Kat's Arbitrary Thought Processes

I know this is part of my current problem too… I did a google search and found this article at webMD for how to beat it…

I esp. love these quotes:

“If you keep looking back at the old year — especially last year — you will get into a downward spiral,” agrees Susan Battley, PsyD, PhD, a leadership psychologist and clinical associate professor at State University of New York at Stony Brook. “I believe in ‘Three Bags Full.’ A BAG is a ‘Big Audacious Goal.'” Three is the absolute maximum (mileage may vary — one might be more realistic).

This is so true… the more I look back at all the crap that happened last year, and even in the past, the more I get dragged down.

Whatever your BAG, Battley says it is not only important to put it in writing, but also to put in writing the steps you need to take and the obstacles you will face (this is allowable negative thinking). “People vaguely think things, but don’t make a plan,” Battley says. Strangely, she adds, it’s the peak performers who can be their own harshest critics and get hung up. “Do this with a buddy and hold each other accountable,” she instructs.

The “peak performer who can be their own harshest critic” – yea. That’s me. That’s why I constantly struggle with the feelings of failure as a teacher when my kids are so obviously excelling….I often get paralyzed by my own feelings of failure and inadequacy, which leads to days of doing nothing, which leads to guilt over doing nothing, which leads to feelings of failure and inadequacy… and yea. It’s a vicious cycle, and a hard one to break.

Maggie Bedrosian, co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever, says the key is not what you get rid of, but what you keep. What is your vision for your life and how do your possessions fit in? “Everything you want to be should be supported by everything you see around you.”

So what do I want to be? Seems that has to be figured out first. Once I know what I want to be, I can work towards making my surroundings fit my goals and aspirations. So what do I want to be?

I want to be the best mother I can be.

I want to be the best teacher I can be. I want my kids to grow up and be able to accomplish whatever they want in their lives because I was able to give them the tools and the know-how to succeed.

I want to be the best wife I can be.

I want my house to practically clean itself, leaving me more time to be wife, mother, teacher. This can be accomplished, but only if I willingly cut back on my own clutter (read: my notebooks, and junk), and work on my routines ‘til housework is automatic and things get done without me even noticing.

To accomplish these goals I need to:

I’m already doing pretty good in the “wife” department. At least that’s what DH tells me like once a week or more. So I need to work on my own diet and exercise. A big part of what’s holding me back from goal 1 & 2 is the big bitch I turn into for a week or so every month. So to help with that, I need to work on diet and exercise this year. For number 4, I need to make restocking supplies a part of my routine. It will be much easier to put cleaning on autopilot if my supplies are readily accessible in each location (Lysol wipes and extra TP in the bathrooms, Lysol wipes and Mr. Clean Eraser in the kitchen, etc) I also need to learn to let go of my notebooks. *Inhale. Exhale.* As good as we are about bills and other paper clutter, my notebooks are something I just have the hardest time letting go of. I mean, what if I need the information in them again??? *S* Doesn’t matter that I can never find it when I need it… *s* yea.

So I guess that means my BAGs for this new year are:

Diet and Excerise
Restock & Reduce
Backup my computer (I haven’t backed up my photos since January 07, and now I’m just asking for a crash by not backing up what I have. You know?)

What’s yours?