Tag: the little things

wine country vacation: what i’m looking forward to

Posted on by jplatt27

suitcase

Packed and ready to go!

We’re headed to Sonoma, California! We rented a house with some friends in wine country for the week and the excitement is finally sinking in!

On this trip I’m looking forward to (in no particular order):

1. reading, I love reading in general so on vacation it’s a must. Choosing the books for my vacation is one of my favorite things. This trip I’m bringing Lean In and The Engagements.

2. eating outside (another one of my favorite things)

3. laughter, lots and lots of belly laughs

4. biking, we’re doing a self guided winery tour by bike

5. quality time with Mike I’ve been a little out of sorts lately so quality time between us has been lacking. I’m looking forward to getting back to myself and sharing the whole me with Mike.

I’ll be back in DC on the 11th and should be back to the blog sometime that week.  Ok, gotta go! Cabs coming in 20.

Have a great week my friends!

What do you look forward to on vacation?

 

 

the right question: take out the shoulds

Posted on by jplatt27

I often wake up thinking “what should I do this morning?” and on weekends it’s “what should I do today?”

These questions make me feel totally overwhelmed and set me up for failure.

This is essentially like asking “what am I supposed to do today?” OR “what pressure can I put on myself today?” OR “what obligations can I create for myself today so that when I inevitably don’t do them all I feel bad about myself?”

In response, I’ll start to think about all the things I could do: chores, business tasks, people to call, things that I should do because I live in the city and I should take advantage of them. And then I think about all the reasons why I don’t want to do those things or why I can’t do those things.

It’s pretty terrible actually. It makes me feel terrible and almost paralyzed.

I realized this morning that I do the same with blogging.

I’ll think “what should I write about today?”

Then I start listing possible topics followed by the reasons they’re not the right post for the day or why I can’t or don’t feel like writing that today. And then I just shutdown and don’t write anything.

In my opinion weekends should not be about shoulds. 

And blogging shouldn’t either.

So I’ve come up with two new questions:

What would I like to do today/right now? | What would I like to share on the blog today?

Are there areas of your life where you’re asking questions like these? If so, where and what’s a new question you can ask yourself?

P.S. Part of the reason these questions give me so much trouble: Janice has a field day with them.

i don’t finish every book i start

Posted on by jplatt27

I was reading The Dinner recently. Even though I was more than half way through, I just wasn’t into it. I was bored. And even though there is supposed to be a twist or something interesting happening at the end, I didn’t really care to get to the end.

One of my core desired feelings (Danielle LaPorte, anyone?) is to be engaged. To be excited and pulled into something. And this book just wasn’t doing it for me.

So, I let it go. I closed it with no intention to pick it back up. And honestly, that small decision made me feel powerful.

Life’s too short to do things that don’t make you feel good. Life’s filled with too many opportunities for things that make us feel good to hang on to arbitrary obligations. So I try not to do that anymore.

Ok, talk to me in the comments:

What’s something in your life that’s not grasping you in the way you’d like? What would it be like to let it go?

What’s the last book you read that you could. not. put. down??

 

my really big dreams

Posted on by jplatt27

Over on my business blog, I recently asked my readers to admit their ambition. The first step in a dream come true is acknowledging the dream at all.

To encourage you to share your dreams, to lead by example, to practice what I preach, and to take the first step in making them come true, I thought I’d share my ambitions here.

My really big dreams:

Self-employed and debt-free by thirty through a six-figure coaching business

Write a best selling personal development book

Throw myself into motherhood (I’m going to be honest, this petrifies me at this point)

Create a home that is warm and welcoming

Host a regular Sunday brunch at our house for the people we love most. So that they know we’ll be there.

Coach on Capitol Hill

Build a premier coaching group for women, one that has the power to give back in a big, big way

Cultivate a love-only relationship between me and my body

Continue to grow the love in my marriage so that years from now we’re still giggling in the morning and dancing in the kitchen

Host a big, fancy, outdoor joint 25th anniversary and 50th birthday party

Join me!

Share one of your dreams in the comments!

between work and bed

Posted on by jplatt27

I’m realizing how much time there actually is between the time I get off work and the time I go to bed.  (And that’s really saying something considering how early I get in bed…usually around 9pm.)

For the first time since I graduated college, I don’t have a million things going on after work. When I started my current job, I was working at Barnes and Noble part time.  Then I started taking classes and tutoring after work.  Then I continued tutoring and started my coach training program. Now that my coach training program is over, my schedule is so free.  And it’s pretty amazing.

I’m amazed at how many things I can do between the time I come home from work and the time I go to bed. Today, I came home and wasn’t feeling so great so I plopped on the couch and watched an episode of Married to Jonas (seriously, I really love that show, I think Danielle Jonas is really endearing…guilty pleasure), did some tapping to release some stress (this video x3), watched an episode of Army Wives, had dinner, had some quality time with Mike and now I’m blogging before a call with a client at 8:30.

I’ve been a little slower in growing my business than I may have expected because I am so loving this time. I used to be so go-go-go and now I realize how nice it is to have blocks of time, just at home, to be. So I’m giving myself this time.  My business will grow at it’s own pace.

Wow. This is pretty cool. I still have 45 mins before my call. I’m going to fold some laundry and read a little bit.

