This September I Will....
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themedalist
Posts: 3,212 Member
It may still officially be summer, but as I sit here with a cup of hot tea, it definitely feels like fall! For some of us, September means children and grandchildren are back in school. And if you're a teacher, likely you are also back in school! I work at a university and the new semester means an abrupt end to that second cup of coffee (sigh). My favorite parking lot, a 10 minute walk to my building, fills up quickly!
Whatever your circumstances, there is likely something you'd like to accomplish this month. Some change you'd like to see in your life. Let's set a goal, make a plan, and then scope out the small steps to needed to achieve our goals. We can do this!
If it's helpful, you might frame your goal along these lines:
1. My goal for this month (This September I will...")
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible)
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit?
6. What help do you need from us?
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September?
If you are new to our group, welcome! Let us know what your goal is and how we can help. If you're wondering why we suggest the format above, the CUE-ACTION-REWARD loop is the recommended structure for building all new habits. Want to learn more about habits? Check out this guide. And If you're stumped by what to work on this month, our list of previous challenges can help.
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I started the daily practice of meditation about a year ago and it's been really helpful to me. Paying attention to the present moment has freed me up from ruminating on past or future events that I just can't change. Meditation has made dealing with my Dad's stroke so much easier. I can support him, I can research possible avenues that might be helpful, but I don't get stuck in a downward "what if?" worry spiral.
But mealtimes haven't been given a mindful makeover. Until now!
1. This September I will eat more mindfully
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: I'm going to allow more time when I eat and eat without distractions (TV, phone, tablet)
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: the meal itself
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) 2 of 3 meals (being realistic)
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? A "Yay, me!" shoutout.
6. What help do you need from us? Support and encouragement.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? I think I'll enjoy my foods more.
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Sept 2019
Plan: Habit maintenance & balance
I have most of my habits at 95-100%. The new ones are the flossing & eye care and 2 of the three meditation/breathing—basically health maintenance. Sometimes it feels like a lot to do each day. I’m hoping this month will help me find more of a routine so I will have more automaticity — Ie not have to think about it as much!
Key:
🌈 meditation / breathing minimum one minute when I wake up, positive affirmations
💋Floss (new research gum bacteria linked to heart attacks, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc.) I’m motivated!!
👁Eye Care
🍽 Food under calorie goal, at home, with strong macros. 20 min minimum. Breathe before each bite.
🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ weight lifting and/or cardio as planned
🎨 art fun & play❣️Breathe 1 minute before!
💤 Sleep Habits: same as my August I will
Breathe:meditate a minimum of one min prior to sleep
.......💋👁 🌈 🍽🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ 🎨 💋👁💤
9/1
9/2
9/3
9/4
9/5
9/6
9/74 -
Ugh, August ended horribly for me. Well, maybe horribly is too strong of a word. It ended unkindly.
There was a mixup with my anxiety meds and I gained 6 pounds of water the last week. Saw my GP and got everything worked out but the water is certainly taking its own sweet time to flush.
September brings with it a new opportunity for change and hope. A time to renew healthy habits, create new ones and abandon bad ones.
Starting today, I will eat mindfully. I will take time to taste each food and appreciate the flavors and textures. I will savor my meals and realize that I am fortunate to have them.
I wish you all great success on whichever path you take this month.5 -
This September's I will: I will track my progress (again, and yet again) of getting to sleep earlier. Success will now be changed to lights out around 10:30 (or earlier) to make this more sustainable.
The last two months I have been adjusting my goal times of lights out. Some things that I noticed was that getting to lights out by 10 pm was often stressful and it was easier to just end up aiming for 11 o'clock, which won out more times overall. Sometimes I really wanted to chill out and read but I wouldn't because it was too close to the 10 pm mark. Yet reading would have made an easier transition to sleep. I do not want to use 11 o'clock for my end goal anymore because I am needing to get up a little earlier most mornings now. So I'm aiming for the middle my previous goals.
I will use
for lights out around 10:30ish P.M (or earlier of course). 11P.M. or later is definitely an❌.
(I am allowing an occasional late night so that it won't trigger failure feelings. Last months I only took 2.)
