Life in the Lost World

Goal Setting in the New Year

My husband asked me what my New Year’s resolution is.

Me: I don’t believe in doing New Year’s resolutions.

Him: I know most people fail at them, but I thought it might be fun to work on one together.

Me: Nah, I don’t believe in them.

Him: They are just goals. Don’t you believe in setting goals for yourself?

Me: Of course I believe in goal setting, but not so much a fan of the NYR.

As a Life Coach, I do believe very much in goal setting. I have worked with clients, friends and family in successful goal setting. What I don’t like about the NYR idea is the public attention we bring to grandiose goals. I think, while for some, bringing awareness to those goals may help them stay on track, I think for many it sets us up for public failure.

Goal setting is a wonderful tool we all need to put into place.  Establishing our goals, thinking about the steps needed to accomplish those goals and putting together a plan of action for achieving them. Mostly I believe goal setting should be private and is completely personal. While that may not apply to goals centered around family and finances, it is a very personal thing to lose weight, get healthy or quit smoking.

Sharing those goals with a close friend, with someone you can trust to hold you accountable without judging you if you don’t progress in the way they think you should, is a good thing. Telling the whole world you will lose 30 pounds in time for bikini weather sets you up for a public display of potential failure.

Staying with the example of losing weight, think about this; you tell your husband, your children, your siblings, friends, co-workers, of your goal to lose weight by this summer. While these people may care about us, not everyone in our lives is without judgment and in complete support of everything we undertake. By telling them our goal to lose weight, we open ourselves up to the backhanded comments, the looks, the judgment, if we veer off course slightly and have a piece of cake. That is detrimental to our progress and how we feel about it to begin with.

“Everyone is right. I am never going to get this baby weight off. I might as well accept that I am destined to be heavier.”

Self-defeating, isn’t it?

So this year, instead of setting these public resolutions for change in your life (which seem to ultimately fail), why not start with something private and personal. These are, after all, your goals anyway.

Question: What goal do you hope to achieve this year?

I want to lose 30 pounds and get back to the size I was when I got married.

Question: What steps do you need to take to accomplish this goal?

I need to begin eating healthier. I need to begin exercising.

—-

Now break down those steps into even smaller, more attainable goals.

I need to begin eating healthier.

No more fried foods. Eat only healthy complex carbohydrates. No refined sugars. No soda pop. Eat the bulk of my meals in fresh vegetables. (and so on)

I need to begin exercising.

This week I will walk 20 minutes a day, 5 times a week. Next week, I will walk 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week. (and so on)

When you say I need to lose weight, it sounds difficult. When you say, I am going to cut out all friend foods and refined sugars, it doesn’t feel as heavy does it?

When you say, I need to exercise, you wonder where to begin? Certainly the last thing many of us want to do while being out of shape is hit the gym and take a very intense cardio class. So start small, take baby steps, literally, and begin walking.

And the next time someone asks you what your New Year’s resolution is, tell them you resolve this year not to have one. When they look at you cross-eyed, explain you have instead set some incredible goals for yourself and you can’t wait to get started at achieving them. Smile and say no more. Let the proof be in the end result. You don’t owe anyone else any more than that.

Happy New Year and Happy Goal Setting! I will see you again on the flip side of the new year

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

Article written by Marc at Marcandangel.com

When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you. As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.

3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled .

4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.

6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.

8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.

10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness .

Please read the rest of this wonderful article written by Marc at Marcandangel.com HERE

Photo by: Rob Brucker

It’s Make Up Your Mind Day!

What is this holiday about?

It’s about making up your mind and sticking to it. It’s time to stop being indecisive and make up your mind. No more putting off your decision, today’s the day to finalize your thoughts and take a stand! Just remember- making up your mind makes life easier.

source – gone-ta-pott

Climbing Mount Laundry – with the help of Shout Free Stain Remover! ends 1/4

Shout

Living in a rural area with small children brings lots of laundry
challenges. You must have laundry products you can depend on if
you have any hope of keeping their clothes stain free and looking decent!

When you add grass stains, grease stains, good old Florida black dirt
and chicken poop (don’t ask!) to the normal everyday stains we all
experience with children, laundry becomes an exercise in ingenuity!

From the time my kids ate (and drooled down their fronts) their first
strained spinach, through their ketchup and mustard days, their skinned knees and bloodstained jeans days, I’ve depended on Shout Stain Remover to keep their clothes looking clean and nice.

