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As part of my own personal 100 day challenge, I am taking inspiration from an article I read in TIME Magazine on how one gentleman was trying live with just 100 personal items. As regular readers of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine will know I have been urging you to discard (throw away or dontate) items that are cluttering your lives. Clutter allows us to procrastinate.

I like the philosophy of this article and have decided to put my own spin on it and I am going to discard (throw away or donate) 100 items in 100 days.

The first few items are going to be easy and I have already earmarked 3 items for donation. But I know that as the 100 day challenge progresses finding items to discard won't be quite so simple as I am a regular discarder. But that is one reason why it is called a "Challenge."

As we move through the last 100 days of 2010 I will let you know how I am progressing with this and my other challenges. You can check out the gallery if you like... go on you know you want to...

Are you ready to accept my challenge?

One of the more bizarre but interesting challenges I am laying down for myself is this:

I will be limiting my spending to just those items I can get in a supermarket. Now with the size of some supermarkets you'd think - easy you can get anything in the supermarkets these days including clothes - where is the challenge in that.

The challenge is that where I live (Perth, Western Australia) supermarkets don't stock clothes (other than socks, undies and hosiery) unless you are a baby and wander round in romper suits and vests all day, which I don't of course. Our supermarkets don't even sell booze, though they do sell chocolate, but hey I'm not out to stop buying everything, just "stuff".

Now there are some obvious caveats. I will be buying fuel for my car and if my family needs anything then the rules don't apply, ditto with presents - although I am tempted to go with vouchers from now on anyway, and you can get those in supermarkets.

The other big caveat is the weekend, when I do intend buying a cup of coffee to go with my breakfast - after all I am not sitting staring at my partner as he eats his :-/

Why would I challenge myself in this way?

Well there are many reasons:

1. I want to save some money. Christmas is coming up and I want to give my kids money towards their respective vehicles. I buy something like 3 or 4 cups of coffee's each week. That will have to stop. It's a nice but bad habit to have. I think the average cup of coffee here now is the ridiculous price of $4.50 so I'm going to be saving between $13.50 and $18 a week which will add up to several hundred dollars by the end of the 100 days.
2. I can't buy alcohol. Again a nice but bad habit to have. This one will save me both $'s and calories. Now, again there is a caveat, my partner and I do go out a couple of times a week and it will be up to me whether I choose to have a drink or not. As I want / need to lose another 10 kilos this is going to be a great way to do it - alcohol as we are told is "empty" calories.
3. No bought lunches, and if the kids want takeaway, well they are old enough to get themselves onto a bus and fetch it. Now if I buy lunch once a fortnight currently that's about as much as I do buy, but limiting my purchases to supermarket based foods means I can buy it all in one go on a weekend and take it to work - they have a fridge and freezer believe it or not, not to mention a microwave oven :-) which should save me some more money.
4. I don't need more "stuff" - as you know I am getting rid of some of the "stuff" I own with the discard 100 things in 100 days challenge to myself.  However I do have 2 very big indulgences, one is books, the other is clothes. Well I have a brand new e-reader (my birthday present) with a squillion books loaded (I love books and will buy lots of them normally), the new toy means I won't need to. And I really do have more than enough clothes. So - the exception I will give myself with regards to "stuff" is postage stamps. I do still hand write the odd letter, so will need a means to send them. So - postage stamps are allowed. But that's about it.

So - there you have it, my very big challenge to myself - no lunch time, or other kind of impulse shopping and if I can't buy it in a supermarket, then I can't have it.

Your Oath of Personal Allegiance:
Make a Commitment to Yourself and the Challenge

The 22nd day of September marks 100 days left of AD 2010 and it is time for action.

For this challenge we take our inspiration from ancient Rome. I look forward to accompanying you all on what promises to be our most exciting journey yet. If we pull together, we are assured success.

As Seneca said "you roll my log and I will roll yours".

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General Procrastinus Habitus stood in front of his legion of soldiers. Some of his men had been with him through many campaigns and bore the battle scars to prove it, others were fresh faced and newly recruited to the ranks.

The men, young and old waited patiently for their leader to speak. Not even the annoying flies and bugs that swarmed through the hell hole that was Habitania could make them take their eyes off the man in front of them.

“We have fought many campaigns, but I have one last challenge for you. Are you willing to swear an oath of personal allegiance to me.”

“Aye”

“It will be hot, it will be hard, but the rewards will be plenty, if you are willing to follow my precise instructions. ARE YOU WITH ME?”

“AYE”

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Too often we buy books, workbooks, self-help books and challenges. Too often we read a few pages and fail to follow the steps outlined. Or we try and follow the program only to find that we are not getting the kinds of results we thought we would get – so we give up – usually disappointed.

The reasons why we give up are many, but the most common reason why these “self-help” books fail is because we do not have any kind of stake in the program or the outcome.  Believe it or not, most programs will work, if you are willing to make a commitment to doing so.

So my first challenge to you is this:

Are you willing to make a personal commitment to yourself and to the next 100 days of your life?

Now I know how easy it is to say YES, so I need to offer you a warning.

This is going to be a CHALLENGE and only the strong need enter the arena.

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The first e-mail of the program proper will be sent to you on the 22nd September and one every 10 days thereafter until the end of this challenge. The normal Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine e-zine will be sent separately, but not on the same days as the Challenge, so the reading won't be too onerous. You may of course opt out of these 100 day challenge emails, but you will need to tell me.

And just to prove that I never ask you to do something I am not prepared to do myself, you can follow my progress on the 100 day challenge or to add your comments, progress to date and / or any questions you may have - at - http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/

I look forward to hearing of your successes

Kind Regards

Elle

[email protected]

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I've had a busy day today and I am glad I have already laid down the ground rules for my own 100 day challenges, otherwise I might have been tempted to say, "I'll do all that tomorrow".

