Forty Days Progress Update

Well, I am to the halfway point 32 days into my forty day challenge so I am here to check in! I originally meant to check in halfway, but I'm still me, so here I am about 1/2+1/4+1/20 of the way through this and my math skills are at least still intact! Well, anyway, sticking to a routine for forty days is so much more of a challenge than I realized.  My schedule is not always the same each day and I have found that if I miss one day, that usually snowballs into a week! So, I had a great start and then fell off the wagon for a few days while a friend was visiting, which is a totally legit reason to get out of my routine!

College friends reunited after too many years!
Kristin, Iris, me, and Greg 

But, for me the point of these forty days is to improve my discipline, perseverance, health and skills in some way.  Not perfection, improvement! To review, I identified FOUR specific daily activities as a starting point and they are:

• Play piano and sing 1 hour each day
• Drink 12 cups of water each day - 2 extra cups for any soda consumption
• Write 1,000 words each day
• Do 1 thing for someone else that's out of my normal routine

Here's an update on my progress for the first 32 days:

Things I've noticed so far: 

Musically (completed 75% of the days)- I have improved in skill and technique, I have learned a few new tricks on the piano and some new breath-control exercises.  This one is actually a fun one for me because I enjoy playing and singing and it has been really cool to see some improvement here.

Water (completed 81%)- I will say this one has been getting easier with time and I have been craving soda less and less. I have switched to iced coffee so I do need to be careful with how much sugar and dairy I put in it, but it's a step in the right direction for me.  I have really had an easy time getting this one done most days because it gives me a good excuse to get out of my desk at work to refill my cup a few times a day AND get some steps at the same time.

Writing (completed 15%)- Now this one has been a complete lackage for me.  I really love to write but I have found this goal to go by the wayside when I'm exhausted at the end of the night.  One of my next goals is to start waking up at 5:00AM every day because I have seen how productive you can be that early in the morning. I think once I get into that routine, writing will be a little easier as I'm not trying to do it with one brain cell awake at the end of a long day!

Helping (completed a messy 56%) - This has surprisingly been the hardest one to do even though it has a higher percentage than writing every day, it's hard for me to find someone to help outside of my normal routine.  I've mostly helped my kids with different things and that IS a change for me because I typically let them do all their stuff on their own - gotta teach 'em young right?? - but it has been nice to have some extra time with them during these times.  But I feel like I need to step up my game on this one.....I welcome ideas!

What I anticipate in the next 20  8 days: 

I think I will continue doing well with my music and water intake but I need to put a hiatus on the writing for now and start keeping my eyes open for more ways to be helpful.  What I had anticipated with that one was that I would become less self-absorbed and apparently I'm stubborn because I haven't learned that lesson just yet!

Again, I am also learning Spanish right now which means I am taking time every day to practice but I would love some face-to-face practice so any of my spanish-speaking friends, hit me up for a coffee date or video chat some day soon!