goals – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Make the days count!

By Jenna Jamieson | May 27, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Summer is here and I want to make sure I get lots done rather than lounging too much. I started yesterday by making my “Summer To Do List” to keep myself accountable. I want to be sure I have some volunteering in my schedule as well as get some overdue projects completed!

I also don’t want to let myself sit in front of a screen for an extended period of time without moving, whether it be a tv screen or a computer screen. I have noticed that many parents have made plans to keep their children from having too much screen time this summer. Remember it is equally as important to follow the same rules, don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk as well. Make sure you get up and move periodically – if you are watching your favorite show, game, or movie get up and move rather than sitting for two or three hours. Your body and brain needs the stimulation and movement. Plus, by making the days count that means you are also adding some fitness into your day! It makes you feel less stressed, less grouchy, and more energetic to get through the day. So keep a list or schedule that utilizes your time wisely so you aren’t spending too much time on social media, sitting around the house, or not getting your goals accomplished. If you aren’t sure what to omit from your schedule consider scanning newsfeeds less than the typical five, ten, fifteen, or more times a day.

Consider getting involved in your community, volunteer at some local events, and show your family the importance of giving back to others. If you love fitness, find a Relay for Life, American Heart Association, or other charity walk or run to participate in. If you love cooking, consider cooking or baking treats for your local police station. There are endless options and your kids can even help or tag along so they see the value in appreciating others.

Whatever you do, make sure you make your summer days count and work for you! If you do, you will feel much better at the end of each day. So, if you are like me, start that “Summer To Do List” so you can make each day count.

~jj

#ProjectKindnessBook

#AlwaysChooseKindness

What will YOU do in 2016?

By Jenna Jamieson | January 7, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

It is normal to set new goals and milestones at the beginning of the new year. You may want to lose weight, eat more fruits and veggies, go to church, save more money, write more on your blog (ME!) 😉 and so on. It can include anything you want to accomplish and do throughout the year. For me, one of my biggest goals is to publish a book I have been working on for almost two years. When it comes to health and well-being, there are many areas that you can focus on – social, emotional, environmental, spiritual, physical, and mental health.

Will you focus on your social health? This comprises your friends, family, and interactions with others. Will you sign up to be involved in new groups or events such as community development? Will you volunteer with local charity organizations? Will you be planning a wedding or other special event? Will you give selflessly to others through random acts of kindness? All of these things make you active in ensuring you have a happy, healthy, and successful social component within your life.

Will you focus on your emotional health? Do you handle stress and excitement appropriately? Do you balance the spectrum of all emotions in a healthy way? You may choose to work on emotional health by taking deep breaths when stressed, not “closeting” your feelings, listening to your heart and mind, and making decisions for yourself and how you feel rather than to please others.

Will you focus on your environmental health? This means that you foster a positive work and personal environment. Further, this includes preserving the water, air, and the land around you. Will you begin to recycle more this year? That includes less waste such as paper products including paper plates, napkins, and printing unnecessary documents. Will you reuse paper to prevent further waste in landfills? Will you reduce water bottle usage by using reusable plastic bottles to decrease landfill wastes? When you discuss land and air safety, this means you reduce harmful chemicals such as burning toxic wastes and disposing of chemicals in landfills.

Will you focus on your spiritual health? This requires that you “talk the talk and also walk the walk.” In other words, you have morals, values, and ethics that you follow to lead an honest life. Additionally, it means you encourage peace and harmonious relationships between yourself and others. You may mediate, read about your belief system, pray, or attend a religious organization.

Will you focus on your physical health? Will you exercise more this year? Will you join a gym or participate in group exercise classes? Are you training for a 5k, half marathon, or full marathon? This is probably one of my strengths when it comes to the six components of health. I regularly exercise, take walks, and go outside to be active. It helps me lower my stress level and makes me feel great. This is particularly important to reduce health diseases such as heart problems, obesity, diabetes, and other health concerns that can be created from being overweight.

Will you focus on your mental (aka intellectual) health? Will you improve your mood or attitude in 2016? Will you work to cope better with your stress, anxiety, depression, or self-confidence and self-image? Part of mental health is finding solutions to cope with your daily struggles. It may mean reaching out for help, recognizing that those around you care, or changing the demands of your life to reduce the mental stress you are facing.

It is very important to find a balance of the six components of health and well-being. Like me, you may find that you are strong in two to three of the six components. If that is the case, that’s fantastic! It means you can use 2016 as a way to focus on the ones that you are not as strong in. As for my book, it focuses on my mental/intellectual health, social health, and emotional health. Consider finding projects, activities, and events that will allow you to work on several components. For example, participating in group fitness classes will focus on your physical, social, and possibly spiritual and emotional well-being. Spiritual well-being through mediation or yoga, and emotional well-being to reduce stress. You can work to improve components that you struggle with to find a better balance to lead a healthier and happier 2016!

~jj

#ProjectKindnessBook

#AlwaysChooseKindness

Small progress should make you happy!

By Jenna Jamieson | August 23, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Small progress may be frustrating, but small progress is better than no progress, moving backwards, or having setbacks. While you may wish to see more progress in terms of weight loss, muscle tone and definition, or in your energy level, remember that progress takes time, especially when it comes to changing your habits and body. It is safest to see slow, steady results that are consistent and maintained over time.