The trick with the 100 day challenge is to be found in both time and project management. The project is 100 days long and each day forms 1 part of that project. The question is how can I use each single day to reach my 100 day challenge?

Well, the first thing of course was to decide - what do I want to have achieved by the end of this challenge? I have 4 main challenges this time, they are:

1. Save some money
2. Lose some weight
3. Clean my house of clutter
4. Motivate you to achieve your goals

All of which are too broad and far too general to be considered a "goal"... so:

1. Money - I don't have a particular sum of money in mind because I find that too restricting. So my goal is to spend as little as possible during the next 100 days, and in doing so save money for the big purchases that always come at the end of the year - Christmas and my daughter's birthday which occurs on 12th night. The way I am "not spending" and therefore saving money is by restricting my purchases to those things I can buy in a supermarket. Sounds strange, but not when you consider that where I live you can't buy "everything" from a single store. For instance, clothes, books if you want something more than the odd bestseller or cookery book, and you can't buy alcohol in a supermarket in Perth. I was told that I was wrong, but when I explained that even if a liquor store was in the same building, if I had to pay twice for what I wanted - then it didn't count. The alcohol is not on the general supermarket shelves and you cannot pay for it at the same time as you buy the rest of your groceries which means I can't buy it. Similarly I can't buy take away lunches or coffee - certainly not where I shop on a regular basis.

2. Given the statement above, the weight loss should be quite easy. But lets break it down a little. I need to lose 10 kilos in weight. Which means that for each 10 day section of the program I need to have lost 1 kilo. Break that down again, I need to lose just 100g per day. How do I do that? By not indulging in the take away coffee or the glass of wine at the end of the day? That's one way of doing it, but how about doing a little more exercise? How about combining the two. So I need to find a way to lose 100g of weight per day and I need to find time to do some exercise - be that going to the gym, going for a walk or doing some form of incidental exercise. Which brings me to point #3

3. Clean my house of clutter. We all have clutter in our homes and lives. The trick I find is not to try and blitz the entire house in one day / week but to do something each day. I can find 10 minutes to clean out a drawer or a cupboard, but my schedule means that to clean the entire house in one go would never happen. As I also have 2 kids and 2 cats to contend with - cleaning my house is like painting the forth bridge anyway. But by systematically getting rid of the clutter that has accumulated throughout the house I can by the end of 100 days (I think) reach the end of the goal with a slightly less cluttered home. One of the ways I want to prove that I am doing what I am saying I am doing of course is to tell you what I have found to discard (dump or donate) then I will take and post a picture and write about it in the blog.

4. How can I motivate you to achieve your goals? Well the first way of course are the materials I will be providing you with. Add in the support of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine, the 10 100 day challenge emails to boost your daily activities and email support if you need it. Hopefully you will find it within you to achieve many of your goals over the next 100 days.

You will have gathered by now that the challenge is very personal.

Your task today is to make some decisions. What DO you want to achieve by December 31st 2010?

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 100 - 91

Preparing for Battle:
Preparation prevents procrastination

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Can you imagine what would have happened if the architects who designed Rome had said to the builders - "Just chuck a few walls up over there lads, then we'll tart up the exterior with a few columns, if we add a few statues of Caesar in the corner, it'll look great" Can you imagine what the buildings would have looked like, something tells me they wouldn't have looked like they did?

But what about the many battles, wars and campaigns undertaken by the Romans. I'm sure they didn't get up one morning, put on their armour and just decide to invade a neighboring country.

"Which country are you planning on invading sire?"
"Oh I don't know. Tell you what we'll have a go at all of them man, one of them is bound to surrender"
"Excuse me general and if you don't think this too pertinent a question - but could you tell us again, why we should do such a thing?"
"Because it's there of course"

When it comes to goal setting though, that is precisely how most of what we might consider to be "goal setting" actually takes place. If we're lucky we might sit down and scribble a few things down on paper, but more often than not our goals are mere thoughts that flit in and out of our daily lives.

"These pants are getting a bit tight, I should drop a few pounds"
"I'd better save a few quid, Christmas is coming up"

The trouble with those kinds of thoughts of course is that as soon as they have popped into our minds, our mind is usually coming up with the next random thought.

Is it any wonder we have trouble with goal setting and even more importantly - goal achievement? Precisely, which is where the 100 day challenge comes in.

Q: If you made absolutely no changes to your current schedule, would you be able to work on the goals you say you are going to work on?
A: Unless you currently do little or nothing each day (which I doubt) I would have to say the answer would probably be no.

So...

How can the 100 day challenge help you?

The key to the 100 day challenge is to know where you want to be at the end of 100 days, and then manipulate our schedule on a day-by-day basis so we achieve that end target.

Sounds too simple? Well, let me give you an example.

I want to completely clean my house so I can prep it for a re-paint. But I don't have a bulk of free or spare time to devote to the task. What I do have is a little bit of time each day to tackle one bit of the overall problem. But I am not just cleaning, I am discarding some of those items that I find - because and lets face it, we all have bits and pieces littering our lives, cluttering up the place. And if there is one thing procrastination likes - is clutter. So to make the challenge interesting I am aiming to discard 100 things in 100 days. The first few things are easy and I have earmarked one or two items already and I have taken the first picture and loaded it into the gallery - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/ for you to keep track of. It's what happens when the obvious has been taken care of, then things will start to get serious.

Given that clutter is one of the biggest reasons why we procrastinate it is a nice challenge to set myself.

Q: So what can you use the 100 day challenge for?
A: Absolutely anything you like, after all it a personal battle we face and what motivates you will probably not motivate your friends.

