3 Scoops of Life vol 1

Welcome to my new monthly series! I’m calling it 3 Scoops of Life. I love ice cream, and 3 scoops seems like a dream cone to me. No, we’re not eating ice cream (although we can!). I’m simply highlighting three good things in my life each month.

• One is writing/work related.
• One is personal.
• One is an encouragement.

Scoop 1 (Work):

I took an entire afternoon last week to organize my business life for 2023. I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS. Setting aside the time for this is a challenge for me. I wanted to focus on the real work: a writing project. I know from experience, though, if I don’t have my systems in place, I waste time, I get frazzled and important things slip through the cracks. Then I get mad at myself and feel like a big dummy, and I end up slapping together the systems anyhow.

Not this year, my friends.

Here’s what I did.

• Set up a blank Income/Expense spreadsheet for 2023 (Thankfully, I’d already created a new template in 2022 to coincide with my typical Schedule C tax categories , and all I had to do was “save as” the old file as a new file and delete the previous dates/payments in the 2023 file.
• Created a Maintenance Marketing (click on link for overview) spreadsheet with tabs for my newsletter and blog. Since this is a new spreadsheet for me, I ended up tweaking it over the next couple of days to suit my personality better.
• In the Maintenance Marketing spreadsheet: Divided the Newsletter section into 12 parts and filled in my release dates and other features I’ve committed to.
• In the Maintenance Marketing spreadsheet: Listed every Wednesday in 2023 in the Blog section and filled in the titles for posts I already know I’m writing.

Now that these tasks are done, I can easily track my income/expenses all year, reference my newsletter/blog spreadsheet to add items or remember what has to happen and when, and I’ll be good to go when it’s time to file my taxes. Talk about a TIME SAVER!

Scoop 2 (Personal):

This will NOT shock you. I’m on a health kick. Isn’t everyone in January? Haha! For real, though, I don’t diet, I don’t eliminate food groups. I just stay in a calorie range, limit my sugar and exercise 5 days/week.

This method works for me. It’s not difficult, and I feel good about myself. When I stick with it, I’m easily able to stay within 3-4 pounds of my happy weight. When I stop tracking what I eat, I gain weight. Quickly. I’m talking 10 pounds in six months by barely blinking an eye (yes, this happened last year).

If you’re looking for tips on creating a health plan that works for you, give Mini-Habits for Weight Loss by Stephen Guise a try. (#commissionearned) He shares actual scientific studies about health and dieting, and he encourages you to decide for yourself how to approach getting/staying healthy.

On a side note: I’m rotating through my sweaters to wear all of them more often. Why do I wear 5 regularly and let the other 15 just hang there? *sigh*

Scoop 3 (Encouragement):

As you can see from Scoops 1 and 2, systems help me. I have business systems, health systems and personal/life systems. They take the guesswork out of my life. For me, taking the time to figure out exactly how I’ll stay on track in these areas is worth it. Will I always succeed? Not a chance. But when I do fail, it’s easier to pick up where I left off rather than starting over from scratch. 🙂

If you’re struggling in an area and want to make a change, take some time to think about a realistic way to succeed. What will you do differently? How can you make it as easy to stick with as possible? Would an app or spreadsheet help you?

Be kind to yourself. If you slide into old habits, just start again. It’s no biggie! I do it all the time!

What are your 3 scoops of life right now?

There is still time to enter my Depending on the Cowboy Giveaway! The entry form is below.

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