The Seven Day Switch

The greatest barrier to this challenge of challenges is time. So far, I've just about stuck with Challenge #2: Write an hour each day. I should have made it more strict. There is one challenge that is get up at 5:30am every day and write. It will be interesting to see how the two challenges compare. So far I've done it, but I have done at least 75% of writing for my side jobs and other people. 25% is personal writing.  It is easy to make excuses. Even for a self-made, self-accountable challenge of challenges like this. I returned from Thanksgiving in Virginia on Monday afternoon. I did sit down and get some writing done, but my evening was cut short when I had a friend ask to stay with me for a few days. They were in between housing situations and needed a place to sleep until their new lease started. Not wanting my friend to be homeless, I obliged. But for someone who lives alone and who has lived alone for the better part of 9 years, getting used to another human in my li...

Greetings friends, I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving. I know I sure did enjoy food, drink and merriment. So much so that I completely failed Challenge #2: Write an hour each day. Yup, did not make space for that during all the family time.  When you fail a challenge, there is no reason to dwell on it or throw the whole thing away. I remember as a kid I used to play Sim City. No, not The Sims, but Sim City. In that game you would create a city. You had a strict budget and you would have requirements like having to buy and build a firehouse and a hospital. You could also use this timelapse feature where you could speed ahead in time. I would get impatient with the slow growth of my city and speed up its development.  A trick to the timelapse is that natural disasters frequently occurred over time. So sometimes a fire would break out and you had to put the fire out before it burned down your city. Time and time again when my city suffered immense damage, I'd send out a...

On Saturday night, I texted my friend Maura and asked her to give me a random number between 1 and 49. She said 21. Unfortunately that corresponded with the challenge 10pm bedtime every night. If it was ANY OTHER WEEK, I'd push myself to do that. However, I'm going home to the Eastern Shore of Virginia this week. One of my favorite things to do is stay up late with my dad and watch shows with him on his computer. It is our thing. It is rare that we wrap by 10pm. I'd hate to cut that time short for the sake of the challenge. Also, after watching shows with him, I usually spend an hour or so completing work for my other job. I hate doing work when my parents are home because I feel I need to be present and spend time with them. Sometimes I do, when they're busy with their own tasks, but mostly I try to be available for whatever they want to do.  So I asked Maura for another number. This time, it corresponded with Write for one hour a day. Now that I CAN do this week....

I did it! Seven days of reading at least one chapter a night! Some days, I read TWO chapters. I feel like I want to finish the book now.  I learned that my anxiety isn't exactly social anxiety. I don't have fear of talking in front of people or entering a room full of strangers. In fact, this weekend I attended a Writer's Workshop in Philly. After the pre-lunch session, I stood in the hallway with a sign that read "Hey Strangers, come have lunch with me. Wrap Shack - two blocks away. #NeedWriterFriends." (Three people joined me for lunch). I was feeling EXTRA extroverted that day.  But I do have that presumptuous anxiety. The kind where you think you know what someone is going to say or do and you adjust your behavior accordingly. I have probably self-talked myself out of opportunities because I believed the other party would say no. The book has a lot of activities to help identify triggers and strengths so I'm going to have to go back and try them. So ...

Last evening I had an overachiever moment. I read TWO chapters instead of one. Take THAT challenge! So far so good.  I thought I would take a second to share a few titles on my self-development shelf. Jen Sincero's You Are a Badass  had a profound impact on my life and woke me up to things I didn't realize I needed waking up. I purchased her You Are a Badass at Making Money book as well. I haven't read that one yet. When I met Jen at a book signing, I told her whatever Kool-aid she makes, I drink. I've bought her Habits course, Non-fiction Book Proposal course and two (going on three) of her books. Jen was a catalyst to self-help and self-development books. What else could I learn? How else could I improve my life?  Here is a snapshot of what is on deck: Stop Anxiety from Stopping You by Helen Odessky (The Read a Chapter a Night Challenge Book) You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachael Hollis Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbe...

So the book for the "Read a Chapter a Night" Challenge is Stop Anxiety from Stopping You. It had ridiculously positive reviews on Amazon and I felt I had to buy it. I, like many people, suffer from anxiety. Sometimes it comes in a wave of nervous energy I can't harness. I'll stand in a room for ten minutes, looking around, trying to sort through my thoughts. Sometimes it comes with crippling fear and doubt. I'll analyze the possible scenario of a situation a thousand times and determine the outcome to be negative. Then I get anxious about that. And nothing has even happened yet!  I get anxious if I don't clean my house every weekend. My doctor says I might have a touch of OCD. One time I found a flea on Bronx and I damn near bombed the house. I washed every piece of bedding in hot water and bought three different home, fabric and pet flea treatments. Yeah. I get anxious about failing. I get anxious about making phone calls. I get anxious about people tel...

Here is the list of challenges!

Let me preface this by saying what I'm doing is by no means revolutionary. I know I'm not the first to embark on such tasks and I know I will not be the last. So, with that out of the way, Meet the Seven Day Switch. Wikipedia says the  seven - year itch  is a psychological term that suggests that happiness in a relationship declines after around  year seven  of a marriage. As someone who is not married, I can still say that happiness in my relationship with myself has been on the decline. Thus, the Seven Day Switch - seven days completing a challenge aka something I need to or always wanted to do.  It all started with being far too overwhelmed by all the things I wanted to do. There are so many books I want to read. There are many diet adjustments I need to make. I want to be a morning person. I want to work out in the morning. I want to do nice things for others. I want to increase my discipline. I've completed two Whole30 challenges, two week Detox challen...