Motivation Monday: Setting the Intention

How was your weekend? Mine was relaxing: it wasn't anything too remarkable. Just some quality time with my husband, some good workouts, some good walks, a lot of reading, our weekly grocery shopping, and some movies, pizza, and beer.

The most vibrant flowers!

Despite having been in the professional world full-time since 2016, I feel like there are days where I almost have to start from scratch with my motivation, with my routines, and with my confidence. This probably sounds more gloomy than I mean it to be: perhaps my point is that life never seems to go into autopilot. Some weeks, I think all I need to do is focus on three main things. Some weeks, I think I really should get a workout in every morning to get me on track. Some weeks, I manage my 25 minutes of focus, 5 minutes of relaxation system all day. None of these every truly sticks. 

This Week, There Will Be Intention

I am someone who benefits from making my decisions ahead of time. Does this mean that I always act on that knowledge? Of course not! But sometimes, with that awareness, I work to use that to my advantage. If I make decisions ahead of time, I tend to be happier and more relaxed. It also frees up some analytical skill for my work--rather than wasting my decision energies on choosing a Peloton workout. This week, I intend to plan ahead for lunches, which workouts I will take, and which snack I'll have in the afternoon. Hopefully, this will free up mental capacity so that I can be productive with work. 

So What's the Plan?

• Lunches: a sort of cobb salad. Mixed greens, bacon, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, avocado, vinaigrette
• Snacks: pretzels and hummus
• Workouts: 20 minute HIIT rides with Jess King on the stationary bike Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night. 10 or 15 minute yoga videos on the other evenings

I don't have any inherent opposition to doing the same thing over-and-over. In fact, there was a very happy period in college where I ate the same thing every day. I even remember it fondly as 'that time where I ate the same thing every day.' Strange, I know. So one way I manage to make the decision ahead of time is to eat something similar every day for lunch and snacks.

How about you? How are you tackling the week? 

Today's Delights:

• Last night's homemade pizza was another margarita pizza on grocery store fresh pizza dough: it ended up so great!
• We watched Nomadland last night on Hulu. It was pretty good! I didn't know anything about it going in, and found it interesting and somewhat touching.

Find something to delight in --A