Bullet Journalling

So for the last couple of weeks, I have been leading up to starting a bullet journal from the start of August (today).

It is not done in a fancy style apart from the use of different colour pens, as I want to focus on the core basics of regularly using it - I might experiment with the prettier aesthetic aspects later on.

The journal I am using is fairly standard with a cover that is not floral.

The one "brave" interesting thing I have done is to commit to the plan with me challenge for August 

Day one of that challenge for August is a Planner Selfie, which I stuck on my newly created Instagram account - the worrying bit is all the other Instagram posts for day one are by women - what have I got myself involved in?????

Apologies for the dodgy photo.

Miracle Morning - Day 24

I would love to say that I did my Miracle Morning every morning since my last update six days ago but life is not like that for me at least.

Day 19 (Friday 22nd July) was a good day - I did my miracle morning session including a three mile run.  In addition, I had a good purge of the back bedroom, also known as Storeroom No.1.......

Day 20 - I did ten minutes silence and a 6.5mile run but nothing else other than plenty of extra walking to allow my daughter to walk the kilometres she needed for her Pokemon Go egg.

Day 21 - When I got up at 6.30am on the Sunday, I choose to head out for my long run straight away, and on reflection I feel I should have still allowed some Silence time and possibly a running affirmation and/or visualisation session before heading out.
The weather even at 6.30am was hot and it made for a slow and hard-going run resulting in just 11.5miles over three hours.

Day 22 - On Monday, I did no exercise but did do my Silence, affirmations, and finished the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book*.

Day 23 - I was poorly with digestion during the night so no Miracle Morning session happened.

Day 24 (today) - Again it did not happen as I recovered my lost sleep from the night before and I needed to get the car to the garage early, so it can have it's MOT and service - which to my surprise it passed.  When I got to work, I went to the large work canteen atrium area, got a coffee and sat down at a table in the corner and did my Silence there - I have no idea if I had any strange looks as I my eyes were closed but clearly my mind assumed it was happening.......
I also spent the evening in the city with my daughter as she wanted to do some more Pokemon Go, resulting in me doing 19k of steps overall for the day, without any running involved.

*Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki brief thoughts - I found parts of what he was advocating disturbing e.g. don't pay your bills and use it to buy assets instead, and his absolute belief in tax avoidance as he considers money spent by Governments as wasted money, yet there was no mention of him being charitable to those who cannot help themselves.  It wasn't all negative but overall I would not recommend it.

Miracle Morning - Day 18 - Fell off the wagon!

So four days have now passed since my last Miracle Morning, with only one being intentional.
There was no running in those four days as well, so not a great outcome but I cannot change the past so all I can do is keep on trying for each new day.

We all go through phases where life just gets a bit pants and I had ones of those moments but I did get an opportunity to refocus today and I will return to normality from tomorrow onwards.

Yesterday I was able to help my daughter sort her clothes out and this resulted in three black bag full of clothes that will go to either charity shops, friends for their daughters, or the next local jumble sale - the impact is to reduce the clutter in her room which then makes it easier to see what else needs to be dealt with.
I am on leave tomorrow, so I am planning to use the long-weekend to place a heavy focus on de-cluttering and tidying the house and garden.

Miracle Morning Day Twenty

So after my wobble early in the week, yesterday I was up at 5.45am and did my miracle morning including a three mile run and twenty minutes further reading of Rich Dad Poor Dad - I am not sure of that book but I will persevere with it.

Today I did a six and a half mile run and a ten minute silence but no reading.

I did two walks with my daughter today, both Pokemon Go related including a walk along the seaside at Great Yarmouth, which all helped me clock up over 21k steps.

I bought a nice journal in the Jarrolds Sale for £5.50 instead of £11

My plan is to use it from 1st August as a bullet journal and whilst it will have colour, I am not seeking to go all arty with mine - keep it simple and see what parts of bullet Journalling work for me.

Miracle Morning - Day Fourteen - 2nd week review

This morning I was up at 6.30am, did a slighter longer seven minute silence to start with, followed by twenty minutes of continuing to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, before finally heading out for my ten mile run which turned into a 3.5hr twelve and a half mile run - long story but the point is I did it.

Yesterday in addition to silence, reading and running, I also spent a good ninety minutes watching YouTube (mainly TEDx) video talks by Dr Alan Watkins about how to be brilliant every single day - he has a book out called 4D Leadership.

Looking back at the last seven days, I have placed placed the emphasis on the Silence/Meditation, Reading, and Exercise, with the affirmations and visualisations only being done if I have the time.

Again as per last week, the least productive days were the ones with no miracle morning sessions so it is clear it does at some level have a big impact.

Miracle Morning - Day Thirteen

Day ten (Wednesday) I did get up at 5.45am and do my miracle morning session including a three mile run, and it was a good day - I had my final school governors meeting prior to the summer break, and it did highlight to me that I have not actively done as much for the school as I had wanted to do, so the community aspect of my level 10 wheel of life needs to be tackled soon, otherwise I may as well not be a governor for the school.

Day eleven and twelve saw me waking up at 7am, and with my routine in tatters for both days, I found myself struggling to be at my best - the more shocking side is the instant slipping back into very poor eating habits, and inability to fully focus on what needs to be done that day.


Day Thirteen (Saturday aka today), I was intentionally up at 6.30am, I did my five minute silence, and about twenty minutes of reading (Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T Kiyosaki) before heading out for a five mile run.
I still need to plan my day as when I tried to do it last night, my brain had in effect switched off and I found it impossible to think about today.

Miracle Morning Day Nine

This morning I was up at 5.30am and did 2.5 mile run so it was done and out of way before starting my miracle morning hour.

Doing the silence was fine but needing to sort out breakfast and a cup of tea for the missus before she went to work interrupted the natural flow of the MM hour and I struggled to focus on the affirmations and visualisation.

The Journalling was more successful but not in terms of planning the day ahead.

Some positives and negatives to the day - it certainly was not a disaster or failure but given the extra 15 minutes it could have had a bigger impact on the day overall.