May 2012 31 Day Reset

The lovely lady over at Happy Black Woman created an awesome 31 day challenge that helps you "reset" your life!

I have been trying to do it for awhile now, but every time I get to day 15 (urghhh the dreaded day 15) I always end up falling off.  However since I will be finish with school Tuesday, I feel that this month would be a perfect time to try it again and use the blog to hold myself accountable. 

The purpose of the challenge is to complete an exercise each day that helps you get back on track in ways she feels will allow you to become a better, happier, healthier and more successful person in the future.  With this being said, not only will I have time to participate (a month break before summer school starts), but I have also started a new job, and possibly will be making a move by the end of the summer.  These actions feel like I am starting a new chapter in life and I hope that these exercises can help me:

• Continue to get out of the rut I am in; and
• Eliminate behaviors that are holding me back from happiness.

If you are wondering if this challenge is for you, the creator states that:

"Anyone who wants to manifest a change in their life, design a more fulfilling existence, make room for new possibilities or simply gain more clarity about their path to happiness and success.  This challenge will especially be of benefit to you if you've stuck or in a rut during the last year."

If you are interested, please go visit Happy Black Woman site, read her awesome posts and sign up for 31 Days to Reset Your Life!!! It's not too late!  

WISH ME LUCK!!

Bucket List: FUN

Throughout this month I dedicated my blog to my bucket list.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family, fitness financial, career, personal and travel goals.  Today I will discuss:

FUN

• Go to a shooting range.
• Go see Alvin Ailey performance 
• Take a culinary class
• Stay at a spa for an entire weekend
• Go wine tasting
• See at least FIVE Broadway plays in my lifetime
• Grow a functional garden
• Take a photography course
• Learn how to use a sewing machine
• Attend a NFL Super Bowl game
• Attend a NBA Final game
• Attend at least one professional sport event a year.
• Attend at least one concert a year

Now that I have identified my goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.  

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

The purpose of my bucket list is to challenge myself (and maybe others).  I wanted to start celebrating the here and now by spending time making experiences in life instead of actual things.  My wish is for you guys to join me in establishing your own experiences and in conversation about this journey that I am partaking in!
 

I even plan to document it through scrap-booking!!!  LOL....

Bucket List: TRAVEL

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family, fitness, financial, career and personal goals.  Today I will discuss:

TRAVEL

• Take a solo weekend beach trip ONCE A YEAR!
• Go on a cruise
• Go on an European cruise
• Take a road trip across the US (from NY to CA) one summer
• Visit every state in the US
• Visit every continent 
• Spend a week in New York

Now that I have identified my travel goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.  

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Thursday we will discuss my goals for......FUN!!!

Bucket List: PERSONAL

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family, fitness, financial and career goals.  Today I will discuss:

PERSONAL

• Learn to meditate and incorporate it into my life. (see my post about Transcendental Meditation)
• Become spiritually stronger
• Read the Bible extensively from cover to cover (at least 3 different translations)
• Reach each holy book for all major religions
• Become a mentor
• Take a creative writing course
• Take a Toast Masters course
• Take a self defense class
• Take a graphic design and video editing course
• Become a publish author
• Enter a writing contest 
• Take at least one continuing education course every other year.  NEVER STOP LEARNING.
• Consistently write in my gratitude journal (@ least once a week) for a year.
• Become an early riser.

Now that I have identified my financial goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.  

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Tuesday we will discuss my goals for......TRAVEL

Bucket List: CAREER

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family, fitness and financial goals.  Today I will discuss:

CAREER

• GET A DAMN JOB.. A REAL ONE! (sorry, but I am really passionate about this one... LOL)
• Obtain my MSW, LCSW, and PHD
• Take courses in Grant Writing
• Obtain my real estate license in LA, MS and GA
• Create a non-profit organization
• Become fluent in Spanish
• Become conversational in Japanese
• Become a professor
• Become a franchise owner
• Earn the Microsoft Office 2007 Master Certification 

Now that I have identified my financial goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.  

