Have you ever been so lazy that you’d wait for your assignments to start writing on it’s own? Have you ever been such an awesome dreamer that you ended up using all your energy on dreaming and left nothing to actually take the steps? Have you ever been a people pleasure that the thought of disappointing someone would literally give you anxiety and panic attacks?

If you know me now, you might not believe the severity of all of the questions above. I truly mean it. I always waited for my assignments to start writing on its own, and when the assignments refused it, I would start working on it maybe a few hours before it was due. True story. Dreaming was never an issue for me, but fulfilling my dreams was always the issue. I would literally sit there for my dreams to come true, and every time ……. EPIC FAIL!

One of my dear friend is an amazing astrologer. She read my chart in detail when we barely knew each other, when she knew NOTHING about my personal life. The first thing she told me, “Wow! I’ve NEVER seen a chart where someone is so controlled by others. You let others control your life!” My jaw dropped. True story. Being a girl, I was always expected to be doll.

2 years ago my life changed completely forever. I hit all time low emotionally, physically, mentally and financially. Any other -lly left? If there’s then let’s add that too. I looked for answers everywhere, but I failed to find any answer to any of the questions and prayers. People that were supposed to be my rock and have my back showed their true colors. Well, you get the picture, right?

Then how did I turn it all around? Slowly I adopted 5 habits on top of cutting many people out of life and keeping a distance from some others that helped me become a completely new person. Did it happen overnight? Absolutely NOT. It took 2 years, and the transformation is still happening, but I am blessed to say that it’s only moving forward instead of backward.

1) Early bird gets the worm

I’ve always been an early bird, but if the time isn’t used effectively then it doesn’t help much. Which one are you? The alarm goes off, and you jump out of bed and ready to go? Or the alarm goes off, and you keep hitting snooze? Well, I am the second one, but taking some time in the morning help me get organized and have a positive day ahead. If I can’t wake up early in the morning to see the sunrise for some reason then it’s hard for me to be productive throughout the day. Praying early in the morning and going for a walk give me more energy that I can use productively.

2) Habit 1 : Be Proactive

Have you read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey? If you haven’t then I highly recommend it. At my regular job, our school has become a Leader In Me school which is based around the 7 habits. I decided to read the book on top of going thru some brief training at work. We are supposed to live by the 7 habits before we can teach the habits to the students, and before I knew it, I made these habits a part of my life. Even though I am still working on certain habits, before I even realized it, I became a very proactive person which also changed me from a follower to a leader in all areas of life.

3) Keep a planner and follow the plans

A part of being proactive and following the habits is keeping a planner or a journal or something that helps to keep yourself on track and hold you accountable. Slowly I’ve merged the 7 Habits journal and bullet journals and created my own planner. Actually it’s a $4.99 notebook from Ross that I designed to make my own. I have to write a completely separate blog post on it because I can keep going on and on about it. I just absolutely LOVE it!

4) Fitness and healthy habits

I used to be one of those people that get a gym membership and then forget about it. I can’t believe how much money I’ve wasted on gym memberships that I never used. Or I’d be working out for a couple of months and then Poof! Gone! I am also a foodie. Food has always been one of my weaknesses which never helped with health issues.

Less than 2 years ago, I started to go out for a walk every morning. Please don’t laugh at me, but I would walk for 20 min and already out of breath. That’s how out of shape I was, but that didn’t stop me. My daily 20 min walk turned into 3-4 miles of hikes within a month. I also started to follow blood type diet which is also a very customized diet that’s not like other trendy diets that follow one size fits all motto. Hearing those wonderful words “You’ve lost so much weight” only motivated me more and more everyday. It was like music to my ears. Long story short I found some amazing yoga classes then added zumba and then found UJam. I fell in love with UJam and fast forward to 2018. I am now a UJam instructor! I know! Me a fitness instructor? It really happened!

5) Create a budget and stick to it.

I actually didn’t have a choice. I had to create a strict budget and had to follow it. I follow Dave Ramsey’s advice. I have a spreadsheet, a formula now, 7 different categories, a percentage for each category and much more. Sticking to the budget and controlling impulse buying can be hard, but being proactive, keeping a planner and self reflection truly help. I chose to put myself last at one point, but now I am putting myself first and determined to lead a debt free life very soon.

 

The above 5 habits are helping me enjoy freedom everyday. I still can’t believe how far I’ve come, but I don’t hesitate to say now that I feel very blessed. I might not have a lot of money, BFFs, the perfect health, gorgeous cheek bones, a loving husband or kids, but I have the strength now to overcome anything because I know I can do it ALONE.

 

P.S. I still need my lazy days when I do absolutely nothing. It’s a secret! Sshhhh…..