But to give you some additional clues on how to use the challenge:

Say you want to lose some weight - in 100 days I feel that you can lose up to 20 kilos during that time. How? By breaking it down of course. Given that we are working in blocks of 10 days (to make the maths simple) within the first 10 days you will need to lose just the first 2 kilos (or whatever your target is), which means that each day of the first 10 days you need to find a way to lose a couple of hundred grams. Any more and i personally don't think it is sustainable. Now I am also aware of the body's habit of fluctuating water etc, so that is just an example. But by giving yourself the task of manipulating your diet so you could lose 1-200 grams every day you can begin to make some healthier food choices, so you could lose some weight. For example, you have 1 glass of wine instead of 2, you change the calorie laden juices, colas and coffee's for other kinds of drinks, and preferably ones that don't contain calories.

Or say you want to save $1,000 by the end of the challenge, again the trick - by the end of the first 10 days you need to have saved consistently $10 per day, making up the first $100 by the end of day 10 (91). How do you do that? There are many ways, but perhaps the best is to be conscious of what you spend your money on. Do you really need to buy coffee every day? How about lunch? Why not save yourself some money and probably calories too by taking all your meals and snacks into work. Believe me it can be done.

If study is an issue, or you want to get ahead with personal development you could read one chapter a day. How many books would that equate to by the end of the 100 day challenge. I suppose it depends on the number of chapters per book, but you get my point.

You can even use it to learn a new language by learning a couple of words per day.

So your first challenges:

1. Download a copy of the time log - if you don't have one already. http://www.motivateme.info/downloads-and-free-stuff
Fill this in for a couple of days and you can begin to see how you can find some spare time to work on your personal challenges
2. Write down your overall goals for the challenge. What do you want to have achieved by the end of the challenge. I use a combination of journals, the workbook and my task list in Gmail. But you can use what ever works best for you. But you do need to write them down.
3. Break down your overall goals into your daily schedule / program. What do you need to do each day? Again it is vital that you write these down. Our minds have a nasty habit of "forgetting" things, so ensure you write down what it is you need to do each day.
4. Begin

Remember - you can use the 100 day challenge to meet your long term goals too. These are goals that are perhaps a few years out from where you are now. Just remember this - if you can succeed with your goals for 100 days just think what you can achieve in a couple of years - exciting isn't it.

• I will be writing a blog post per day for the duration of the challenge so you can keep an eye on what I am hoping to achieve in these last 100 days of AD 2010 - today's can be found at http://www.motivateme.info/100-day-challenge/2010/9/22/september-22nd-day-100-decisions-decisions-decisions.html
• I will also be adding a new picture to the 100 things in 100 days gallery if you are interested - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/

Your next 100 day challenge email will be with you in 10 days time, until then my challengers tis time to prepare for our battle against procrastination.

Kind Regards

Elle

Normal working day today, except half way to "work" (as in my day job) I thought in my fried brain state of trying to do too much yesterday that I had in fact forgotten to do something. Turns out I needn't have panicked, I did have the necessary files with me. First panic of the day over.

Taking my laptop back to the fixers and menders again, VISTA is going I've had enough - now it won't let me move files through window's explorer. For someone who's lifeline and business needs stable computing power base, my laptop has been MIA for nearly 3 months of this year already. Thank goodness I have a new netbook and a borrowed "spare" laptop to work on. It's like having to have a second car in the garage just in case the one you normally drive blows up on the way to work every other week. Frustrating to say the least.  But we launched the 100 day challenge yesterday, the computer sort of held up, and so far there have been no screams of outrage from those who have accepted the challenge at the amount of homework I'm expecting everyone to do, so that's a good thing. So what about my own challenges:

• Today's image has been loaded into the picture gallery
• 3.5km lunch time walk completed. Several things - must remember to change into gym gear and trainers before heading out. Walking in the heat of a Perth spring, in business style wear, including today a stylish but black wool jumper, patterned stockings and 1 inch heeled shoes was probably NOT a good idea as I had to walk around the office barefoot for the remainder of the afternoon.
• No ad-hoc spending: As you know, the other major challenge for me is of course - no ad-hoc spending. So being able to walk without carrying bags and certainly without the need to take money made the walk so much more enjoyable let me tell you.
• And now, this post has been added ... go me

After yesterday's marathon 16 hour working day I will head home, at this stage I haven't decided whether or not to go to the gym, but the computer will be staying off tonight. 

Another late finish and early start. I do seem to be burning the candles at both ends at the moment, but that is my life - hectic. My to do list for today:

• Finish correlating venue information for a breakfast seminar
• Choose venue then inform remainder they weren't successful
• Discuss costings with everyone involved
• Get a training course ready for Tuesday (it is bank holiday on Monday so I will be taking work home with me this weekend)
• Attend a funeral - 1pm at Karrakatta Cemetery and Crematorium, Western Australia
• Go back to work and carry on
• Upload picture to the discard gallery
• Write blog post
• Exercise - unless standing for 2 1/2 hours counts - eg., during the lead up to the funeral cortege arriving, walking to the chapel, then standing through the service because there were no chairs; hiking back down the cemetery back to the car, then I am going to have say I didn't get to do any exercise today. But there are the odd occassion when "other" things are more important than exercise and I would say farewelling a member of my extended family is one of those times.

Weekends, when different rules apply - or do they?

Actually no, just because it's the weekend doesn't mean you can slack off. On the contrary weekends are a great way to push through any problems and issues you may have with your challenges. Why? Well simply because there is more time to do this kind of "stuff".

