I don’t knnow about the rest of you but I often find Mondays hard. Weekends are often busy and it is hard to get into routine Monday morning. It is back to work and school and that can be a challenge for me.
Weekends are the only days of the week that I can actually get to bed before 2 am. I work evenings until midnight. The hour long drive home is tiring and by the time I make lunches for the next day and do a little tidy up and sit for a few minutes it’s 2 a.m. soon enough. I try to use the weekends to get some sleep, the sleep that I have missed out on during the week. I find the older I get, and the longer I go with little sleep the dumber I get. I think I am losing brain cells as I type right now. I could really use a nap but as usual I have work to do, and I am not talking about house work ( although there is that to do too!). I am talking about an article that I haven’t started writing that needs to be done today. I am hoping that writing this post will help me get warmed up. OK, it is more like I am procrastinating, what’s your point!
So on Motivation Monday I want to talk about things that help me stay motivated and even the things that I find challenging about staying motivated. This is all going to help me stay on track and continue to work towards changing my life and my famililes life. It was my non resolution resolution. I wanted to do something more than just make a resolution, like lose weight or work less, two things I would love to see happen but it is about more than that. It is about a total life shift.
Now that I have reminded myself about what I want to do and why I need to stay motivated, I want to share a great book that I read that helped me think about how I think, the little voice I hear in my head, and how to work toward being a better person. It is called the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
It was a book that really spoke to me. It is short and easy to read but more importantly it had ideas that made sense to me. It is based on four basic agreements that we make with ourselves.
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
