Welcome 2020

Even though in the last article, I mentioned about my achievements of 2019, I was just surviving and not thriving. I grew as a person due to circumstances but not because I planned for it. There were a few months when I didn’t track my expenses, there were a lot of months when I didn’t track the food I ate and I hardly implemented the action points from the books I read. I can’t really do much about the year gone but this year, since it is going to be a fresh start, I will commit to be more disciplined.
 
1.Tracking
 
I created a new tracker for 2020 to remind myself of the fresh start and to track my expenses, food, sleep, exercise, meditation and books. 

1. Expenses -Irrespective of how much your earn, if you are not mindful of your expenses you will never be monetarily stable or happy. 
2. Food– I presently eat at least one fruit a day and at least one vegetable like salad. The plan is to move to 50% raw by the end of this year. For example, my breakfast now includes oats with milk followed by fruits. I want to eventually get rid of the oats and milk and eat sprouted or boiled grains. Afternoon, I will let myself eat whatever is served at the office but in the night, I will reduce the amount of rice I eat and increase the vegetable or dal content. Also, junk is allowed as snacks only once a week. Rest of the time, I want it to be fruits or vegetables.
3. Sleep– I am a quick sleeper but last year was awful. I struggled so much with sleep that I want to do whatever it takes to sleep well this year. I can track my sleep using mi band and make a note of the reasons why I am not able to fall asleep. That way, I know where I am lacking and what I can do about that. 
4. Exercise– I get to workout at least 20 hours a month and I am happy about that. But I want specific targets. I want to effortlessly lift 12.5kgs and be able to do yoga for one hour without feeling any tiredness by the end of this year.
5. Meditation – At present, I am meditating everyday but I don’t really go into a meditative state. By the time it is July, I want to be able to go into a meditative state as soon as I sit for meditation. By the end of this year, I want to be able to feel energy whenever I meditate. Apart from that, I want to be to Pranayama for one hour at a stretch without feeling tired.
6. Books – They are the best brain food. I want to read at least 20 pages a day which amounts to 24 books in a year assuming each book on average is 200 pages. 

 
2.One challenge a month
 
Every month, I want to do one thing right. My focus is only on getting that right. It is more or less like a 30 day challenge. Once I finish that, I want to stick to that habit in the following months too if that is something that can be continued and doesn’t take a lot of time. When I do three different things a month, I don’t really make it a point to finish all the three things. Hence I want to stick to one. Once I get that right, I will publish an article on the same. Whatever I am going to pursue this year might be something which I did in the past also but I am doing them again because they didn’t turn into an identity for me.
 
Now the challenge for January 2020 is gratitude. I have done this many times before. But it has not become an identity yet. I want to be a person who is grateful for all the beautiful things in my life. I want my husband to know how grateful I am to have him in my life. I started a gratitude diary exclusively for him last year but haven’t been writing it regularly. This January, I want to start writing about him in that diary and by the end of this year, I want to have 365 entries which express my gratitude towards him. What can be a better 2021 New Year gift than expressing how grateful you are to have your loved one?
 
I will spend five minutes everyday recollecting all the things I am grateful for that day. I am grateful to have a kind boss and teammates who are helpful. I am grateful for the beautiful sunset and the cool breeze. I am thankful for the dance session which helped me forget all the worries of the day.
 
What are you grateful today and for the year and decade gone by?
 
What are your plans for this month?
 
Happy New Year!