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Thursday we will discuss my goals for......PERSONAL!

Bucket List: FINANCES

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  I have already discussed my family and fitness goals, and today will discuss:

FINANCES

• 2015 - Become debt free (except for student loans)
• Start a "future homeowner" savings account
• Have $5000 in my LEVEL ONE emergency savings account
• Have $2000 in my vacation savings account
• Have $500 in my car emergency savings account
• Obtain a starter home/condo/townhouse
• Obtain rental property
• Establish a positive net worth
• Start investing
• Create an IRA

Now that I have identified my financial goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Tuesday we will discuss...... CAREER!

Bucket List: FITNESS

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans and goals.  Being that I have such a large bucket list, I have decided to break them down into categories.  Last week we started with family and today:

FITNESS

• Complete Insanity
• Complete P90X
• Run a 5k, 10K, half marathon and marathon
• Learn how to swim
• Start cycling
• Compete in cycle and swim meets/events
• Complete a triathlon
• Compete in a crossfit event
• Start taking regular Yoga Classes (at least one every week or every other week for a year)
• Take tennis lessons.

Now that I have identified my fitness goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals.

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Thursday we will discuss...... FINANCES!

Bucket List: Family

This month I am dedicating my blog to plans for life and goals.  Tuesday I gave you a history of my life with lists and today we will discuss:

BUCKET LISTS

I have come to the conclusion that I needed to do a better job of keeping up with ALL the goals I set for myself.  Now that I will be entering into my thirties, I do not want to get to my fifties (and beyond) with any regrets!  So in order to not say, "I wish I had done such and such."  (like I have done with my twenties), I will create a bucket list (a.k.a "One day this will happen").

My goals have been broken down into different components below:

Fitness

Finances 

Career

Personal 

Travel

Fun

Family

Today we will focus on the FAMILY portion of my bucket list.  

• Spend time with my elderly relatives.
• Establish better relationships with my siblings.
• Do things with my nieces and nephews.
• Prepare for my "future" husband.

Now that I have identified my goals, the next steps are monitoring and adjusting my efforts in order to achieve my goals. 

WARNING: This list will be ever growing and ever changing of things I want to experience and accomplish in my life.  Please feel free to gain ideas for yourself!

Weight Wednesdays: Insanity

Yesterday I started the Insanity workout and it was (no is) pure hell.  I am extremely out of shape, but I am going to try my damn best to get through the next 60 (actually 63) days.  By day 15 of any workout regime I end up quitting.  So if I can get past day 15, I know I can do it!!!  

Wish me luck!

See you next week with an update....

A Life with Lists

I have always been a planner or a person with “lists”.  From as long as I can remember I have tried to plan out how I wanted my life to go.  Throughout the years I have learned that this is not always a good route to take.  If things did not go according to the “plan”, I would literally breakdown. 

What was I suppose to do?  Just live?  Huh? Just living is not on the list!

I spent the latter part of my twenties coming to terms with this and truly learning the phrase:

“If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

Boy I have I given Him plenty to laugh at! Smh… 

What I basically get out of this quote is that while I was planning my life to the “tee” I was eliminating a major component.  We never know what He has in store for us.  After going through something I thought I could never get through; something I thought would be the worst thing ever, I am happy to say that I made it.  I am not where I want to be, but I am nowhere near the bottomless pit I was in.  I can actually see sunlight.  I finally came to understand that it is okay to make plans, but it is God who controls the outcome. We can make plans, but we have to understand that if it’s His will……

After coming to this realization I knew that it was still okay to make plans, but I sought Him as well.  By doing this small (but great) task, everything became clear.  Now I don’t mean I got a vision of what I was supposed to do with my life, but I did learn how to go about setting goals, letting go of the past and most importantly, having faith in Him. 