My to-do list for today:

• Gym - 20 mins weights, 30 minute cardio and abs circuit class
• Grocieries - got to find time to do those otherwise the kids will get grumpy. It's also the start of holidays so a few different foods in the house given the kids usually eat me out of house and home during these times.
• Garden - I am in the process of weeding and mulching my garden. At the moment the challenge is to get the front garden bed under control. I have one annoying plant and grass groing through it (about a metre squared) left to go, then it's done... thank goodness. And more exercise.
• 100 things gallery - yep, image loaded for today and a couple of more areas cleaned, tidied and pics taken for tomorrow and beyond.

Think I might go and have a lie down now, except I do need to write today's edition of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine.

How are you going with your challenges?

I'm not sure if Australia is the only country to celebrate the Queen's birthday, but that is why we are getting a day off tomorrow.  I'm not even sure it is the Queen's official birth date - but even so, happy birthday your majesty, thanks for the extra day off.

Life is pretty damn good at the moment. Is it because the forecast for today is a glorious 24, the fact that we are heading to Guildford for breakfast at The Lounge Room, or that I am so close to finishing off my front garden bed it's exciting? I don't know, but that's what today is - exciting.

You know the other really good thng, I am sleeping a lot better. For those of you who know me well, will know that I have had trouble sleeping - years of insomnia. But over the last couple of days I have had some glorious sleep and long may it continue that's what I say.

Ok, so you are probably dying to know about the challenge. Well, it's all good. My discard 100 things in 100 days is going well. New pic is up in the gallery. Given that I managed to bust the reticulation pipe while trying to tackle the weed patch that is my front garden, these bits are definitely not required any longer. Oh and when I say - "is" my front garden, well today I managed to complete the job. It took about 15 hours in total to completely weed, mulch matt and mulch it. But goodness it does look better.

The beauty about gardening of course is that it gives you a complete all over workout - and the second best thing is - you keep going for hours. As you know, exercise is always on my MUST do list of things, but - Gardening is not just a test of fitness though it is a test of endurance and in my case - patience. I'm not a natural gardener, but even i'm happy with the results. And to finish off the front I shall be mowing the lawns tomorrow.

My plan to cut incidental spending to an absolute minimum is also on track. Wandering through Guildford it was nice to look but not to buy. I even found a book I wanted in a 2nd hand book store, but I put it back. I have it on a list of things to get once this challenge is over.

So my challenges are on track and thanks to our Liz I get to work on the next set of house / garden goals tomorrow as well.

Life is good, how about you?

As I mentioned in yesterday's 100 day challenge blog post, today is one of Queen Elizabeth's many birthday's. Happy birthday your majesty. But it means that we get a day off "work" whatever that means and a chance to do a lot of work on our goals and of course challenges.

My to-do list for today:

• Exercise / Weight Loss: Personal training day today with Hils at Efit121 (http://www.efit121.com.au) - always good for a laugh and a lot of workout in half an hour. I am much stronger now compared to when I started with Hils. Today I managed to do one exercise quite easily that I couldn't even manage a single one of when I first started. I can now deadlift 60 kilos and my back which has always hurt (I usually suffer from sciatic pain caused by a degenerative disc in my lower back) aches pleasantly and I no longer get the shooting pain down my leg which is fantastic. The other thing I noticed is that I don't get as many migraine's - again the muscles are protecting the joints and my neck which I damaged and nearly broke in my early 20's can now stand the extra weights too ... so more than a few bonuses from doing regular exercise.
• Incidental exercise - gardening today was an hour of lawn (well weed) mowing.
• Ad-hoc spending - today is a public holiday and the weekend rules apply, so I enjoyed my cup of coffee today :-)
• Discarding 100 things gallery - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/ - image has been posted
• 100 day challenge - blog posts - underway
• Write and send the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine - sending "as we speak"

Back to work tomorrow, so lots of house hold stuff happening including the making of gorgeous slow cooked lamb shanks for dinner... the children are drooling already, and I must admit they do smell rather yummy.

How are you going with your challenges?

A very early start to my shortened working week. Given that yesterday was a public holiday here in Western Australia and given that I have to get some training organised for a course that starts at 9am - my day started at 6am and in the office by 7.20. It's gonna be a long day.

• Exercise / Weight Loss : My shoulders and arms are very sore. A combination of personal training yesterday and a lot of gardening on the weekend me thinks. Do I train again tonight or give tonight a miss and go tomorrow as planned? Am I bailing? Not really. I am just conscious of the fact that muscles do need a rest between major exercise sessions, and I've trained / worked hard for the last 3 days.
• Incidental exercise : Walked at lunch time - very hot day today, so not far and not fast, but it did ease the kinks out of the legs somewhat. One thing I will say with regards to exercise is this - most people assume that because it hurts, you need to rest for about a week before doing anything else. Well if it's really hurting and not just an ache, then absoutely, along with ice and elevation and if necessary strapping. But aches, no you don't need to over-rest these kinds of aches.
• Ad-hoc spending : I really wanted a cup of coffee this morning, but I did not buy any - and the craving soon disappeared when I got busy again. Did pick up a couple of bits from the supermarket today - but I have noticed a major flaw in my plan. The supermarkets where I shop don't have any decent stationary, and my journal is running out. Someone help me out here, I am going to need a new journal - hardback, A5 before the challenge is finished. Tell me the name of a supermarket in Perth, Western Australia that sells decent stationary and not the school textbook variety.
• Motivating you : Well I have been getting feedback from one or two challengers, so that is good. One comment yesterday said she didn't think she would be able to stick it out for the 100 days. My response - treat each day as a separate entity. Work on your goals and challenges for just one day, then tomorrow you do the same. Focus on one day at a time. No Daily Dose email today, but there will be one tomorrow. So until then - adieu and good luck with today's challenge.

Just this time last week we re-launched the 100 day challenge, amazing how fast time goes by, which I think is the biggest problem. We can get so caught up in the detritus of day-to-day living we forget the things we said we were going to do and then beat ourselves up as a result.

