it now I can already see potential benefits. It is good to reflect on what is working, what is not, what I need to improve on and how. I can see how it is already giving me more clarity.
I will now share extracts from some of my passages over the days and weeks that followed:
I am starting to feel so much better and like my old self again. My daily habits (exercising, journaling, meditating, reading) seem to be working. I am much happier, optimistic about the future, a lot less stressed and more like my old self again.
Woke up early and cleaned flat. Also, with this current 'pause' on life, I am increasingly feeling it is like a 'reset', a new beginning. I've gained greater perspective, appreciating everything that I have in my life and starting to get more productive and driven again.
Today I went for a good run and felt awesome after it, much more alive and energetic. A lot less lethargic than I often feel of late and more like how I've been aspiring to feel - alive and full of energy!
This really feels like a new beginning, I am really growing as a person, getting stronger, healthier, eating better, gaining better perspective, gaining more confidence, more self belief, more positive about the future and more clarity. Habits are growing and momentum is growing along with them.
You can see things were improving and going well for me, I was feeling much better within myself. This is not to say that everything was easy and I magically transformed myself at the click of a finger however. The following extract is from a day when I again woke up late and slipped up on some of the good habits I had been forming:
Pretty lazy day again but I am still doing good overall and making progress. I am happier, more relaxed, very grateful for what I have, I am eating healthier, journaling and meditating daily and exercising a lot more frequently and consistently. There will be blips along the way, but I continue to grow and get stronger and I know I will not have 2 bad days in a row now. Momentum is on my side.
You see it is important to not be hard on yourself and not beat yourself up. Of course you will slip up or make mistakes some times, this is normal, this is part of being human and this is how you learn and grow. Reflect, but do not waste time and energy focusing on your mistakes, focus on and congratulate yourself on the things you are doing well and the progress you are making.
One final passage from a bad week when I felt particularly lethargic and hadn't achieved as much as I'd hoped:
It's amazing how good and different I feel immediately after a good workout. I've been so lethargic lately and not at all productive, yet immediately after exercising I feel like a completely different person.
I feel exercising is key to me, not just improving my health and fitness, but key to me achieving all of my goals as I'm so much more energised, determined and motivated as a result of it.
And there will be more on that specifically tomorrow. What I hope these passages show however, is just how important developing and sticking to good habits are. You can see how the habits I created for myself: journaling, meditating, exercising, eating well, had a quick impact on improving my mentality and well being which in turn led me to be more productive with my photography work too. This was when I stuck to them. If I find myself slipping on these habits then things go worse for me again, but crucially I do not beat myself up when I do slip, I reflect on what I've been doing well and soon get back on track again.
If you are setting up any habits for yourself, start simple, start small (I only meditate for 5 minutes per day for example) and reflect on and congratulate yourself on the progress you are making. That is one of the key benefits I have found with journaling, it helps you to look back and reflect on the progress you are making.
Live your best life, stay safe, don't be hard on yourself and I will see you tomorrow for another post :)
Chris
*If you'd like to see more videos of me discussing habits, happiness, motivation and all that positive type stuff then check out my video playlist here