Don't Become Limited Edition

Anyone who knows me, knows two of my favourite words; "Limited Edition". I am a retailer's dream. A self confessed make up addict - chuck limited edition on the packaging and I'm reaching for my wallet. Something about feeling like you own something exclusive and only available temporarily excites me. Well done advertising! Im your favourite target consumer.

As a new year calendar year begins, we are filled with excitement and hope. Goals are set, and so it begins, eating healthy, working out, being organised, sticking to the budget, motivated.... the best edition of yourself. But you need to ensure you don't become a LIMITED edition. 

Life has been CRAZY for us. A huge build up over the past year, to everything finally happening and us now recovering. Welcome to Cyclone Cotter. From mid November onwards it was all a blur. The normal end of year craziness; sister's graduation, concerts and competitions, a 3 week trip to USA (without kids and hubby), packing up the house and moving 1000kms, transitioning to working from home, Christmas, New Year, enrolling in new school's, new cheer and dance, new.... well, everything.... you can imagine, all smooshed into; Maybe... 6 weeks. We're slowly transitioning into the post cyclone clean up and I can finally take a minute to relax. Whilst crazy, all the change brought on a new perspective and new state of mind. This also coincided with New Years and it just felt right to reflect and set some new goals.

The whirl wind 6 weeks

When you are on the right path, you can just feel it in your gut. For myself, its just a calmness. Over thinking is my super power. So when something feels right...I feel so peaceful.  I’m excited to say, NO stress OR anxiety up in here! Even when the removalist's damaged/broke a lot of our belongings, (I was obviously upset) but I did not stress about it. I just released it to the gods and let it go *cue Elsa and her snow storm*

I haven’t been in this good of a place mentally in the longest time. I feel so fresh and focused. No negative vibes allowed! (Side note, I do sometimes get slight anxiety about everything being so good and not having anxiety?! Wtf who am I? lol) I’m back at the gym ready to drop some weight/gain some muscle and also fuelling my body correctly. I’m working so hard on my parenting, being the best mother I can possibly be (whilst not becoming a robot) and really focusing on our family goals. As we enter our 10th year together (9 years married) I am making sure I stop and just be with my husband. I am lucky enough to still be madly in love with him and want to ensure that spark never dies. I have just made a new vision board updated with all my new goals, whether personal, family, educational, relationship, monetary, ect. I feel so inspired when I look at it but let’s not pretend it’s that easy though. If it was, everyone would be successful and smashing it. Feeling inspired and motivated is easy but also, unfortunately LIMITED. Turning these goals into habit’s is what stops us from becoming a 'limited edition' of our best self and into our 'fan favourite', 'holy grail' best self. (You see what I did there #makeUpAddict)

Anyways, I thought I would share my top tips for turning new year motivation into year long habit:

• Get Organised - I drew up a weekly schedule and ensured I had time for work outs, meal prep, study, work, family time, ME time ect there’s no point winging it because all you’ll find is your excuses. If it’s important, you’ll make time and schedule it! Put it in your diary in PEN. Then it’s gotta happen. Why do we accept some actions as a 'must' and some as a 'choice' when they are both important! We accept we have to brush our teeth twice a day to prevent decay blah blah blah but we don't prioritise our health and fitness which is to PROLONG OUR LIFE! I am guilty of not prioritising it, and as I question myself I can't help but think what's the point of perfect teeth if I'm dead from heart disease! Eating healthy and the gym for me HAS to be done. So I can see my great grandchildren and prevent as many health issues as possible. Another important thing you need to ensure you schedule in some "down time" its just as important as the 'big' stuff. You won't reach your end game if you lose yourself in the process - trust me. Mental health should always be a top - if not the top priority!

•  Don’t keep it a secret - let your nearest and dearest (or entire social media network) know what you're up to. That way, you have someone to answer to - and check in on and possibly join you as you progress and keep you accountable in moments of weakness. I've shared a lot of goals and how I'm progressing on my snapchat. I get so excited every time someone reaches out to tell me they are inspired or motivated by me. For us, 2018 is our year for #gettingItDone as we really needed to bite the bullet and prioritise some of our long term goals that require a little sacrifice now. My snapchat is: lys.cotter if you want the daily updates along the way.