A couple of suggestions:

Make an appointment with yourself using your online calendar / mail system. If you use Outlook Calendar for example you can set yourself a time slot every day - this may work for you if all else fails. Or use your watch / phone for the same purpose.

Try and use set times - this may be classed as the same as the suggestion listed above, but can be different. For example, if your challenge is to read a chapter of a book each day and you find yourself getting to bed time without doing so, then you might like to change your routine so that is now part of it. Have a shower, get jammied then go and sit in your favourite chair and read. Or if mornings are more your thing, set the alarm for 10 - 15 minutes earlier, get up, make yourself a cup of tea and read. If you say something is important to you - then make it so.

• Exercise / Weight Loss : I seem to have eaten way too much today. Probably not a good idea to weigh myself tomorrow :-(
• Incidental exercise : 30 minute walk at lunch time
• Ad-hoc spending : None
• Motivating you : The picture is in the gallery for the discarding 100 items in 100 days, and I need to send you today's edition of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine which I hope will inspire you just a little.

No it's not really snowing, just my desk is covered in paper. I have something like 11 training courses and 1 breakfast seminar to organise before the end of the year, but it's all good (if a little hectic).

• Exercise / Weight Loss: Lunch time walk. Haven't weighed myself this week so I hope I am on track to have dropped the first kilo by tomorrow.
• Incidental exercise: Went for an evening stroll, can't really call it a "walk" but it was a nice way to finish off a hectic day
• Ad-hoc spending: None, although I did fetch a couple of things from the supermarket. Remember my self-imposed rule, supermarkets are OK, other shops are not. Will be interesting to see the comparison of money spent - will do that this weekend.
• Motivating You: Well I hope you enjoyed yesterday's daily dose of motivational medicine. Hoping to see some photos of my son's creative work today
• Item posted to the discarding 100 things gallery - things lurking in the back of bathroom cupboards!!

My, how time flies when you are having fun. And I am finding the challenge fun - else why would I bother? That I do believe is one of the keys to successful goal achievement - enjoy the process of change, enjoy the journey because sometimes the journey is going to take a while :-)

• Exercise / Weight Loss: Long walk at lunch time to drop off a tender document. Shoes decided to give up though (leather split) and they will join the discard pile in the discarding 100 items in 100 days.
• Incidental exercise: Cleaning kitchen's - always something to do when you have a house.
• Ad-hoc spending: None. But the smells I encounter when I go for a walk is frustrating let me tell you.
• Motivating You: Hope so :-)
• Item posted to the discarding 100 things gallery - things lurking in the back of bathroom cupboards!!

2nd challenge email due tomorrow. Time to check in with everyone.

By now you should have laid some plans and you should be modifying your daily time lines so you can fit everything in to you day. How is it working for you? For me it means being even more organised than I normally am. And because I am being accountable - not only to myself, but to you as well I am more conscous of making sure I hit my targets on a daily basis.

• Exercise / Weight Loss: 45 minutes at the gym today. 15 minutes of weights before the cardio and abs class. So hot in the gym, I do wish they would turn on the A/C - I know it's good to sweat, but - it takes me forever to recoup the water loss.
• Incidental exercise: Saturday today which means groceries and cleaning, and if time - gardening too. Today I decided to completely clean the kids bathroom - uggghhh. But the 30 minutes of scrubbing is worth it - well until the kids get home again that is.
• Ad-hoc spending: Saturday means I get to buy breakfast after the gym. Coffee was fantastic.
• Motivating You: 2nd challenge email due today - how are you doing?
• Item posted to the discarding 100 things gallery - my worn out work shoes :-(



The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 90 - 81

Asessing your initial forays
Review your plan and make changes where necessary

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"The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity" so said Seneca. Now that the first "X" days of your campaign are over, you will have discovered many things about yourself.

You may well have received some major successes - which will have buoyed you. But I fear some may have suffered from self doubt and maybe failure during this time. Understand this is to be expected at the beginning of a new campaign. Remember the key to the challenge lies not just in thinking about what will happen at the end of the 100 day challenge, be aware of the whole - yes, because it is essential to know the ultimate goal, but to take each single day and use it wisely.

Carpe diem

"Rejoice while you are alive, enjoy the day, live life to the fullest, make the most of what you have, it is later than you think"

We have but XC days left to end of AD 2010 it is time to assess your initial forays.


Exercises / Action Activities:
*******************************

Review your first 10 days.
Jim Rohn called this process "re-winding the tapes" and I would recommend that today you play back the last 10 days (the first 10 days of the challenge).

You should have made a note of each day's activities, either in your workbook, diary or notebook. Remember if you write it down you don't have to trust your memory. What worked for you? What didn't work? What changes will you need to make so this next 10 days will allow you to move forwards faster/ more easily?

If I were to be honest, my training schedule took a beating over the last 10 days - due to a complete lack of energy. Whilst I trained every other day, it doesn't seem like it was enough. Truth be told I am burning the candle at both ends, which means of course the wax is falling all over the floor. So my challenge over the next 10 days will be to find ways of getting more energy by balancing my massive workload which will allow me to train better / harder.

