Bad habits are tough to break. I try to check off seasonal goals and bucket list activities, but that doesn’t do much for my bad habits. I got the idea to challenge myself in September with waking up early on time every day, but then thought, ‘Why not keep this going for 12 months?’
So here we are. All twelve months highlight things I’d like to change. My hope is that by altering my behavior for a solid 28 to 31 days I will foster some new (good) habits. So here’s what the next year looks like:
September: Wake up at 6am on weekdays
October: Don’t yell at/lose temper with Lylee
November: Wash my face every single night
December: Go to church every Sunday
January: No trips north just to shop
February: No eating past 8pm
March: No fast food (unless necessarily while traveling)
April: Go for a walk 4 times per week
May: Read for 30 minutes every day
June: Water the plants EVERY DAY
July: Cook 4 good edible meals (not all Asian) per week*
August: Yoga, three times a week, in the studio or at home
*K helped with the July goal, lol. And he’ll BE helping that with goal in July #GrillKing
Some of these are self-explanatory: getting up on time, not losing my temper with Ly (who can be incredibly frustrating/headstrong/stubborn/defiant), reading every day. The no eating past 8pm hopefully helps me curb bored snacking at night- which I’m guilty of. January’s habit is a mini-shopping ban. Unless I drive 30 minutes north I don’t have access to Target, Old Navy, HomeGoods, etc.
When we travel I won’t be holding myself to these things. I take food & sleep whenever I can get it on business trips. Ha.
I’m kicking off the 6am wake up call on Monday. Wish me luck! I’ll probably mention this monthly just to keep myself accountable 🙂
Life as Louise 
You will NEVER regret washing your face every night! I promise!
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I definitely need to be better about it… I’m going to focus on one goal a month but if I start a few early (face washing, dog walking, yoga) I’m not going to stop or skip their assigned months! I should *probably* work on the face washing one sooner than Nov.
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This is a really good idea! The waking up early (intentionally) for me is the hardest because I just crave that time to relax in the morning. Probably because I really can’t anymore. Hashtag children.
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Thanks, Erin! I have no good excuse for the bad waking up habit. I’m just soooo not a morning person. I’ve VERY productive at night, though! Helpful in college, not so much now.
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I love this idea! It’s kind of like your own Happy Project, with a new goal/thing to focus on every month. I really need to get better at meal planning and drinking more water. Those are always a work in progress and I want to make it more of a habit so I’m not always worrying about it. haha
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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I had a handle on meal planning for a while… and then I didn’t. I am TERRIBLE about drinking water. I’ve been trying to work on that all year. *sigh*
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I absolutely love this strategy! You will have to let us know how it goes each month!
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Haha- I think blogging about it is my only way to stay truly accountable 🙂 I did have Kyle participate in the goal-making, though, so he knows this is something I want to work on. My waking up difficulties drive him nuts so he’s happy to help kick me out of bed at 6am. Lol
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Funny – you want to wake up at 6… I’m going to try & wake up at 4:45am haha… I wake up anyways at 5:15 & I just started working out so I need the extra half hour. So just think – 6am is sleeping in to some people 😉 haha
I just saw a book somewhere that was about 30 day challenges – this reminds me of that.
Not eating after 8 is one I’ve been \working on the past 2 weeks too – I’m surprised how well I’ve done. i’m also exhausted & in bed by 8 so that helps 😉 haha
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OHHHHH no. I am 100% not a morning person. 4:45am could never ever ever be an every day thing for me. I got up at 3am for our trip today but I’m running on adrenaline. Haha! I’ll have to remember that 6am is sleeping in 😉
Not eating after 8 is going to be a tough for me!
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i LOVE this idea. i have a lot of bad habits i could work on. you should definitely mention/recap monthly because i am curious! waking up early is easy once you get used to it, what time do you normally get up? what do you have to do in the mornings (like prepare breakfast, feed dogs, get clothes out) and can anything be done the night before? that’s what helps me. that and going to bed early lol. good luck!
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I think I’m going to have to recap monthly. It’s honestly my only way of staying accountable 🙂 The blog and Kyle. Lol
I’m AWFUL at waking up early unless I have somewhere to be (like a vacation leave-time or an early morning yoga class). I usually get up some time between 6:30 and 7am, then scrabble about doing the bare minimum for what I have time for… 6am would give me time for coffee, breakfast, feeding the dogs, and getting dressed/ready. I plan to lay my clothes out and set the coffee pot timer 😉
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6am, girl. What I would give to be you! I have to wake up at 4am every day. It. Is. Rough. I LOVE the idea of breaking a habit one month at a time! I may have to try something like this. They say it takes about 21 days to form a habit so makes sense to do it monthly like this. And one at a time seems a lot more doable.
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Nooooooo- 4am would be reason enough for me to quit a job. LOL. I hate mornings- I’m way more productive at night. I’m very determined to pull myself out of bed at 6am this month, though. I’ve been meaning to fix this bad habit for a while now. I’m banking on the 21 day rule- hopefully 30 just cements it in my routine 🙂
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Oh I absolutely love this idea! I could honestly benefit from some of these exact same things… waking up on time, cooking more, not yelling at Dakota dog. Good luck! I look forward to hearing about your progress!