Changing your habits and making changes to your body through exercise and nutrition can take time (and should take time). Quick weight loss and sudden food changes such as eliminating caffeine, sugar, or carbohydrates may not only be dangerous, but also may present side effects including mood changes, increased anxiety and stress levels, or even could be harmful if you have rapid weight loss in a short period of time.

It is important to be happy with small milestones as those add up and help you achieve your overarching fitness and nutrition goals. So as you workout and make fitness and nutrition goals (see Fitness and nutrition goals to the rescue!) remember that your small progress should be motivation to keep you going and further your desire to see your end result. My boyfriend likes to sign up for 5ks as a goal to work toward for himself and is now signed up for a half marathon in October. It is a great goal and is something that he can slowly train for. He signed up for the half marathon in April to give himself plenty of time to train and work up to the 13.1 miles he will be running. Setting large goals for yourself that are 3-6 months or more out is great because it allows you to slowly make progress over time. For example, my boyfriend can set a goal of running 3.5 miles for 3-4 weeks (he can already do that because that’s about the distance of 5ks) followed by increasing his distance to half of the marathon of about 6.5 miles and do that for about 2-3 weeks and then do three fourths of the race by increasing to about 9.75 miles for 2-3 weeks and then do the full 13.1 miles for at least one week. This is just an example, so do what you feel the most comfortable with and works best for you based on your fitness level and experience.

Just remember that building yourself up by slowly making progress over time is much healthier than pushing yourself too hard in a short period, losing weight rapidly, or cutting out food or food groups too quickly. Small progress is not only great progress, but will make life less stressful over time and is proven to make it easier to maintain and sustain.

~jj

Feel happy in the New Year!

By Jenna Jamieson | December 28, 2013 | Comments 0 Comment

A new year can often feel as though it is absorbed by everyone making new resolutions to visit the gym more often, lose weight, and eat healthier everyday, but these can be overshadowed by other great changes and new beginnings that can get you off to a great start in 2014! New beginnings and new changes don’t have to mean weight loss and diets, but can also mean being happier with yourself and your surroundings, so here are a few great tips I have gathered that make me feel happy, healthy, and keep the adventurous edge of life in me.

If you’re feeling the new year “blah” because the holidays are over and you don’t have the optimism and positive attitude to go along with the New Year, consider some simple changes that might help give you a new perspective or outlook. For example, consider painting a wall in your house or a specific room to have an accent wall or rearrange your furniture to give a room a new look.

Consider booking a spring or summer vacation in January so you have something to look forward to. Whether it be a small weekend getaway or a week at the beach or in the mountains, you will thank yourself for booking something. It will give you the motivation and energy to get through the rest of winter and build momentum as your getaway gets closer.

Allow yourself to be more open and honest with yourself and others. If you don’t want to attend the numerous baby showers, bridal parties, and weddings that you get invited to, quickly send back the RSVP card with a “no” response and cross that obligation off your calendar. If you don’t want to go, it will show, so there’s no reason to show up to someone’s party or celebration with a poor outlook or attitude.

Lastly, try to improve the characteristics and qualities about yourself that cause additional stress. For example, if you tend to run late for everything learn to get up earlier to pad yourself with additional time. While running late may seem somewhat harmless, it adds additional stress to your day and can cause you to be thrown out of your routine. It often makes you feel frazzled, which is typically carried throughout your entire day.

~jj

New Year, New Goals, New Rules aka Accountability

By Jenna Jamieson | December 17, 2013 | Comments 0 Comment

Hooray for a new year! Hooray for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and so! Hooray for new goals! One thing that I love is setting goals for myself that are challenging and rewarding. Rather than making new resolutions in January every year I typically have goals each month for myself throughout the entire year. They can be simple goals such as setting a Christmas budget for myself in September, jotting down all the ideas I have for people on my Christmas list in October, and then finishing my Christmas shopping by the end of the first week in November. Further, rather than setting “negative” goals and resolutions I try to set goals that have a “positive” spin. So rather than setting a goal of losing weight, I would set a goal of eating healthier. For example, set a goal of eating out for lunch once a week and eating an apple with peanut butter or caramel with your lunch so your goal doesn’t become dreaded and can easily be incorporated with your typical lunch routine.

Weight and eating resolutions are typical goals every year, but all too often these resolutions fail, not because the person doesn’t try or doesn’t care, but because the person loses motivation when he/she doesn’t see instant results or becomes wrapped up in the chaos of daily life. While I know it is not New Year’s yet, there’s no perfect time to set new goals or resolutions for yourself. Rather than putting off what you can start today, make a plan, set your goals, and make yourself accountable for what you want to accomplish. One of my favorite sayings to remember is, “Why wait until tomorrow when you can start or do it today?”

So, rather than waiting until January to make a plan because you just want to “get through the holidays” aka eating the scrumptious candies and desserts and the exhaustion of finishing your Christmas shopping consider making yourself accountable during the holidays so you don’t feel so guilty in January. Many people feel guilty in January because of all the food, chaos, and stress from the holiday season. Then once New Year’s rolls around, people make resolutions to help make up for it. The problem with this is that we often tend to make goals that are unattainable in order to fill the gaps and inefficiencies from the holidays.

My suggestion is to START NOW! Happy day, month, and year of positive goals and accountability. Change starts now, not tomorrow, not next week or next month or next year. Change starts with yourself, not with an organization or group of friends, so start your goals today. You will thank yourself tomorrow for what you accomplish today. Cheers to the new year from me to you!

~jj