Transformation: October 2018

There is a before and after in my life. A before consciousness and an after. October 2018 marks the beginning of life after my “Wake Up.”

The first month after a year of pregnancy and losses.

The month I committed to “Show Up” and take action to make change.

After my losses and almost losing my life I came to the realization that I could not keep living the life that I had been living “before.” I read Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness* and took notes in my planner on the habits I wanted to implement.

I did not know where to start so I just wrote down every habit that I thought I might want to try and set some goals.

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I did not implement every habit I wrote down, and I adopted new ones as they came into my awareness through additional personal growth.

I hired a coach in addition to continuing therapy.

I started setting an alarm for 7:30pm every evening to make a cup of tea and read or journal. This meant not watching TV in the evenings. Today I rarely watch TV at all and I don’t miss it.

I reflected on what was and was not working in my life. I was determined to have a better answer the next time I asked myself if I would be satisfied if my life ended suddenly as it almost had in September 2017.

It’s interesting to reflect on some of the small habits and goals I wanted to start three years ago and how they have impacted my life now.

October 2018 [How it started]	October 2021 [How it’s going]
Plan your meals	Struggled counting calories and eating prepackaged meals from Costco when I started. Hired a nutritionist in Jan. 2020 and have done my own meal prep since then.
Weigh Yourself Weekly	Far exceeded weight-loss and clothing size goals. In the best shape of my life. As of this writing, have reverse dieted to a healthy weight after bodybuilding shows.
Drink 64-96 oz of water per day	Drink > 128 oz of water per day
Practice Self-Education	Fell in love with personal growth and became a Personal and Professional Growth Coach
Read a book chapter a day	Read (audio) 1 – 4 books per week
Try Something New	Weightlifting, rock climbing, aerial silks, CrossFit, bodybuilding competition, changed jobs, started blogging, changed careers, adopted a “Never say never” mindset
Make Your Bed	Every day for almost 2 years
Introduce Yourself to someone new	Overcame self-confidence issues, no longer socially anxious
Speak words of affirmation	These have become my inner voice, positive notes are all over my house, the screensaver on my phone, and on the Mantra bands I wear
Practice Gratitude	Daily appreciation for the life I have now and acceptance of and gratitude for everything that happened in the past that lead me here
Meetup.com	Joined a spirituality book club Oct. 2019 and was introduced to The Gifts of Imperfection

June 2019 – Joined Club Pilates to maintain consistent morning workouts with an activity that brought me joy.

August 2019 – Obsessed with “A Million Dreams.” Have moved from fixed/scarcity to abundance mindset, though I don’t realize.

September 2019 – Read “You Are A Badass”

October 2019 – Read “The Gifts of Imperfection” and began to embrace ordinary courage and authenticity. Started to believe in “The Universe” and spirituality.

December 2019 – Realized my marriage was over as I fought to choose myself for the first time in my life.

January 2020 – People start to tell me that I’ve changed. That I seem to be glowing.

I recently read How To Do The Work*, by Nicole LePera and found the journey she outlines there to be very similar to the one I created for myself through these habits. I would highly recommend her book to every adult on the planet. If you don’t need it yourself, it will help you understand what other people in your life may be dealing with.

Reading it highlighted for me how far I’ve come in my journey of doing the work, as she calls it, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the life that I live today.

It is not perfect, but it is authentic. If I was unfortunately faced with an early demise now I would be at peace with the way I choose to live every day true to myself and my values. It is a life with challenges to grow me and joy, gratitude, and love that fill me.

If suddenly your life ended tomorrow, would you have been satisfied with the way you are living today? If not, it’s not too late yet. You don’t have to know where to start. You just have to start. Take a page out of my book, or buy Nicole’s. Just don’t settle for anything less than your best life.

Wake Up. Show Up. Glow Up. Trust me, it’s so worth it.

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