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: Plan ahead if necessary to begin earlier to tidy up whatever I'm doing so that I won't be tempted to continue on.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: Since I know what time it is, I have to choose wisely to go to sleep.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible): daily, but allow one night a week(end) only if something special is going on so it won't trigger failure feelings.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit?: If early enough I'll read a little.
6. What help do you need from us? Your encouragement.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? Feeling more alert and less tired during the day. Also learning to cope with waking up during the night, especially not being able to return back to sleep at all.
🤠🌺5 -
It is officially Spring now (I'm in Australia, and our seasons start at the beginning of a month rather than partway through)! This is a great time for a fresh start as the weather starts to warm up and the flowers start to bloom. We are in the midst of a devastating drought where I live, so admittedly there aren't going to be a lot of flowers this year, but the few that do bloom are tough and determined. That's what I'm striving to be!
Wishing you all the very best with your September goals and habits!
This September, I will exercise for 20 minutes at least three days per week.
I will be following the BodyBoss Ultimate Fitness guide along with my sister so we can keep each other motivated. This guide provides for five workouts a week, but in the interest of self-care (i.e. not beating myself up and quitting at the first mini-failure) I will be aiming to complete three of those - if I do any extra then that's just a bonus!
I will set aside time each afternoon after work to complete the workouts. I foresee some issues where I have appointments booked after work, so on these days or days where my baby needs me more, I will complete the workout later in the evening.
Each day that I complete 20 minutes of exercise, I will place a special sticker into my planner to mark it.
At the end of the month, I will have completed the pre-training for the BodyBoss fitness plan, and I will reward myself by booking myself in for either a massage or a haircut.
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Week 1 (2-8 Sept):
2/9
3/9
4/9
5/9
6/9
7/9
8/94 -
I’ve been struggling with clutter and organization, so this month I’m starting the Flylady system. http://www.flylady.net/. I’ll start with the baby steps day one even though I’ve been doing it about a week. So, I’ll do the 31 baby steps - 1 per day, but I’ll also start my morning and evening routines right away.
1. This September I will get more organized/keep a tidier house. Tall order, isn’t,😳
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal do a morning routine and evening routine which includes 15 minutes of tidying.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit. Getting up in morning - make bed and dress to shoes.
4. How often will you do your new habit - daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Pat on the back and brag to show off tidier spaces.
6. What help do you need from us? Cheer me on.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? My bedroom (the room I’m starting to dig out from under will be organized and functional. Tidy Husband will be happier - he doesn’t really complain, but I know the clutter vexes his tidy soul. 🤣 I will feel accomplished and a lot happier.
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The Secret Slob? What a name! 😁2
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I'm so excited to start out a fresh new month! I know that life for my husband, my mom and I is still going to bring challenges, but I will deal with things better if I feel healthier. The worst is over. Time to move forward! I do want to thank you all for your kindness during this difficult time. xoxo
September Challenge: I'm going to retry my goal of logging food & water intake every day in MFP. I'm not going to worry about staying under calories at this point, because I honestly feel like I am starting over. So, step 1 in September will be to journal every bite of food and every ounce of water.
1. My goal for this month (This September I will...") log every bite (good, bad & ugly), as well as water intake.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal 1. I will pre-log breakfast, lunch & snacks right after I pack my lunchbag the evening before. 2. I will take a pic of anything I did not prelog before I eat it so I don't forget to log it. 3. I will log dinner & evening snack prior to watching TV with my husband.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: Packing lunchbag will trigger me to prelog. Unwrapping anything spontaneous will trigger me to take pic. Sitting down in "my" chair in the evening will trigger me to log dinner and evening snack.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? I will click the Complete button in my food diary on MFP and be rewarded by message that appears predicting weight. It's a visual trigger to me that I was successful with my goal of logging. I will also place a smily sticker on that date in my bullet journal.
6. What help do you need from us: Just cheering me on, like you always do!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? At the end of the month, I will have a clear view of what types of foods I gravitate toward that may be hindering weight loss and making me feel lethargic (mainly sugary food I know but I need to see it in writing)! I will then be ready to set an October goal based on findings. I also will get a kick out of seeing a bunch of smily faces in my bullet journal planner. I'm a visual person!