Change your schedule where necessary.
As you have gathered, my timeline is pretty tight already and as I don't spend much (if any time) watching the television there isn't much room to manoeuvre. But I do need to check my sleeping time is adequate, and if I can find a way of pulling in a little more exercise as well. As we move towards the hotter months, being able to walk in the early mornings when it is cool is a great way of doing this, but I need to start thinking about laying down the pattern now so it is 2nd nature by the time that happens.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

• Have you kept up with my personal challenges? The most interesting one perhaps is keeping a very tight lid on my spending behaviour. It can be so easy to get into the habit of buying "stuff" - for me coffee, the occassional bought out lunch and the odd item from the 2nd hand stores that seem to be crammed with designer clothes people can no longer get into (thank you) - but it's been a way to decide if I really do need "it" or not, and the answer is usually - not. I am however making a note of everything I will need to think about after this challenge is finished. But - so far, so good. http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/
• Discarding 100 things in 100 days - there are now 11 items in the gallery and the first load of non-destroy stuff has been taken to the charity / thrift stores http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/

Your next 100 day challenge e-mail will be with you in 10 days time, until then my challengers tis time to prepare for our battle against procrastination.

Comments can be added at -

Kind Regards

Elle

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Hello, how are you this glorious Sunday?

My body clock is set for 6am so that's when I initially woke, but given that it IS sunday I stayed in bed for a while, eventually getting up just before 8. But that was the last of the "lazyness"

• Exercise / Weight loss : Scales aren't moving, but that's OK, today we'll move things up a gear and get back to the long Sunday training sessions. Today's involved the Kokoda Track Steps (about 155 steps one way - I did it 5 1/2 times in total = 11 x 155), got some interesting video, then it was a kilometre walk and then up Jacob's Ladder at the other end of Kings Park (242 steps) and close to where I had parked the car. Then it was treat time and someone else got to make me breakfast :-)
• Incidental exercise : My car needed cleaning, so that was the first job, followed by mulch moving - about 10 barrow loads before my back decided enough was enough.
• Ad-hoc spending : Just breakfast and coffee (weekend rule)
• Motivating you? Well I can but hope. I cleaned another couple of areas today and found a whole stack of goodies to join the discarding 100 things in 100 days gallery. But today's was a mistake - I over cooked my wheat bag and now it just smells of burning - so in the bin it went... but pic is here

Hope you have had a good day

Elle

• Exercise / weight loss : yesterday's mammoth exercise session means today I'm stiff. I've also just come back from a personal training session tonight - oooh boy, hip flexors complained from the amount of stepping I did yesterday, consequently I didn't have very good form in a couple of exercises today. Left shoulder also giving me trouble - still weaker than the right side... but we did it anyway, not my best effort, but it was OK. As I said to Hils I should think twice about training that intensely on a sunday with personal training the next day.
• Incidental exercise : Lunch time walk to try and loosen up the joints. Also nice just to be outside in the fresh air. Mega tired.
• Ad-hoc spending : None, getting good at this. However, there are 2 things I am going to need to get. One is a pair of exercise gloves - with the warmer months coming up, and not wanting to injure myself, these are a must have now. The other is a bound journal. The supermarkets just don't sell decent stationery here in Perth, WA
• Motivating you : Daily Dose tonight :-) And the pic is in the gallery - today it is unused handbags

I forgot to load today's picture for the discarding 100 things gallery, and I don't have the camera cable with me to transfer them to this computer either - doh and double doh ... will have to load 2 tomorrow.

But other than that indiscretion, everything is going well. Pulling in some additional walking, which will help me to loosen up the hip flexors after Sunday's training - and no (personal) ad-hoc spending.

I did check the receipts to see how much difference it is making, and so far I think I've saved myself a couple of hundred dollars - already. Given that I need to buy a couple of birthday presents and of course think about Christmas, this is a very good thing... remember my caveat - presents don't count in my list of things I can't buy. I'm just not planning on buying anything for myself... but there will be 2 breaks in that rule. 1 will be a pair of weight training gloves, too many hand injuries are occurring now I am lifting / moving heavier weights and i need the grip, and I will need to find a replacement journal. But there it is - and I want to be honest with you :-)

However, my mother in law arrives (well ex- mother in law) for a visit to see her son and grand children. I get on well with Margaret and I will be taking a couple of days off during her visit so we can catch up and get some sight seeing in - which probably means the $30 I have had in my wallet since the challenge began will be used - but you get that. Some things are more important.

As I mentioned yesterday I forgot to load the picture to the discard gallery, well that picture is there, along with today's pic ... what are they? You tell me! Ok, I'll be good - yesterday's was all the paper based telephone directories. Whilst I do keep the yellow pages, I have gotten rid of the residential pages and local directories - that's what the internet is for! Why keep the yellow pagess - well the power has gone off a couple of times and I've needed numbers - so I am not completely silly.

Lunch time walk to fetch a birthday present for my "baby" brother who turns 40 very soon - maybe I'll take a pic of that too - hillarious ... but not til after the date, don't want to spol it for him.

It took immense will power to walk past all the coffee shops and food eateries at lunch time. It does make me wonder why I do it - walk at lunch time so I have to pass them, that is.

Very tired today, must stop burning the candle at both ends :-(

Not much to report today, hayfever is really bad and I just don't feel like exercising. So apart from incidental exercise ...

Gallery pic loaded

No ad-hoc spending

And not much in the way of motivation today - sorry ...

What can I tell you about today? Well I took a day off work to spend time with my mother in law who is visiting from England.

We wanted to go whale watching, but unfortunately the boat was full, so we had to make do with a trip up the swan river from Fremantle to Perth, lunch in Perth and back again - all in all it was a lovely day.

Normal Saturday routine.

Gym first thing, and weights. I do like to do at least 3 sessions of weight training per week, it helps define the muscles and aids in the prevention of osteo-arthritis. But because it was a glorious morning I also walked for about 40 minutes whilst waiting for the massage parlour (sounds very wrong) to open.

I needed to get my neck and left shoulder put back into alignment and I can't always do that with exercise alone - which means I failed in the no ad-hoc spending thing, but sometimes these things do need to take place.

Sunday and a return to the cooler weather of spring. We headed into Guildford for breakfast and a wander round. For the first time in forever, we wandered over the road to a row of shops that had not long been opened.