•  Create a vision board - Visualisation is such an under utilised tool. See yourself reaching your goal, feel the excitement when you push yourself further than you ever have before. Now create a vision board with representation, triggers and images related to these feelings and end goals. I personally like to create one using online images. I found with making a physical one I never ended up finding true representation of my goals and kept trying to make similar things “work”. I also up date it regularly and have multiple copies. I have one on my bedroom mirror (as I spend too much time looking in it!) One on my fridge as I need a fair bit of reminding when it comes to food! One in my work out area (now that I go to the gym it go's in my office area) and I also want one on my roof, (hubby is away and I can't reach lol) So it is the first thing I see when I wake up and last thing I see when I go to sleep! I’ve been doing vision boards for approx 2 years now and A LOT of the goals represented on those boards have come true! Not by chance, but from visualising, working towards, sticking to and finally accomplishing them.

A sneak peak of my vision board.
Some of it is just the connection/emotion I get from the picture,
others are a direct representation.

•  Break it down - Goals are like humans - they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Our smaller goals we can see the finish line and just require a small amount of effort/time/motivation. Others goals are big.... or HUGE and the end game feels out of reach. What I do is break it down into smaller achievable goals along the way, so you can feel your progression and not lose hope! I also totally believe in rewarding ourselves in relation to the goal. For example; After I lose 15 kilo's I am going to need a new wardrobe. So I will stick a $20 note per kilo I lose to my countdown whiteboard on the back of my bathroom door (with a $50 bonus every 5 kilo's) This incorporates: visualisation, breaking down the goal and rewarding your hard work all into one!(Side note: the new wardrobe would of needed to have been purchased anyway - so its a great way to save for it)

• Be Realistic - "#goals" is something you see all over social media. You'll usually find it commented on a picture of something extreme or perfect. Having these as goals is fine, if you are really prepared to put in the hard work. If you want to strive for something huge, like to be a famous actress for example. You can't just wonder the streets hoping to be discovered because thats how Jennifer Lawrence got her big break. BE PROACTIVE - break down those goals.... Invest in drama classes, use the world wide web to take short courses, accent tutorials ect, dedicate time to practice your art, relocate to somewhere there is regular opportunities for work, find yourself an agent, offer your services for free at the local players theatre, attend every audition you can and really put yourself out there. It can be done, you just have to go that extra mile, don't worry though... its not crowded there. The other side of being realistic is to not reach for something unattainable. For example; fall for the social media illusion. Don't look at a public figure and aspire to live a life represented in their feed. They are showing their highlight reel. They still have bad days, their kids still throw tantrums, they still have days they doubt themselves... they are still human. What these people are subject to with thousands of people hurling judgement at them, its no surprise they attempt to attain a perfect image of permanent good days, imagine what they would cop on their bad days. I don't envy them. Instead look inside yourself and find out what it is you desire ABOUT what they have/are doing and reach for those goals instead!

• Give yourself snaps  - Celebrate the little wins, and don't be scared to share them. The smaller action that leads to you being proactive needs to be recognised. I pat myself on the back every time I actually get up at 5:15am without snoozing ect. I give myself a mental Hi5 and congratulations speech every time I successfully stick to budget - I also break out in dance when I am under budget. Enjoy the little things. I always try to make my bed as soon as I get up, simply so I have successfully completed my first task of the day... before I've even had coffee! I have set the standard of the day, to get shit done! It's all about your outlook. You may not be perfect but your progressing and THATS what matters! At the moment whilst I'm practicing my new habits I am all over snap chat and constantly telling everyone what I am doing. I'm proving to myself (and enjoying saying) I have got this and loving the support I am receiving. Anyone who doesn't support you, doesn't deserve to be apart of that journey and can unfollow ect, your not holding a gun to their head, they chose to look! 

Hopefully you gain even one small thing from my tips for working towards your goals. Each individual goal will have a different path but I feel like most are covered by these 6 principles. I hope any goals you are working towards become habit and you don't allow yourself to become just a limited edition. YOU are in CONTROL of your choices. I am off to set myself up for a week of success, to quote one of my good friends "A Sunday well spent brings a week of content" Good luck. You got this.