While I am walking in faith, I am not without a list.  However this time I am going about it a different way.  After reading several articles, I am now in the process of creating SMART Goals:

S         Specific (describing the exact goal – who, what, when, why)

M        Measurable (creating criteria to measure progress)

A         Attainable (skills/abilities that I will need to make it happen)

R         Realistic (being willing and able to make it happen)

T         Timely (giving a time frame of the goal)

What’s different from today’s Neka versus the Neka of 5-6 years ago (even up until a couple of months ago) is that I will not let “my plans” dictate my life.  They are ever changing and that’s okay.  Perfect example could be that I am currently feeling like I am stagnant personally and professionally.  I spent the past eight months ignoring my goals/plans/lists and wallowing in my failure. I did not want to see a list.  Now that I feel like I am out of my “rut” and in a better place spiritually, I am more capable of setting realistic obtainable (SMART) goals to get me out of this space. 

Each week of this month I will break down all the things I want to accomplish.  Remember that this list will be ever changing.  Please feel free to leave comment and tell me about your history with lists!

Next week.... MY BUCKET LIST - PART ONE (FITNESS)

Motivation Monday: Transcendental Meditation

For almost ten years, I have been wanting to incorporate meditation in my life.  For whatever reason I never can consistently stick with it.  

Oprah's "Next Chapter" show had an episode about transcendental meditation and all the effects of it.  During the episode it showed several people that I respected that participated in this meditation which also sparked my interest.  It was a very interesting episode to say the least.  Below is a YouTube clip of Russell Simmons talking about it:

Here is Oprah's interpretation of it:


What do you guys think?

Monday Motivation: Crossfit

Okay so I am late learning about this.......but better late than never!

CROSSFIT!!

What is CrossFit you ask?  CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. (from CrossFit)

It combines weightlifting, sprinting, gymnastics, power lifting and rowing.  CrossFit contends that a person is as fit as they are proficient in each of ten  (10) general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.  Workouts are typically short-20 minutes or less-and intense, demanding all out physical exertion. Performance, such as the time required to complete a sequence of movements, is measured and recorded, both to facilitate competition between participants and to track individual progress.  CrossFit athletes run, jump rope, climb rope, lift weights, and carry odd object; they use barbells, dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull up bars, kettle bells and many body weight exercises.  CrossFit has over 3000 affiliate gyms worldwide and is used by many fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and military organizations.  (from Wikipedia)

There we have it! After gaining some basic knowledge about this "CrossFit" phenomena and finding several affiliate gyms in my area, I should be well on my way to competing in the games (if I am ever picked) in the next 5-7 years! LOL! 

What are the games you ask?  Check out the video below:

I would love to be like this woman one day:

 

One day people.....one day. I still have to get through 30 Day Shred (currently on day 12-level 2), Insanity and P90X.  Probably after these three workouts, I will be somewhat in shape to try the beginner workouts.

TO BE CONTINUED...........

Weight Wednesdays: Weight Journey

I am on a mission to not only lose weight, but also get in shape.  As of today, I am 143.6 pounds.  Now this is not my highest, but it is definitely up there.  According to my BMI, I am overweight! 

I am only .9 away from being OBESE! Below are pictures of myself at different sizes throughout the years:

2001: Age 19; A stick with tits

2011: Age 29; An overweight over eater

2002: Age 20; 110 pounds

2007: Age 25; 126 pounds (can you believe I thought I was fat then!!)

Nov. 2011: Age 29; 148 pounds!

As you can see, in the past 10 years there has been a drastic change in my appearance, but should I really be considered overweight?  However instead of worrying about how I got this way, I need to be worried about how I allowed myself to get this way. 

According to the picture above, they recommend that I should weigh anything from 94 pounds to 124 pounds with 116 pounds being the ideal weight for someone my age and height (29 yrs/4'11). 

