It's amazing how quickly things can change, isn't it?  Sometimes it almost happens without us even realizing a change has occurred.  And other times the change is so significant that you can't remember what life felt like before it happened. 

I've definitely experienced my fair share of change, especially in the last year.  In December the company I had been at for almost six years announced that they had been acquired and we would be moving over to a competitor.  It was completely unexpected and at first a little scary, but in the long run it has turned out to be a good change.  Now I love the company I work for and appreciate how much they invest in each employee's growth and development, much more so than my last company.

I feel like I've also changed my mind a lot in the past year.  One day I'm completely certain I know what I want to do with my life and then the next moment I'm questioning everything and letting go of something that recently felt so certain.  

The biggest thing I can think of is my decision to move to California.  Once I decided that's what I wanted to do, I was hard set on making it happen.  I even flew to San Diego with a friend and went apartment hunting!  Now, I realize that moving to California was my attempt at making change happen in my life for the wrong reason.  I was trying to change the outside of my life instead of looking inward and changing on the inside.   

Ultimately, I would still love to move to California sometime in the future, but I just don't think now is the right time for me to make that change.  I guess that's a lesson you have to learn the hard way; figuring out that something you think you want isn't the right thing at that moment.  

So although I am not pursuing a move to California anytime soon, I am working on some other changes that I think will really make me a better, happier person.  Self-improvement has been on my mind a lot lately and is actually one of the main reasons why I started the Something for Yourself series.  I had been spending a lot of time working on improving myself and wanted to share what I had learned.  I would like to let you follow along as I continue on my journey towards being a happier, healthier person.  So, stay tuned for more Something for Yourself posts and a bunch of other content I've got in the works for you.

And now, let's get into the main purpose of this post.  We've already talked about setting a morning routine and a night routine for yourself, but we haven't focused on a daytime routine.  This is something that may seem obvious and somewhat unnecessary, but since creating my own daytime routine I have felt much more focused and centered.  It's nice to feel like you have a set plan for the day, especially when you work from home like I do and need some extra structure to your day.

Here's the routine I set for myself a few weeks ago, including my morning and night routine:

7:00am

• Wake up
• Feed cats
• Put on workout clothes
• Make bed
• Write in gratitude journal
• Take pills

7:30am

• Workout
• Stretch
• Shower
• Skin care
• Get dressed
• Have breakfast
• Make coffee/tea

9:00am

• Start working
• Morning break (snack & sparking water)
• Keep working

12:30pm

• Make lunch
• Eat at table (no TV)

1:00pm

• Back to work
• Afternoon break (snack & tea)
• Keep working
• Make to-do list for tomorrow

5:30pm

• Done working
• Make dinner
• Eat at table (no TV)
• Relax (read, watch TV)

7:00pm

• Feed cats
• Take pills & vitamins
• Put on pajamas
• Skin care routine

9:00pm

• Get in bed
• Bible study
• Pray
• Meditate
• Sleep

It may seem silly to put some things on the list, like putting on pajamas or actually sleeping, but for me it's just nice to see everything laid out and to have placeholder for each part of my day.  

There are some things on my list that I've intentionally included in order to spend time on them and not forget about doing them.  Some of these are things like writing in my gratitude journal, bible study, or eating without watching TV.  These are things that I used to only do if and when I remembered to do them, so now I've got a nice reminder to make sure I make them a priority in my day.

So that was a look at what my daily routine looks like.  Again, you may not need to write down certain things that you're already going to remember to do each day, but it might be a nice place to start by just writing down everything you do and then adding in those bonus items that you sometimes forget to do.

I hope this was helpful.  Let me know in the comments if you have any questions on easy ways to structure your day.

Last week I talked about creating a relaxing morning ritual for yourself to get your day started off on a nice note.  Today I will talk about ending your day with a "me" night that will let you relax before bedtime.  Here are some ideas for your "me" night:

• Light some candles
• Take a bubble bath
• Spend a few minutes meditating
• Journal about your day
• Make a list of what you want to accomplish tomorrow
• Set out your clothes for the next day
• Drink some tea
• Go for a walk
• Watch a sunset

Here are some YouTube videos that have other ideas on how to have your "me" night:

These are just some of the ideas you can add into your night routine for a "me" night.  You can mix and match whichever ones you like and keep switching up your choices until you've created a routine that works for you.  Let me know in the comments if there is anything else you like to do on your "me" nights.

This week I'm going to talk about starting your day off right by establishing a morning routine for yourself.  Each person is different, so there's not one perfect morning that will work for everyone.  

What I would suggest doing is writing down two or three things you can do each morning so that you can start your day on the right foot and set the tone for the rest of the day.  