September Challenge:
if successful and 
if not
09/01
09/02
09/03
09/04
09/05
09/06
09/07
09/08
09/09
09/10
09/11
09/12
09/13
09/14
09/15
09/16
09/17
09/18
09/19
09/20
09/21
09/22
09/23
09/24
09/25
09/26
09/27
09/28
09/29
09/30
Word for 2019: Tenacity
Happy September everyone!2 -
TwistedSassette wrote: »It is officially Spring now (I'm in Australia, and our seasons start at the beginning of a month rather than partway through)! This is a great time for a fresh start as the weather starts to warm up and the flowers start to bloom. We are in the midst of a devastating drought where I live, so admittedly there aren't going to be a lot of flowers this year, but the few that do bloom are tough and determined. That's what I'm striving to be!
Wishing you all the very best with your September goals and habits!
Happy Spring to you! I love spring, when things become renewed and we begin to see green after a long winter of snow here in Wisconsin, USA. Spring and Autumn are my favorite seasons, and we are coming to autumn here soon. You have very insightful goals and strategy. Good luck!@LyndaBSS , oh good! We can cheer one another on. I'm also in a Facebook group. Flylady Baby Steps, which is encouraging. I also love Diane from Denmark and The Secret Slob on Youtube.
Oooh! I'm going to look all of these up! Thanks for sharing. I'm always looking for ways to attack clutter! Good luck with this month!3 -
MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »Sept 2019
Plan: Habit maintenance & balance
I have most of my habits at 95-100%. The new ones are the flossing & eye care and 2 of the three meditation/breathing—basically health maintenance. Sometimes it feels like a lot to do each day. I’m hoping this month will help me find more of a routine so I will have more automaticity — Ie not have to think about it as much!
Key:
🌈 meditation / breathing minimum one minute when I wake up, positive affirmations
💋Floss (new research gum bacteria linked to heart attacks, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc.) I’m motivated!!
👁Eye Care
🍽 Food under calorie goal, at home, with strong macros. 20 min minimum. Breathe before each bite.
🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ weight lifting and/or cardio as planned
🎨 art fun & play❣️Breathe 1 minute before!
💤 Sleep Habits: same as my August I will
Breathe:meditate a minimum of one min prior to sleep
.......💋👁 🌈 🍽🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ 🎨 💋👁💤
9/1YYYYYYNNN
9/2
9/3
9/4
9/5
9/6
9/7
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1. My goal for this month (This September I will...I will cut out the junk food")
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal..try not to them in the house
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit.be mindful when shopping
4. How often will you do your new habit..daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit?..restful sleep
6. What help do you need from us?..cheers
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September?..weight loss2 -
1. My goal for this month -- This September I will increase my walking miles from 3 miles an hour to 4 miles an hour.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal - I will walk 5 days a week w/my DH.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit - Getting up at 4:00 to walk at 5:00 so we can pick up our Grandson and Grandpuppy at 7:00.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) 5 days a week...rest days Monday and Friday.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Jumping around doing a Happy Dance!
6. What help do you need from us? I like @pennysob's answer...cheers!!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? That I'm getting back to the walking speed I was at before the pinched nerve in my back side-lined me for almost a year. I had spine surgery in June to fix it all. Recovery is slow.
09/01 - Rest Day...Did the Scottish Festival Sat., but wasn't ready for it. Egads! I hurt like crazy!
09/02 - 3.02 miles in 1 hour. And it begins...
09/03
09/04
09/05
09/06
09/07
09/08
09/09
09/10
Chris3 -
@PackerFanInGB I think your September goal is a great one! While it's not my official goal for September, it's something I'm working towards as well. I want to learn more about what my eating habits are and then I can start to make some improvements! Best of luck to you!3
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So far, so good... It really helped to take the time yesterday to plan today's meals and snacks and to pre-log them. I am hoping to make this a daily habit...at least for work days.September Challenge: I'm going to retry my goal of logging food & water intake every day in MFP. I'm not going to worry about staying under calories at this point, because I honestly feel like I am starting over. So, step 1 in September will be to journal every bite of food and every ounce of water.