That being said, as I get older and wiser, I worry about the amount of
dyes, fragrances and chemical ingredients my kids are subjected to daily, so when asked to review the new Shout Free with zero dyes, zero fragrance and 99% natural ingredients, I didn’t hesitate a minute before saying yes!

I am very happy to tell you all that Shout Free is every bit as effective at removing stains as original Shout. A spray or two directly on the stain before tossing it into the machine is all it takes to deal with even the most difficult stains like blood or grapejuice!

Thank you Shout Free for making my almost daily climb of Mount Laundry a less daunting prospect! I appreciate you!

The great folks at Shout would like to offer my readers a chance to try Shout Free as well and are offering TWO of you a chance to win a bottle to help you tame your own laundry monsters! Thank you so much!
This one’s going to be a bit of a quicky, so hurry and get your entries in!

Don’t want to wait for the giveaway to end? Meander on over to their
Facebook Page and download the $1 off coupon there!  (under ‘Offers’ on the left)

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Meeting Baby’s Nutritional Needs with Earth’s Best! givaway ends 1/20

Earth’s Best

Beginning in the first week of December, ALL the adults, in the lost world, have taken their turn on the illness carousel! A minor cold for me evolved rapidly into a chest cold, then bronchitis and finally a round of horrible blisters in my mouth when my immune system just became too overwhelmed to keep fighting. It’s been a rough month and I’m still mending from it.

When you add illness to the hustle and bustle that comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, AND the demands of having an infant in the house, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.

The holiday season always presents special challenges for feeding our families in a healthy manner, this year was especially diificult here in the lost world. Thank goodness we had Earth’s Best Organics in our pantry to help make feeding baby Sophie easier during this busy busy month!

While fruits and veggies make up a large portion of a baby’s diet, whole grains can be introduced in these developmental years as well. Since even adults struggle to meet daily whole grain requirements, incorporating these nutrition powerhouses at an early age may begin healthier eating habits down the road.

The fiber in whole grains can help baby stay satisfied longer after meals and snacks. Fiber also plays a key role in helping the digestive tract stay regular. And as a bonus, offering baby a variety of whole grains helps to expand their exposure to new tastes and textures.

Earth’s Best® line of Infant Puree Pouches give baby a unique blend of organic fruits and vegetables in a new resealable pouch. They are perfect for on the go! They are USDA organic certified and contain 25% or more of the Daily Value of Zinc, Vitamins A, C & E!

In addition to all of the wonderful Earth’s Best products we received this month…they included the handiest little gadget I’ve seen for a while – a Siliskins! It’s a non-toxic, protective silicone sleeve that’s designed to fit snugly over baby food jars, protecting them from bumps and falls that could result in breakage! They’re resistant to extreme temperatures and can be microwaved or even put into the freezer and provide a more secure grip too! I wish I’d had Siliskins with all our other babies! You can learn more about ‘em on the Siliskin’s blog HERE

We are especially thankful for Earth’s Best in the lost world, right now. They do the nutritional legwork to help keep Sophie healthy when illness and holiday confusion keeps us from doing our best!

The great folks at Earth’s Best would like to share their wonderful Infant Puree Pouches with my readers too and are offering to send one of you a  great sampler package to try! Thank you so much!

Just climb aboard the Rafflecopter to enter!

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It’s Mega Swagbucks Friday! (and a special holiday sign up bonus!!)

swagbucks.com

Do you like earning extra cash? What do you think about making
money to surf the web!? It’s just that simple. Sign up for Swagbucks
and get points when you search the web. Turn those in for prizes!
In October, I cashed in Swagbucks for FIVE Amazon gift cards!

Take 2 minutes out of your day to seach the internet and perform
a couple of simple tasks for easy points and every Friday is
Mega Swag Bucks Day (MSBD), which means better odds of winning
their BIG Swag Bucks denominations! Simply search naturally, and
with a little luck, you’ll be winning large bills starting at 20 Swag Bucks
and up. It only takes 450 Swagbucks to earn a $5 Amazon gift card,
so get searching and earn some Swagbucks!
(You can earn Swagbucks every day but on Fridays you
have the chance to win extra!)

Right now there’s a special holiday bonus of 100 swagbucks when you join and enter the code HOLIDAYSWAG at sign up.

 Sign up HERE

You’ll be well on your way to earning those great prizes before you know it!!

It’s Relaxation Day!

