week five: meaningful work

for the past several years i have noticed an increasing disconnect between my work (job) and my values. not that the companies i have worked for are lacking in any way, just that what i want to do with my life and the way i want to live it are no longer aligned with the reality of an 8:30-5:30 job in technology or ecommerce. that gives me two choices: a) find a way to make it work, or b) find something else. which brings us to week five: meaningful work.

values: define "meaningful"
interests: document the things i am passionate about (both activities and causes)
experience: assess what i already know how to do, what i'm good at and whether it interests me and aligns with my values
options: take a close look at everything listed above and come up with a list of options (keeping in mind that not every goal has to be fulfilled by my job)
plan: outline my goals and the steps i need to take to reach them 

food challenge: cauliflower
declutter challenge: office

related reading:
your heart's desire
the creative entrepreneur
the business startup checklist and planning guide
u-turn

week three: financial security

welcome to week three, the week of financial security. you may have noticed that this is a late addition to my original line-up, but it seemed important enough to slot in early (bumping personal style to week six).

getting your financial ducks in a row can not only help you reach your goals, but it can also reveal a lot about your values and how well your actions align with what you say you value. i am definitely expecting another eye opening week. let's break it down... (note that this week's list is more goal based than resolution based)

spending
- determine where my money is really going
- review all spending including places where i don't spend but should
- note times when i decide to save not spend (passing on a smoothie or a pair of shoes)
- think about home ownership

income
- identify and review all income sources
- identify additional potential sources
- think about barter

savings
- review savings including 401k
- implement plan to save 30% of income per month
- deposit "saved" or refunded money into dedicated savings account

management / prioritization
- create and implement a realistic budget (current and ideal)
- set up and use online bill-pay
-  identify and implement simple savings opportunities (downgrading cable for example)

declutter challenge: files (including digital) and in-apartment storage

food challenge: black beans

i also wanted to note that i have a number of nagging tasks associated with money management at least a few of which i hope to tackle this week:
- 401k rollovers
- fix sprint data plan
- fix computers (dell and lenovo -- before the warranty runs out and it costs a whole lot more)
- will

related reading
your money or your life
the courage to be rich
personal finance for dummies
suze orman's 2009 action plan
how to survive without a salary
we the savers blog

to quote zyzzyva editor howard junker:* onward!

* howard junker is well known in literary circles for personally reading every submission to the zyzzyva slush pile. his rejection form letter is always the same with the above encouragement scrawled in his own hand across the top.

week two: stronger relationships

welcome to week two. this week's plan -- to find ways to strengthen the most important relationships in my life. for me, when things get busy, relationships always seem to take a back seat to work. partly because they don't have deadlines, partly because the consequences of missing work deliverables have the potential for dire financial consequences, and partly because the people who love you understand. the thing is, without a good support system, managing the stresses that come up in life is that much harder. in fact, for me, strong relationships are second only to good health when it comes to leading a happy, healthy, balanced life (hence its position in my list). to that end, here's this week's plan.

family
the good news is, most of my family is nearby and we are all pretty close. but that doesn't mean there aren't things i can do to make our relationships even stronger. the first one should be easy, but it's always the easiest thing to forget.
- be more appreciative of everything they do for and mean to me
- schedule time to see my grandma at least once per month (she turns 100 this month, so must make time)
- spend more time with my nephews and niece when she is in town (they grow up too fast)
- communicate with my brother more (he only lives two states up, but i rarely talk to him because it makes me miss him more)
- (and this will be the hardest of all) find a way to forgive my uncle (honestly, i don't even know what for, but even though just thinking about this stresses me out, i'm tired of carrying it around)

friends
i actually have a good number of friends but i rarely talk to any of them (except one) and see them even less, and while i would like to see more of all of my friends in general, there are probably five or six that i really miss, and keeping up with them on facebook, livejournal and their blogs, just isn't enough. i also have one lost friend who i would really like to reconnect with.
- reach out to the five or six
- make time to see them (already have a day scheduled with one)
- try and track down christine (so far no luck online, but may have more info buried in my storage space which would be a longer-term project)

partner
- assume the best intentions
- be nicer / make the extra effort
- talk more about the things that matter
- be more available

