Hello all! I am on Day 5 of a 100 Day Project that I started last week. I wanted to tell you about it, mainly because it's the first time I've committed to something like this for so long and I think it's the first time I've done it properly, in a way that I can succeed.
I started with 3 simple main goals with a few more tiny personal goals penciled in here and there. But my main focus is this:
Walk: I try to walk for at least an hour everyday. We have a lovely riverside park that spans our entire city and the weather has been perfect these past few days. Granted, it was raining on Saturday night, but I didn't let that stop me. While I'm walking, I usually listen to podcasts. So far, I'm just catching up on This American Life, but I'm taking suggestions!
Words: I'm memorizing five new Korean vocabulary words every day. And then after learning the new ones, I review all the others. I am using a handy app for this one called StudyBlue. I highly recommend it. It allows you to make flashcards and to mark if you got them correct or not. Then, each time you study it gives you the percentage you got correct, remembers the ones you got wrong, and keeps track of how many times you've studied. There are many ways to flip through your flashcards. You can look at them in order, shuffled, from easiest to hardest, the least studied, or study just the ones you got wrong. I keep adding the new words to the same set of cards so I have to go through all of them everytime. I'm having a lot of fun speaking Korean these days, and my main weakness is vocabulary since I've mastered enough grammar to have a decent, but elementary conversation. So, words!
Write: I'm journaling this 100 Day project in a paper journal and although my hand keeps cramping, it's so nice and I'm remembering what that pen-to-paper addiction feels like. Turns out journaling churns out a lot more than just keeping a record of my goals. It's prompted me to start writing here again. And without making excuses for my absence, or making up a bunch of rules for myself to follow about posting here. It's my space. I'm back for now and happy about it. I hope you are, too!
I'm using the Lift app to keep track of these simple daily goals. I have two others there (feed cats, make the bed) that I'm constantly needing to remember. This app is helpful if you have certain things you want to get done everyday. It feels so good pushing that big check button. You can also see others who are pursuing the same goals as you and it tells you how many times you've checked in and if you're on a roll or not.
Making the time to walk has made me way more productive in the mornings and afternoons before I get Jude from daycare. I drop him off between 9 and 10 in the morning (9 on the dot this morning since he decided to wake up 7 times last night and to get up for good at 6:30 am!) and then leave for my walk. I come back excited to get things done and energized and usually with a ton of good ideas rolling around in my head. I've been thinking about walking for a long time and how it's related to writing and all the writers I know and have read of who had the habit of walking everyday. Eventually, maybe the walking will turn into running, but I think I'm going to leave it for a while.
I have one rule about this project: If I miss a day, IT IS OKAY. I will not give up. I will not stop just because I won't have a perfect 100 days of whatever. I will have a great 100 days of doing my best and I'm sure some mistakes and it will be beautiful anyway because it's my life and I've begun living it again!
If you know of any podcasts that you're loving, or anything that you do that helps you reach your goals, let me know! You can follow my progress on Twitter, where I post daily updates. It's so good to be back. This post is not a magnificent, moving manifesto of anything. But it is something. And I'm learning to appreciate even the little somethings. I also appreciate you, and you are a Big Something. Here's to Day 5 (two goals already met) and another 95 attempts!
I started with 3 simple main goals with a few more tiny personal goals penciled in here and there. But my main focus is this:
Walk: I try to walk for at least an hour everyday. We have a lovely riverside park that spans our entire city and the weather has been perfect these past few days. Granted, it was raining on Saturday night, but I didn't let that stop me. While I'm walking, I usually listen to podcasts. So far, I'm just catching up on This American Life, but I'm taking suggestions!
Words: I'm memorizing five new Korean vocabulary words every day. And then after learning the new ones, I review all the others. I am using a handy app for this one called StudyBlue. I highly recommend it. It allows you to make flashcards and to mark if you got them correct or not. Then, each time you study it gives you the percentage you got correct, remembers the ones you got wrong, and keeps track of how many times you've studied. There are many ways to flip through your flashcards. You can look at them in order, shuffled, from easiest to hardest, the least studied, or study just the ones you got wrong. I keep adding the new words to the same set of cards so I have to go through all of them everytime. I'm having a lot of fun speaking Korean these days, and my main weakness is vocabulary since I've mastered enough grammar to have a decent, but elementary conversation. So, words!
Write: I'm journaling this 100 Day project in a paper journal and although my hand keeps cramping, it's so nice and I'm remembering what that pen-to-paper addiction feels like. Turns out journaling churns out a lot more than just keeping a record of my goals. It's prompted me to start writing here again. And without making excuses for my absence, or making up a bunch of rules for myself to follow about posting here. It's my space. I'm back for now and happy about it. I hope you are, too!
I'm using the Lift app to keep track of these simple daily goals. I have two others there (feed cats, make the bed) that I'm constantly needing to remember. This app is helpful if you have certain things you want to get done everyday. It feels so good pushing that big check button. You can also see others who are pursuing the same goals as you and it tells you how many times you've checked in and if you're on a roll or not.
Making the time to walk has made me way more productive in the mornings and afternoons before I get Jude from daycare. I drop him off between 9 and 10 in the morning (9 on the dot this morning since he decided to wake up 7 times last night and to get up for good at 6:30 am!) and then leave for my walk. I come back excited to get things done and energized and usually with a ton of good ideas rolling around in my head. I've been thinking about walking for a long time and how it's related to writing and all the writers I know and have read of who had the habit of walking everyday. Eventually, maybe the walking will turn into running, but I think I'm going to leave it for a while.
I have one rule about this project: If I miss a day, IT IS OKAY. I will not give up. I will not stop just because I won't have a perfect 100 days of whatever. I will have a great 100 days of doing my best and I'm sure some mistakes and it will be beautiful anyway because it's my life and I've begun living it again!
If you know of any podcasts that you're loving, or anything that you do that helps you reach your goals, let me know! You can follow my progress on Twitter, where I post daily updates. It's so good to be back. This post is not a magnificent, moving manifesto of anything. But it is something. And I'm learning to appreciate even the little somethings. I also appreciate you, and you are a Big Something. Here's to Day 5 (two goals already met) and another 95 attempts!