Life can be very fast pace at times and we all need a day to celebrate like this one. So go ahead, you can let yourself have this day for yourself. You deserve it. Just kick back and relax. Get rid of that hectic lifestyle if you have one and enjoy this day.

This day provides a day for your mind to rest, a day for dreaming, and a day for doing absolutely nothing. Avoid all stressful activities today. Let your body heal, rest and relax. Get on a float at the lake and let the smooth waves glide you. Make sure you tie a long rope to your wrist and anchor it to the bank in case you fall asleep.

Our Top ideas for Relaxing Day
Do nothing today, just relax
Spend the day swinging in a swing
Listen to southing & healing music
Spend the day napping in a hammock
Fill the bird feeder and spend a day bird watching
Fill the squirrel feeder and spend a day watching the squirrels eat.
Do a little gardening (no heavy duty work, though)
Spend some time tossing a stick to your dog.
Take pictures of your family, or wildlife
Float around in a pool all day
Spend the day at the beach
Have a picnic in the park
Get on a float at the lake
Take a relaxation class
Take a bubble bath
Read a good book
Take a boat ride
Go to the movies
Do some yoga
Go to a Spa
Go fishing
source – gone-ta-pott

Our Listerine Oral Care Challenge – Part 2

Listerine

It was the best of times…it was the worst of times…
to participate in an oral care challenge, that is.

The best because with all the sweet treats and holiday indulgences,
our teeth and gums needed all the help they could get…and the worst of times? Well, you know how the holidays are, hectic and busy, but if we could build stronger dental care habits during THESE last 3 weeks, I really think we’ll continue with our new routine.

I’ve never been much for what you’d call gadget-y ways to get my kids to brush. However, the littles really did get excited about brushing their teeth with fun new REACH^® Kids toothbrushes and it became more of something to look forward to and less of a chore. I guess this old dog learned a new trick. Add to to the ‘fun factor’ that an angled head cleans back teeth better, the smaller head and soft bristles are made for developing teeth and the handle is wider for little hands and you have a winning proposition right across the board.

There are several different LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® flavors for kids – it was fun to try them all and find the one that they like to use best. I admit it, I tried them too and I’m personally fond of the berry flavor but surprisingly, the littles preferred the mint!

Because the LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® Anticavity Fluoride Rinse is a great way for kids 6 and up to SEE the particles that brushing alone leaves behind, it makes a wonderful teaching tool. If particles show up in the rinse, you know you need to do a better job with the toothbrush! Our brushing skills improved! (yes, even mine) I also love the fact this Listerine rinse provides 12-hour cavity protection AND strengthens teeth 99% better than brushing alone.

Admittedly, I’ve always been what you might call a haphazard flosser and rinser, but thanks to this challenge, I now feel a little uncomfortable when I don’t floss and rinse. I actually got up out of bed once, when I didn’t floss after dinner, grabbed my Reach Total Care Floss, took care of business and went peacefully back to bed!  I’m helping the littles learn to floss too…and building great habits that will, hopefully, last a lifetime.

I really like using the LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE ZERO  mouth rinse because there is no alcohol and the taste, frankly, is much less intense and much more enjoyable than I remember Listerine being in days gone by! There are 6 great benefits worth noting too:

Helps Prevent Cavities
Restores Enamel
Strengthens Teeth
Kills Bad Breath Germs
Cleans the Whole Mouth
Freshens Breath

This challenge really helped everyone in our family take better care of our teeth. We were asked to brush, floss and rinse every day, twice a day for two weeks. We’ve continued now for just over 3 weeks and although I originally thought it was the littles who needed the most improvement, I am realizing I am taking better care of my own teeth, too, these days. It’s amazing how holding each other accountable has helped us all!

The Listerine and Reach Oral Care Challenge showed me that when I brush, rinse and floss our littles, they will learn by example and take better care of their own teeth too. My family will continue to brush, rinse and floss together – at least for now while littles are young – and I know it will lead to happier teeth, cleaner mouths AND healthier bodies for all of us.

Thank you, Listerine, for providing us with your great products and oral care tips!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Listerine and received a sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

It’s Tic-Tock Day!

There are only two days left until the end of the year; have you achieved everything you set out to do, upheld your new year’s resolutions and made a difference? Tick Tock Day puts the pressure on you to cram in some last minute work before the end of the year to achieve your goals!
source – days of the year

Wordless Wednesday….