self
- schedule a day (or at least a few hours) of self-pampering this week
- regularly schedule dates with myself (that involve doing fun things, not vegging in front of the TV)
- stop with the pressure
- journal about this topic in morning pages

declutter challenge: the bedroom, of course
food challenge: tofu (no good reason, just sounds yummy)

interestingly, in the last couple of weeks since i started thinking about this project, i've already started to work on several of these things and others have just happened randomly, like an impromptu chat session initiated by my favorite uncle in new york. but the big goal is for all of this to become second nature. it probably won't happen in a week, but at least i can get the ball rolling.

related reading:
the highly sensitive person in love
getting to commitment
be the person you want to find

week one recap

so how did i do this week? considering the fact that i was sick for a lot of it, i think i did pretty well.

exercise

- stretch every morning -- check
- gym 3x/week -- nope, working out and sick don't mix
- take the stairs -- check
- walk (yes, mall-walking counts) -- yep

diet
- eat breakfast every morning (sitting down) -- all but once and i at it as soon as i got to work
- take vitamins -- check
- eat 5-6 small meals a day; include protein in each -- i definitely averaged five, so yep
- weekly food challenge: cook selected food three new ways -- definitely, see update below

emotional balance
- sleep 7+ hours/night (or at least in bed by 11) -- this one was tough, but i did manage 3 nights out of seven, a big improvement for me
- create and implement daily routines -- done and adhered to every day but one
- write morning pages -- check
- meditate -- every day but one
- begin mindfulness work --

environment
- 15 minute pick-up every day -- all but one
- weekly declutter challenge: kitchen -- i cleaned out the fridge and freezer, reorganized a couple of cabinets and cleared the counters to make room for my kitchenaid mixer; unfortunately i didn't  get to everything i wanted to do (including the top of the fridge) but now that i'm on the mend i will try and make it up this week


and as for the food challenge, here are the results:

spinach pizza

okay, i'll admit it, this was a lazy decision. it was late, it had been a long day at work and i just wanted something yummy with a healthy twist. i used the pizza crust recipe from The Wheat-Free Cook: Gluten-Free Recipes for Everyone, then topped with spaghetti sauce, italian seasoning, mozzerella and frozen spinach with a dusting of garlic salt. yum!

crustless spinach quiche

yes, i picked this one because it didn't require a crust. i also made a few adjustments. i only used half an onion instead of a whole one (which was still a lot) and substituted the 3 cups of muenster cheese for 1.5 cups of feta and 1.5 cups of cheddar. unfortunately i forgot to adjust down (aka omit) the salt to make up for the saltiness for the feta, but i still loved in, and best of all i have three pieces left for breakfasts. i think this is going to become a great staple for me and i can switch it up with different veggies, different cheeses and other fun things like herbs and spices. very excited.

creamed spinach

for this recipe i doubled the medium white sauce recipe on the back of the kingsford cornstarch box with the following variations:

1. sauteed onion in melted butter
2. added cornstarch
3. used half-and-half instead of milk
4. used 1.5 10 ounce boxes of frozen spinach

i thought it turned out a little on the oniony side and yet somehow kind of bland, but the rest of the family loved it.

but more importantly, did i learn anything? yes. taking the time to do some prep work each night and sticking to the routines that help me feel better every morning and remembering to make time for things like reading and gardening that feed my soul is just as important as how often i exercise and what i eat. but really, when it comes down to it, the most important thing is sleep. so i'll keep working on that.

new year's resolution

i've always preferred birthdays for the whole taking stock of your life and yearly accomplishments thing, but i can't help but get caught up in the annual enthusiasm for resolutions and their promise of a clean slate. i've been known to write pages categorizing everything i hope to accomplish in the new year. needless to say, i rarely complete even a fraction of what's on those lists.

this year i'm going to try something different. i am going to make just one resolution: to take better care of myself in 2010. and yes, there are about a million different ways this can manifest (starting with eating better, sleeping better, exercising more...) but i am not going to go there. because i really believe that one of the best ways for me to take better care of myself is to stop putting so much pressure on myself to achieve.

happy new year everyone.