And yes I failed in the no buying anything except out of a supermarket thing. But I found a Tibetan singing bowl that was extremely well priced (about half of what I had found elsewhere - including e-bay). Given I had been looking for one for about a year, I decided to purchase it. Glorious resonance and I shall use it as sound therapy... let me explain what I mean.

A couple of years ago I went through a full moon gong therapy session. Basically you lie down inside a teepee on the night of the full moon, and the gong therapists use didgeridoo, gongs and singing crystal bowls to put you into a meditative state. It had been recommended for my insomnia and a way of dealing with the stress of my rather hectic life. I slept well for the 2 weeks following the session - anyway, what I also felt was the sound penetrating my many injury points - like deep ultrasound which is used to heal in normal clinical situations. My injuries tingled for days. So - that's where I came across them, and that is why I felt the need to obtain one.

Half a pocket torch - where on earth the back went goodness only knows... discarding 100 things - kitchen drawers are a great place to dump things you think you might need AT SOME POINT - the point is, that POINT rarely if ever comes around. And because we don't put things away, we can never find what we do need... or is that just me?

My normal monday evening training session had to go by the way side today as a girlfriend flew in from Canberra to conduct some training for the WA operations of her organisation. We exercised jaws as we talked for 3 and a half hours, but given that we haven't spoken face to face for 8 years, I think we can be forgiven.

Ad-hoc spending went a little out of the window today as well as I managed to book 2 tickets to a whale watching adventure on Thursday. But I am taking my mother in law who is over for a holiday, out for the day, so I don't think it really counts. Similarly, my friend and I enjoyed dinner and a glass of wine. But not buying all those little things, like the minor cups of coffee at $4.50 per day and all the other "little" purchases means there is money for these kinds of events. And that to me is the most important aspect - don't sweat the small stuff, so we can enjoy the bigger stuff at a later date.

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 80 - 71

Assembling the troops
Get help if needed

*******************************
Are you afraid of moving away from what is dear and a comfort to you? Most people do fear the unknown, after all if is unknown to us, we do not know what to expect of it, or from it. As a result, because we fear the unknown, the tasks that will take us beyond are also difficult.

Seneca perhaps said it best when he told us that "it is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult"

But how does one overcome this fear?

There is but a simple way. Consider enlisting the assistance of others.

Those who have gone before you and cut through to lay the tracks so we may know where to step. To do so would be wise. To not do so would be a folly. And never fear these same people would mock your weakness, because they too had to find strength to move ahead. Did they do it alone? Or did they too seek counsel of those they looked up to? Why then should we feel foolish in asking for assistance when they themselves know the shortcuts?

Would a battle weary soldier fail to alert his general of the road ahead if he had been sent to scout it? Would the general not ask those who he knew had come through those lands to advise him of the terrain and the obstacles to be faced? Or would both ignore the other? If that be the case, then there could only be 1 outcome.


Exercises / Action Activities:
*******************************
We can all be forgiven for not knowing the best way forward. We may indeed feel afraid of what is to come and what we will have to go through before we reach our goal. Some may be able to look at fear and use it as a stepping stone to success. Most I feel would be paralyzed and unable to make the leap. But what would happen if there was someone you could talk to, seek advice and assistance from? Would that make it easier for you?

Every one needs help, and those people who say they don’t are usually hiding behind the lies so they can find all sorts of excuses as to why the cannot do something. The richest, most powerful people in the world have armies of advisers to help them. Sports people have coaches and personal trainers to help them improve their game. Why should we be any different?

Believe me when I say, most of the time you will struggle to do everything you need to do by yourself. So enlist the people who can take your dreams forward:

• An author needs an editor and a publisher. Even if you decide to self-publish your work, you still need to get someone else to read it to make sure you haven't written drivel.
• You may need encouragement to reach your new weight - in which case a personal trainer can be invaluable, or a weight loss consultant, a nutritionist, your partner and your kids can all help you to keep to the straight and narrow and encourage you not to buy and eat "bad" things.

Who do you need to enlist to help you move forwards with your goals? Make a commitment to these next 10 days and assemble the group of people you need to help you move forwards...

However, before you go forwards it is always a good idea to:

Review the last 10 days:

"We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered to-day? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift."  Seneca

It is essential to review (go back over) the last 10 days, and if possible the first 20 days of the challenge. Given that we are now 1/5th of the way through the challenge, and with just 80 days left to go, it is a good idea to make sure that what you said you wanted at the beginning is still pulling you in the right direction.

• Have you "fallen" over at any point?
• Do you know why?

If you are procrastinating over these simple daily activities then I believe your overall goal needs some tweaking. Remember your overall goal(s) should be those items / things you said you wanted to have achieved by the close of AD 2010. However, I also know that there will be times when our original "guesstimate" of time may have been wholly incorrect. Now is the time to pull that time line back into line. Never fall into the trap of saying "I'll do that tomorrow" - as you know - that is called procrastinating, and we are not procrastinators anymore, we are challengers, and we are going to succeed.

Remember, the only "rule" of the challenge is to use each single day of the 100 days to focus your attention on what YOU say YOU want and then to ensure you make the time during each day to achieve just that:

• Today I am going to read my book
• Today I am going to write a chapter of my book
• Today I am going to call the small business development corporation about how to set up my small business
• Today I am going to organize my paperwork for the tax man
• Today I am going to run 2 miles
• Today I am going to call my mentor / coach and set up a meeting
• Today I am going to find someone in my network of people who I can talk to about ...
• Today I am going to invest in some personal training to help me get healthy, fit and toned
• Today I am going to ...

What are you going to do today?