My ultimate goal is to lose 30 pounds or get to 110-115 pounds, but most importantly I want to be in shape and live an active lifestyle.  Nevertheless I do know that there is not a quick fix a.k.a diet, but rather a lifestyle change.  In order to change my bad habits, I feel like I need to do the following:

• Mental changes:

The first thing I need to do is to come to grips with the size I am now, become comfortable in this body and develop higher self esteem.  I truly understand how some people can look in the mirror and see something totally different.  It is only when I look at pictures or try on clothes that I truly realize how much weight I have gain.  I know some people will look the pictures above and say, "She not even fat!", but I cannot go by what others think.  I feel like the old me is trapped in someone else's body.  I am completely unsatisfied with my body and if I am not happy, it is going to project outwards.  Basically I need to recondition my mind and become committed in order to have a successful outcome.  I am constantly praying to the man above to provide me with the discipline and drive to be successful, not only on this journey, but with every journey that I face. 

• Exercising:

Oh how I hate that word!  Like many others, I will start a workout regime and probably at the third or fourth week, fall off and ultimately stop completely.  It's obvious that exercising is important because it increases your metabolism and prevent diseases.  Now I am no "Biggest Loser" contestant, so I do not need some major boot camp like workout, but I am completely out of shape.  I have this goal of completing a 5k as well as completing the 30 day shred, Insanity and P90X workouts this year.  I feel that by doing those, I should accomplish my goal of losing 25-30 pounds. 

• Eating healthy:

This will be the hardest.  Even with me being a picky eater, I love food!  I am completely what people call an "emotional eater".  I will strive to learn how to "eat to live" versus "living to eat" (which is what I am doing now)".  One thing I plan to do is to eliminate fast food (particularly McDonald's nuggets) and increase my water intake (BTW... I hate water).  Those two things in addition to exercising should make those 25-30 pounds fall off in no time.

Finally, I know that this post has been talking about the pounds I want to lose, but ultimately I am looking to become healthy, physically fit and sincerely happy with the way I look.  I have finally come to grips with knowing that there are no shortcuts or easy roads to a permanent healthy lifestyle.  Just taking one day and one step at a time. 

Let the journey to a healthier lifestyle begin.........

Allow me to introduce myself!!

When you are a child, turning 30 seems like a lifetime away.  At 30 you picture yourself with a great job, great spouse and finally settled enough to think about children.  Even in your early 20s you say to yourself, "By the time I am 30, I will have my life all figured out, right now I am still young, having fun and can make a couple of  mistakes.

I am here to announce that 30 is NOT a lifetime away.  In fact for me it's just 8 months and 8 days away to be exact!  This damn number really sneaks upon a person.  It feels like yesterday that I was 10, 15, 18, 21, 25 and hell 28 thinking about how my life would be at 30.  NONE of the stuff I envision for my life has come to pass.  I don't feel and I for sure do not look like a 30 year old.  I still love my graphic tees, hood music blaring out my stereo in my car, eating cereal for dinner and damnit when I look in the mirror I do not see a 30 year old!

However the signs are there.  While the hood music is blarring in my stereo, I actually pay attention to the words now instead of just the beat and wonder, "What the hell am I listening too?"  When I am out with friends, we say to ourselves, "We are going to pay for this in the morning!"  The most clear sign...."Back in my day...." or "When I was your age..." comes out of my mouth more times than I like it to.

Nevertheless, in eight months I will be 30 and in a lot of ways I feel like I have not lived life yet.  I know 30 is not a death sentence, but I have not even scratched the surface of what I want with my life.  During my adolescent and young adult years, I never once imagined myself to be without a career, broke with tons of debt and lastly unfit!

This is where this blog comes into play, I am going to use these next eight months to get to the place I want to be or at least at a good starting place.

So join me as I:

• Become spiritually stronger;
• Find a job in line to the career I want to be in;
• Get out of my financial hole; and
• Get to the weight that I can feel good about myself.

There we have it!  If I can get these things together by September (not complete.... let's be realistic about this people!  LOL), I probably will feel a little better about turning 30.

Join me because I am losing it! Weight and Debt that is!!!