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I gave up yelling at Lylee for Lent one year. It was tough. She’s so damn difficult (on purpose) some times. Hahahaha.
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I freaking love this.
When you think about making all these commitments/changes as a group, it’s overwhelming. But one goal a month to concentrate on? Seems much more manageable.
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MUCH more manageable. And I tried to start relatively small. There are many more things I’d like to do (like work out more than walking/yoga & eliminate dairy because I know it make me break out) but I’m not ready for that kind of self improvement yet. Hahaha.
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What an inspiring list, Audrey!!! No eating past 8pm would cut my caloric intake each day in HALF haha…I swear I don’t eat before 10am (getting babies up and ready for the day takes all my attention) and then I make up for it at night. Notttt a super healthy routine haha
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Thanks, Julie! I’m pretty bad about eating after 8pm. Sometimes it’s our dinner! I’m going to have to pay more attention to our meal times that month!! (And like I said, on work trips I’m going to eat whenever because #survival, lol.)
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I love this idea! Good luck with the 6 a.m. wakes.
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I woke up at 3am for a road trip today… Can I bank those three extra hours for the work mornings that I will inevitably fail to get up…? LOL, kidding kind of.
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This is such a good idea! They say that it takes about 30 days to make a habit, so doing one thing new every month is a great idea to change things up! Not getting fast food would be a hard one, but a necessary thing for me to try!
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Thanks, Ashley! I’m hoping 30 days definitely makes a difference in my routine. Fast food will be really tough for me, too. It’s necessary when we travel but NOT on a normal workday (for me).
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I love this, Audrey! It’s so much more doable when it’s one goal a month. I always overwhelm myself and then fail miserably. Girl, I wish I could go back and tell myself to wash my face every night AND wear sunscreen. Seriously, WEAR SUNSCREEN, especially on your face (age spots are real and ugly) and hands (they show age the quickest and we don’t often think about protecting them). I’ve been struggling a bit with bored eating too. I just want to munch on something, even though I’m not hungry and know I shouldn’t. One thing that has helped a bit is brushing my teeth early. Normally I do it right before bed but lately I’ve been doing it a bit earlier because I feel less like snacking with clean teeth, I guess. 😀 Good luck!
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Thanks, Tanya!
I’m not great about washing my face but I’m excellent with sunscreen 🙂 I always have some on, I always have a bottle on my person, and I always buy make-up with spf in it! So I guess I have that going for me! Lol
I bored eat. I will absolutely try out your teeth brushing tip! Great idea!
Thanks!!
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Yay! I’m with you in November! I am the WORST at doing that! Not to be a rain cloud, but you probably shouldn’t water the plants EVERY day. You might over water and then kill them. What about once a week, or every other week? Just a thought!
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Our sun gets SO intense in June & July. I need to be smart about where I put my plants and when I water them. I’ll probably have to amend that goal for the types of plants I buy and the weather patterns we have. You’re probably right about killing them, lol!
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I love this! What a fun idea! I think checking in online can help me with my goals as well. Though this year is not a good example of that for me. hahaha I love the goals, I hope that you enjoy the ride and do well with it! 🙂 I am totally in need of some of these for sure. I’m hoping now that we are moved to our house we can get back to some that we used to be on top of and make some that we’ve been avoiding forever a priority again! 🙂 Good luck!! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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I’m definitely hoping that the blog keeps me accountable 🙂 I think starting in September is something new and motivational for me (verses a traditional January start). I almost held off but then I thought, “Why shouldn’t I just START?”
You’ll fall back into your routine and goals once you’re settled 🙂
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This is such a great idea! I love some of your ideas for each month. I think I might have to try and set some of these for myself!
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Thanks, Grace! I’ll admit… I’m not doing so hot this month. I’m trying, though!
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This is a really great idea! I love May’s goal. I should do that too 🙂
Natalie
http://www.lucyandtherunaways.com
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I try to read a little every day and some days I definitely get in more than 30 minutes, but there are days I don’t read at. all. I’d love to squeeze in some reading daily!
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I love this idea! Definitely going to do one for 2019!
Good luck with September – I get up at 5:30am and I am NOT a morning person 🙂
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Man… I am s.t.r.u.g.g.l.i.n.g. this month. I have yet to actually put my feet on the floor at 6am this month. UGH. I swear I’m trying, though! If it was easy I wouldn’t need a challenge. LOL
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These are such good, solid goals!
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Thank you! I wish they were as easy as they seem… Waking up at 6am is not going well for me. LOL
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Audrey- I absolutely LOVE this idea. It’s such a great way to make a good habit each month and focusing on one thing rather than 5 at once. I need to try this, thanks for the awesome idea. 🙂
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Thanks, Emelia!! I wish September was going smoother for me goal-wise. I knew it’d be tough but DAMN. Lol. It’s definitely something I need to improve upon, though, so I’m glad I’m putting in the effort!
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i also really like that you specified ‘edible’ means haha. i really need to learn to make edible meals for the reaaaal.
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Hahahahaha. I added that. K added the part about not only making Asian food. HAHAHA.
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I love these, I’m bad at SO MANY of them. I’m pretty sure we didn’t really do any of our february goals.. whoops… Moving right along to March… LOL XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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LOL. I messed up a lot so far. Especially the waking up one and the no eating after 8pm month! Whoops!!
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