Posted by Emily Gillatt-Ball on Jun 30, 2015 |

Dodo Diary June 2015: Self-improvement challenge, Month #4

I’m back! The fourth month of my Dodo to Dynamite in a Year self-improvement challenge has been busier than ever, but I’ve done my best.

Usually, this is the point at which I start to wonder if it’s worth bothering. It’s been a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but although things feel a bit better, I can’t really see any major improvement yet.

So I get tempted to give up. And I come up with a whole bunch of pathetic excuses why it’s impossible right now and why it’ll never work.

And then I decide it would be so much easier if I sat around eating chocolate cakes and moving on to my next waste-of-time craze instead of struggling any longer. And so nothing changes, and my life never gets better.

This time, it’s going to be different. Because this time, instead of giving up, I’m going to…

NOT give up.

And when I get tempted, I will remind myself of this quote from Henry Ford:

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

I’m now one-third of the way through, so let’s see how I’m doing in relation to that.

Dodo to Dynamite in a Year Progress Report

Weight: Lose 40lbs. Halfway there, but I’ve only lost another 1lb this month, so I’ll be trying harder to take exercise and stick to my eating plan – total weight loss so far 21lbs.
Smoking: Quit. I’ve now tried several times, and I’ve decided The Time Has Come. As of today, I am a non-smoker. And to boost my weight loss and encourage me to keep going, every time I moan about wanting a cigarette, I have to cycle a mile on my exercise bike! So… 20 miles a day coming up!
Self-Control: Beat addictions to sugar and caffeine. Still doing reasonably well on the sugar, but not ready to cut down on caffeine just yet.
Hoarding: Clear whole house. Boot sale weather is here again, and we’re having a good clear-out. I can’t say one-third of the clutter has gone, though, so while I get the chance, I’ll start tackling some more bulky items.
Relationships: Rebuild relationships with partner and family. I’ve arranged a visit to see one of my sons, and I’m hoping to include a flying visit to the other’s family in the same trip. I’m also going down to see my partner’s family and collect some baby stuff for my expected grandchild.
Success: Build Ebay business/increase income. I’ve earned a bit more this month and made a few improvements to the Ebay business, but I still need to make a proper business plan to focus what I’m doing to increase my income.
Writing: Refocus blog and add a new blog post every week. I’ve finished refocusing Emily the Dodo now, but I haven’t had much time for blogging this month. Luckily, a couple of nice guys called Derek and Daniel stepped in to contribute guest posts – it’s always interesting to hear fresh voices. More effort needed next month!
Friends: Make 3 new friends. Through Meetup, I joined a creative writing club in my area, and I attended my first couple of meetings this month. Everyone seems very friendly – no soul-mates yet, but I’m enjoying it and getting some fiction writing done, which will help with my other blog, Mythbinder Writers’ Showcase. My partner and I are also getting back in touch with our local Mensa group – we haven’t been to a meeting for years, but we’re hoping to get to one soon; it’ll be interesting to see how things have changed.