Life Circle - Celebrating Success

My main success since starting the Life Circle has been with work. I've had more work to do from my main client and although I've not actually started work yet, I've landed myself some work for another client which will be kicking in in a big way in December. All of the work I've found so far has been through people I know and I'm proud of the fact that I've got it this way as these people have been happy to recommend me. I'm feeling very positive about how it is all going, even if it does mean a lot of work and the usual juggling that working parents do. I'm still learning that one, but I'm getting better all the time.

My overall mindset has become more positive and I believe I can do all the things I set myself. Even if they aren't in the timeframe I'd initially hoped, but who said this was a sprint? Life Circle has provided a focus I needed very much. I think others have noticed that I am more positive in my outlook and I feel happier and calmer than I was before.

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I was going to set another task today, but next week is the start of December and you know what? We've all got a lot on our plates for the next month. The number of people taking part is falling each week and I'm guessing that the spectre of Christmas shopping, and the social whirl that is December (even if it is just your kids that get to do the social whirling!) is impacting on people's time and their motivation to blog.

So how about this?

1. I'll relaunch Life Circle in the New Year, when we'll go over some of the tasks we've done before. Some of those tasks will be a useful review for those who've posted every week but will allow people who want to get going in 2012 to join in and get the most out of Life Circle. You won't have to wait for long. I'll start it as soon as possible after New Year as I can, to catch that first wave of enthusiasm for change.

2. In the meantime, I need your feedback on what has worked and not worked for you on Life Circle thus far. Have you posted every week? If not, what has stopped you from posting and joining in? What did you find useful and what was not?

In particular, I would like to know about the timings and format. I'm finding having to write two post in one quite hard so I am thinking of changing it again. (Sorry!) The options are:

a. Keep it as now (not my preferred option).
b. Set the task on Saturdays with link up posts the following Thursday.
c. Go back to my original format - set the task one Thursday and link up the following Thursday. My only worry with this is that the pace is too slow.

3. How about you write your ideas down in a post and link it up? (Yes. I know I wasn't setting another task; I'm not - I'm just collating feedback!) I'll post a linky up in early December so that I have time to read and take onboard your thoughts so that I can plan what I'm doing. Any feedback would be appreciated - even if you've not been taking part in the linkys, I'd love to know what WOULD make you join in and what you think. And when we come back in January, I'll need your help to spread the word to as many people as possible and I'm sure many more people would benefit from joining Life Circle, especially when they have an impetus for change but lack moral support.

Finally, if you have been involved in Life Circle in any way - posting and linking up, reading or just retweeting any of my tweets, THANK YOU. I really appreciate your support.

As ever, I look forward to reading your posts.

Life Circle - TGROW and Week 6

Topic - My goal to be a size 12 by Christmas


Goal - to work through my lack of progress

Reality - I have lost weight before. I know I can do it. I am just one of these people who has to have their head in the right place to do it successfully. At the same time, it is frustrating as a little part of me does want to do it. I also think I'm out of the routine on keeping my food intake in check. I know that it might take a few weeks of living through a bit of hunger first to adjust and get back into it. Which is worrying as that will take me into December and only a couple of weeks before my target date. Because of this, I am beginning to think that this is now not an achievable goal at all.

Options - (Remember all options are presented here, even if I know they are slightly mad) 1. Crash diet 2. Surgery (them's the unrealistic ones). 3. Join a group like Slimming World or Weight Watchers. This is an option but I have never really been into the group dynamic before, although I know it works for a lot of people and they find it very successful. 4. Start to record food intake and exercise again in My Fitness Pal, which I've used before. 5. Give up and start again after Christmas. Whilst this is an attractive option, I am scared to do this in case I put too much weight on.

On reflection, I feel that the best option is to take option 4 but also readjust the target date of my goal. I don't think a dress size before Christmas is achievable now.

Will / Wrap up - After some reflection, I've decided to commit to recording my food intake for at least 5 days out of 7 over the next fortnight in MyFitnessPal - by the end of which, I should be more into it and be ready to continue doing the same. I think I need to give myself 3 months to get down to a size 12 but with Christmas in the middle, I need to add a fortnight to that. All this means my new target date needs to be 1st March.

Action agreed - record food intake and exercise for 5 days a week over the next fortnight.

How did you get on with this? I realise this is quite a tough task on you, partly because it can mean admitting faults about yourself and we don't like doing that. If you need some support in this task, do feel free to get in touch and we can chat about it.

Because I've been quite tough on you this week, I want to set a lighter task for next week. We're going to be Celebrating Success!

What I want you to do is to look back over the time since we started the Life Circle and I want you to reflect on the positives - what you have achieved in that time, what things you have done that you had hoped to get out of it; or even that you hadn't expected. How do you feel about the process? How has doing Life Circle helped you mentally? How has your mindset changed for the good? And what differences, if any, have others noticed about you? These are only a few questions you could ask yourself - whatever positive things you can say about how you've changed because of Life Circle, make sure you include them. If you're not feeling positive, do try. Why? Because the more positive you act, the easier it becomes. Even if you don't totally believe them, you gradually become more positive. This is the theory behind affirmations - having positive personal statements that describe the person you want to be, even if you are not totally that person right now. And don't forget to tell us how you intend to celebrate your success so far. Think about how you can celebrate success in future - maybe set yourself some rewards that can help you achieve your goals. How would you celebrate achieving them?

Write your post, then come back and link up next Thursday. If the option to post a link has disappeared, then do by all means leave a link in the comments. Don't forget when writing your post to include the badge or a link back to the Life Circle page on the blog so that your readers can find the other posts - and possibly join in too.

By the way, I'm thinking of relaunching Life Circle in January to fit in with the New Year, New You vibe that happens then. This may mean we revisit some of the tasks we've done before - although some are meant for revisiting from time to time. However, if I feel you might not want to repeat a task, I'll provide an option for the class of 2011. Don't worry, there will be room for all of us!

Best of luck. Get celebrating!