1. My goal for this month (This September I will...") log every bite (good, bad & ugly), as well as water intake.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal 1. I will pre-log breakfast, lunch & snacks right after I pack my lunchbag the evening before. 2. I will take a pic of anything I did not prelog before I eat it so I don't forget to log it. 3. I will log dinner & evening snack prior to watching TV with my husband.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: Packing lunchbag will trigger me to prelog. Unwrapping anything spontaneous will trigger me to take pic. Sitting down in "my" chair in the evening will trigger me to log dinner and evening snack.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? I will click the Complete button in my food diary on MFP and be rewarded by message that appears predicting weight. It's a visual trigger to me that I was successful with my goal of logging. I will also place a smily sticker on that date in my bullet journal.
6. What help do you need from us: Just cheering me on, like you always do!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? At the end of the month, I will have a clear view of what types of foods I gravitate toward that may be hindering weight loss and making me feel lethargic (mainly sugary food I know but I need to see it in writing)! I will then be ready to set an October goal based on findings. I also will get a kick out of seeing a bunch of smily faces in my bullet journal planner. I'm a visual person!
September Challenge: if successful and if not
09/01
09/02
09/03
09/04
09/05
09/06
09/07
09/08
09/09
09/10
09/11
09/12
09/13
09/14
09/15
09/16
09/17
09/18
09/19
09/20
09/21
09/22
09/23
09/24
09/25
09/26
09/27
09/28
09/29
09/30
Word for 2019: Tenacity
1 -
Good job @PackerFanInGB - planning sure helps to set us up for success I think!
I really didn't want to exercise last night. I had a migraine. I was tired. The baby was on a weirdly timed schedule thanks to his teething interrupting his naps. I had every excuse. But I still did it anyway! And I felt so much better afterward - I'm fairly sure that it even helped my migraine because it was barely there afterwards. It was hard, and I didn't do all the activities right, but I did it. Feeling very happy with myself!
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Week 1 (2-8 Sept):
2/9 -
3/9
4/9
5/9
6/9
7/9
8/95 -
1. My goal for this month -- This September I will increase my walking miles from 3 miles an hour to 4 miles an hour.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal - I will walk 5 days a week w/my DH.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit - Getting up at 4:00 to walk at 5:00 so we can pick up our Grandson and Grandpuppy at 7:00.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) 5 days a week...rest days Monday and Friday.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Jumping around doing a Happy Dance!
6. What help do you need from us? I like @pennysob's answer...cheers!!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of September? That I'm getting back to the walking speed I was at before the pinched nerve in my back side-lined me for almost a year. I had spine surgery in June to fix it all. Recovery is slow.
09/01 - Rest Day...Did the Scottish Festival Sat., but wasn't ready for it. Egads! I hurt like crazy!
09/02 - 3.02 miles in 1 hour. And it begins...
09/03 - Rest Day...had to have a procedure done at the hospital. Everything worked out okay.
09/04
09/05
09/06
09/07
09/08
09/09
09/10
Chris2 -
MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »Sept 2019
Plan: Habit maintenance & balance
I have most of my habits at 95-100%. The new ones are the flossing & eye care and 2 of the three meditation/breathing—basically health maintenance. Sometimes it feels like a lot to do each day. I’m hoping this month will help me find more of a routine so I will have more automaticity — Ie not have to think about it as much!
Key:
🌈 meditation / breathing minimum one minute when I wake up, positive affirmations
💋Floss (new research gum bacteria linked to heart attacks, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc.) I’m motivated!!
👁Eye Care
🍽 Food under calorie goal, at home, with strong macros. 20 min minimum. Breathe before each bite.
🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ weight lifting and/or cardio as planned
🎨 art fun & play❣️Breathe 1 minute before!
💤 Sleep Habits: same as my August I will
Breathe:meditate a minimum of one min prior to sleep
.......💋👁 🌈 🍽🏋🏻♀️/🏃🏻♀️ 🎨 💋👁💤
9/1YYYYYYNNN
9/2YYYYYYYYOk
9/3YYYYYY
9/4
9/5
9/6
9/7
I’m Going to need to add sunscreen to my routine at some point...soon..0 -