Here are some ideas on things you can do:

• Get in some form of exercise
• Relax with a cup of coffee
• Meditate for a few minutes
• Write a to-do list of what you want to accomplish that day
• Spend some time getting caught up with social media
• Write in your journal to set intentions for the upcoming day
• Make a nice breakfast for yourself
• Spend some time outside and soak up some sunshine

And here are a few YouTube videos that have some other ideas for you:

Hopefully after a week or two of following your routine you will feel like mornings are a time to get centered for the day instead of feeling like you're starting off the day by being frazzled.  Let me know in the comments below which of the ideas you have incorporated into your morning routine.

Last week in Something for Yourself I talked about writing a personal mission statement.  I think this is something everyone should do for themselves to make sure you have a written guideline for how you want to live your life.  

Another important step towards personal development is setting goals.  We're all familiar with setting a New Year's resolution, but those rarely stick, probably because we're not clear on what we really want to accomplish and how we're going to make it happen.  

I think one of the most important steps to setting your goals is to actually write them down.  If you take the time to put your goals on paper (or a computer screen) then you have something to look back on and remember what you want to accomplish.    

Here are some SMART tips on how to set a goal that you can stick to:

I hope these tips have been helpful to you and will give you some guidelines for setting goals you can actually achieve.  Next week I'll be writing about gratitude and how it can impact your life in a positive way.

In this series of blog posts, which I am calling "Something for Yourself", I am going to explore a number of ways in which you can develop your own personal growth.  I'm going to talk about a few of the ways I have grown and learned about myself in the hopes that it can help someone else do the same.  

In today's post I am going to discuss writing your own personal mission statement.  This is something that I learned from a senior partner at my firm who runs the women's initiative.  She recently talked to our women's group about how she's had her own personal mission statement for twenty years.  One of the most important things she talked about is that it's not just a matter of writing the mission statement, it's also about checking in with yourself each month to see if you're living your life according to your goals.  

Personally, I wish I had written my mission statement a long time ago, but I do believe that the idea was presented to me at a moment in my life where I really needed some direction and guidance.  I had all of these ideas in my head of things I wanted to do and ways in which I wanted to live my life, but I had never taken time to write them down and organize them in a way that would allow me to take steps in the right direction.  

Writing a personal missions statement may seem unnecessary to you, but just ask yourself if you could use a roadmap to follow in order to live the life you've always imagined.  That's what my personal mission statement is to me.  

This may seem too time-consuming or overwhelming, but I have found a tool that helps you write your personal mission statement with your own words.  When I Googled "writing your own personal mission statement" one of the first links that came up was for Franklin Covey.  I always knew about them in terms of planners, but I didn't realize that they had other tools available.  

The Franklin Covey mission statement builder was easy to use and made me think about things that I never would have thought to include in my own mission statement. The final product is something that I have continually gone back to and re-read to help me assess whether or not I'm following the path I've laid out for myself.  Like their website says, I want to "live with purpose" and this tool has allowed me to figure out what that journey will look like.

Once you have written your personal mission statement I think it is important to set short-term and long-term goals for yourself, so my next post will be all about goal setting.   

If you have any personal development strategies that you would like to share or discuss, please leave a comment below.

I have recently decided to spend some of my extra time on personal development.  Reading "self help" books has always been something that I've enjoyed, so I decided to ask for a recommendation from someone else who has read a lot of them.  The first book they suggested was The Slight Edge.  I looked it up online and liked the description, so I bought the e-book and just finished reading it today.  

Honestly, I think this book might change my life.  That may seem like a bold statement, but The Slight Edge has completely shifted the way my brain works and I don't think I'll ever think the same way again.  Here is the description from Amazon so you can read for yourself what the book is about:

"The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson in 8th edition of his popular book again helps readers learning how to realize the dreams and not be someone who just dreams while life passes by.

He sees the solution in the introduction of his Slight Edge principle that can be applicable not only to our profession, but also marriage, relationships, friendship, love, almost anything in our lives.
What is most interesting about this book is that most things found inside are common sense, although it's often forgotten.

For example when he says "...The average person spends between 250 and 350 hours every year driving to and from this place and that. That's about forty minutes to an hour each and every day. If you spend that time listening to educational and self-improvement material, you'll have the equivalent of a Ph.D. on any subject you choose in just a few years. That's the Slight Edge...." or "...being productive and being busy and not necessarily the same thing. Doing things won't create your success; doing the right thing will..." reader has to agree with him.

Maybe some readers will be disappointed to realize that slight edge is not some complex principle, something difficult or unique of which you have never heard before.
Slight Edge is actually about the driving force in our life that pulls us closer or moves us away from our goals.

The difference between these two diametrically opposite sides is someone ability to accept this philosophy and advances, with small or large steps toward the goal.

Overall, Jeff Olson's work is very inspiring and motivating piece, well-written and easy to read, and due to all those reasons, a book that can be recommended.

I hope this post has inspired you to take the time to read The Slight Edge, I truly believe it will change your life just as it has mine!