Share your thoughts:

What do you do after work?

Have you had any instances lately where you realized how time differed from what you thought?

P.S. If you haven’t visited my business site yet, pop on over and check it out.  And while you’re there, sign up for the newsletter! First issue goes out this week!

what i want right now

Posted on by jplatt27

What I want in my life right now, more than anything, is time for me. Time to lay in bed and look out the window. Time to cook delicious meals for myself and my husband.  Time to read and read and read some more.

I want to get my nails done. I want to go to the grocery store. I want to go to yoga and really feel my body. I want to be home. I want to do laundry. I want to make dinner with my husband and dance in the kitchen.  I want to be so in the moment that tears come to my eyes.

I want to remember. I want my mind to drift back to 7-up in CCD, to remember when Mike picked me up from the SATs and brought me a double cheeseburger from McDonalds.

I want time for deep reflection. For learning. For creating. For being.

So even as I work full-time and try to build a business on the side, I’m allowing myself to slow down. Because I suspect that giving myself this time and space will actually attract more of what I want into my life and may actually get me to peace, happiness, and freedom more quickly.

the blue dress

Posted on by jplatt27

On the way to LOFT at lunch yesterday I said to my friend “I’ve been feeling a little pudgy lately, finally realizing how much weight I put on this winter so I’m just going to look for a cardigan to go over the dress I already have. I was trying on dresses at H&M this weekend and I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. There’s nothing worse than standing in a dressing room in your underwear and feeling fat.”

But then LOFT had so many cute things and I picked up a few dresses and skirts to try on.  As I walked into the dressing room I thought, “oh, I said I wasn’t going to do this.”

Instead of turning around or feeling sorry for myself I made a decision:

I’m going to love my body the way it is right now.

Yep, that’s right.

I’m going to love my body the way it is right now.

Because what else can you do in that moment? You can berate yourself, or you can choose to love yourself.

I chose the latter.

Not only did I end up not getting the “is-that-what-I-really-look-like/i’m-so-fat/ugh” feeling, I ended up getting a blue dress in my normal size that fit perfectly (even after I told my friend I’d probably need the next size up).

How’s that for a reward for self-love?

thought a day

Posted on by jplatt27

Mike got me a thought-a-day journal for Christmas. It’s a five year journal and for 5 years you write one thought a day.  When you get back to the beginning, you write year two’s thoughts under year one and so on. Wow, it’s crazy to think we could’ve filled two of these in the time we’ve been together.

I love the idea of this.  It’s neat to think about all that will change in the next five years–we’ll have new jobs, a baby or two, be living in a new place.  Think about the people we’ll meet, the places we’ll go, the things will do.  I know I’ll treasure this gift even after it’s all filled up.

How it’s going

You’d think this would be easy.  It’s a simple journal–you only have to write one or two thoughts per day! You don’t have to get into the nitty-gritty and spend 45 mins scribbling all the details of your day.  It’s meant to be quick and painless.

Here’s where I’m struggling:

I usually wait until right before bed to write my thought, at which point my thought is usually “I’m so tired.”  I don’t want an entire journal filled with “I’m so tired today.” Maybe writing down thoughts throughout the day would help and then I could choose a thought. Another option would be to write a thought first thing when I wake up the next morning.

It’s also kind of hard to choose one thought.  One thought that sums up the day.

I realize I’m probably over-thinking it (as I do with a LOT of things). I think I need to just enjoy it. Write if I want. Don’t put pressure if I don’t have a thought or I forget.

How quickly I forgot what I’ve learned about journaling…

my favorite outfit

Posted on by jplatt27

On my business blog yesterday I shared an exercise for self-reflection based on your favorite outfit. Here are my answers:

What is your favorite outfit?

My weekend morning outfit: Gap G-flex yoga pants, a cotton tank, and a long cardigan

What do you like about this outfit?

I like that it’s comfortable but also looks put together.

How does this outfit make you feel?

Relaxed but motivated to go do something, cute (these pants look good on my butt!), like myself, cozy

How do you move in this outfit?

Confidently, with ease, with a little pep

What activities can you do in this outfit?

Run errands, read a book, go to my favorite coffee shop, go to yoga, lay on the couch, relax, cook

——

Tell me some of your answers and then head on over to www.cupofteacoaching.com/blog to read part two of the exercise!

quality time in lieu of quantity of time

Posted on by jplatt27

Since my coach training started my weeknights are pretty packed. Between tutoring, coaching clients, and training calls, I have something every night Monday through Thursday.  This means that Mike and I don’t get a ton of time together during the week.

This actually hasn’t been a problem.  In fact, it’s been a gift.

For example, Mike and I get an hour and a half together on Wednesday nights between my calls and we’ve both started really looking forward to that time. We have dinner and cuddle on the couch and watch Parenthood. Though it’s nothing fancy, especially compared to the date nights we used to have every other Wednesday, this time is really special to us.

This time is earmarked as our time. I’m not blogging or reading or coaching or half paying attention to the show we’re watching while Facebooking. Nope, I’m totally in it.

For that hour and a half we are together, really together. And the quality time is so nice.

Between that and our weekly new recipe, we may be getting more quality time than we did over the summer. Time to talk, to connect, to really be with each other.

It’s nice to know that it’s not the amount of time we have but how we spend the time that matters.