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When I started the Life Transformation Program, I came up with 3 easy things I can do everyday that would eventually transform my life: exercise, meditation, and writing. It was working great…until January.

January found me adding a host of activity to meet my goals for the year and losing sight of the core program. I finished the month with 31 days of meditation, 26 days of exercise, and 27 out of 27 days of writing (31 minus 4 rest days). While the numbers look great on the surface, I feel like I unravelled at the end of the month.

So for February, it’ll be back to basics. The objectives everyday won’t be to check my stats, comment, get to work on time, connect with board members, or talk on the phone with friends. The objectives everyday will be to write, meditate, and exercise. You see, when I do those 3 things, everything else falls into place. The benefits are endless. For starters, it keeps me sane, and clear, so that I can be present in every other activity. Don’t get me wrong, all of those other things are important, but they follow naturally when I write, meditate, and exercise everyday.

The moral of the story: Do the 20% that gives 80% of the results…FIRST. Make sure they take priority, not in a “have-to” way, but in a way that creates a space for them, like eating or breathing. No one says I don’t have time to breathe, and while you might be able to defer a few meals, you can’t go too long before feeling compelled to eat something. The 20% is like air. It should be part of your rhythm.

Do you have any anchors in your day that help the rest of your life run smoothly?

In Spirit,
Nneka

For my new readers, in September 2006 I started what I termed a Life Transformation Program. I committed to exercise, meditate, and write every day in order to get my life to reflect my beliefs. So far I’ve had tremendous success with the program. Every month I submit an update with some of the shifts I’ve experienced as a result of developing those 3 habits.

To be honest, December was a blur. I went through the motions of exercising, meditating, and writing amid a flurry of carols, decorating, and gift buying. I spent 5 days with family for the holidays and did not exercise or write. Not writing was intentional, but not exercising crept up on me.

In December I kicked up my exercise routine. I added a minute of arm swinging to my walk every day. I now walk for 40 minutes a day while swinging my arms for 30 minutes. My fitness level is really improving. I am choosing to walk over finding a convenient parking spot. For all that, I lost 10 additional pounds. I am now down a total of 25 lbs.

I instituted rest days, and sick days in December. Rest days are every Sunday, day job holiday, and day job vacation day. On those days I won’t write. Sick days are defined as this: if I worked in an organization that had unlimited sick days and I was really into what I was doing and I would take that day off to be sick, it’s a sick day. I’m not talking mental health days here. Any day that I am sick, I will not exercise or write.

I feel like I have a jump start on the New Year. I was able to get through December because exercising, writing, and meditating are now habits. When I don’t do them I feel out of sorts, off kilter. By and large, I don’t question whether or not they are done.

Since it’s the beginning of the year, I’ll take this opportunity to post my goals. They are assigned to my birthday rather than the year end. I started working on them when I started the Life Transformation Program. If I had to pick a word for this year, it would be foundation.

By October 3rd, 2007, I intend to:

• Establish and practice the following habits:
  - Meditate daily
  - Exercise daily
  - Write daily
  - Only eat when hungry and until full
  - Tithe
  - Save 10% of all income
  - Read a book a month
  - Do a speech a month
  - Practice Bikram Yoga once a week
• Be financially secure: pay all bills on time, stick to a budget, be insured, have a will, save $1000 for emergencies,
• Publish 500 posts/podcasts/articles on Balanced Life Center,
• Generate 500,000 page views per month on Balanced Life Center,
• Complete Toastmaster’s CTM Program,
• Generate $3000/month or more from my purpose,
• Apply for US citizenship.

From now on, I will include an update on my goals with the Life Transformation Program updates.

In Spirit,
Nneka