My challenge for the last 10 days was to try and put the balance back into the work / life thing, and I do believe I did that. I managed to train well, the food component was good, and I took a day and an evening out of my insane 10 days to spend time with people I have not seen in years. In one case, 8 years. You can imagine the work out the jaw got :-) I'm sure. But the result of the time out meant that I had to be better focused on what was really important. What could I multi-task? What did I not need to do - NOW, or at all for that matter.

I have found that by having the list of challenges means I can make those better decisions. I am not at the whim of everyone else's calendars, I am the mistress of my own.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

• Discarding 100 things in 100 days - there are now 21 items in the gallery http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/
• There are now quite a few daily posts in the blog - http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/

Your next 100 day challenge e-mail will be with you in 10 days time, until then my challengers tis time to assemble your troops

Kind Regards

Elle

[email protected]
http://www.facebook.com/ellegb
http://www.twitter.com/MotivateMe_info

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All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.



I've had computer problems, my laptop has spent so much time in the shop it's not funny. I've been working off a netbook and a borrowed laptop for some time now and it's been frustrating to say the least. Well now, we are installing windows 7 and getting rid of vista. The last straw was the fact it wouldn't move files without explorer closing down ... most annoying. Fingers crossed the problems are now over and I can get on with helping you on the challenge.

All pictures are in the discarding 100 things gallery. One interesting point, a good friend out of the UK is going to use the discard principle to go through every drawer in his house. He estimates there are 55 of them and if he finds as much in those as I am in mine, there will be a lot of very full bins in the near future.

My mother in law is over for a visit and I have taken the opportunity to have a couple of days off work and my rather hectic schedule to spend some time with her. One of the things on my bucket list was to go whale watching. I am very fortunate though, I live on the doorstep of the humpback highway - the migratory route of the humpback whales between their feeding grounds in the Antarctic and the calving grounds in the Kimberley. Today we were fortunate to catch sight of a pod of about 7 whales, mums, calves and their male escorts. I do have a picture, but it's on another computer - so when I find it, I will post it for you to see. Amazing - one of the whales didn't have a tail, it had come off the worst for wear in an encounter with something - be it a predator or it may have been a boat propeller, there is no way of knowing.

The beauty about not spending money - the ad-hoc spending I talk about, means there is now money to do things like whale watching. And you know what, giving up the daily indulgence of a cup of coffee means there is more money for the bigger items. Assuming I had bought a cup of coffee every day of the challenge so far means I would have spent in the region of $100 and the price of 2 tickets to see the whales. I'd say it is a very good reason not to buy the coffee personally.

Exercise is suffering this week as a result, apart from walking lots, there hasb't been time to get to the gym - so I will be sore as a result on Saturday. But you get that.

My Friday night ritual of cleaning one area continues. By cleaning and sorting out one area at a time means that over the course of the challenge, most if not all of the areas of the house will be looked at and spruced up. As I sit here I have the woody aroma of furniture polish caressing my nose.

I am just about to load the image in to the gallery. Have you checked out the pic for today?

Oh and a confession - I bought a cup of coffee today.

Technology is great - when it works, we all know that. What I've found though as I've struggled through most of 2010 with my recalcitrant laptop is this - you can never be too organized. My problems started when my main laptop decided to blue screen. It went to the chop shop twice and aftwewards seemed to be OK, but then it started doing something completely ridiculous - I couldn't move files. So - we bit the bullet and bought Windows 7 and bye bye Vista. Thank goodness I had a netbook, and my partner gave me a spare laptop ... which is rather like having a spare car on the drive just in case the one you usually drive doesn't want to work every other day.

Problem solved. I could give back the spare computer I had borrowed from my partner, re-load the mail send program onto the laptop and voila... Minor problem, I had downloaded some pics onto the hard drive of the borrowed computer for the discard 100 things gallery - so will need to borrow that computer again for about 5 minutes to send them to myself.

So, the re-load was working beautifully, the laptop was doing everything it was expected to do, and then the wireless router decided it wasn't going to play anymore. Well at the time we didn't know it was the wireless router. Trial and error finally picked it up. So a couple of apologies

• The gallery is missing a couple of pics, but these will be loaded. I am still doing the cleaning, the sorting and the pic taking - which was the whole point of the challenge exercise.
• Similarly the 100 posts are missing for a couple of days, but I have my journal notes so - again these will be loaded in a day or two. And
• You have missed out on a couple of issues of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine - sorry about that, but we'll pick up the pace again soon.

So - what lessons are to be learned from all this?

• Many - not least of which always save the wretched pics to one place. I do have an external hard drive, I should have used it.
• Don't delete the pics from the camera too soon...that way I could re-download them - I did delete them, so now can't...
• Nick the cable from out of the back of the main computer and use it via my laptop to send you the messages / post the blogs / pics

As I always tell my kids, there is always a lesson or two to be learned from everything, especially the bad. The trick is to learn from them so you don't have to repeat the lessons.

Saturday morning is always a busy catch up kinda day for me.

Always first on the list is the gym - and a chance to do about an hour of weights work. Weight bearing exercise is so important especially for women. Not only does the weight bearing exercise act as a way to really tone the muscles and the skin, it helps to prevent osteoporosis as well. I kid you not. So, for that reason alone we should be thinking about working with weights and getting some assistance if we need to so we don;t hurt ourselves.

Lots of incidental exercise today, including the cleaning and sorting of the DVD and games collection littering my television. One clean lounge room later and several items for the discard gallery... which I will eventually load - honest.

As I am writing this a couple of days later because of tech issues - I am not sure if I spent $'s other than groceries today...

Sunday is Kokoda Track training day. Too many people on the track, including some selfish personal trainers and trainees who seem to think the flora is theirs to be used and abused - I may have to mention it to a ranger, because they are getting in the way and spoiling it for everyone else.

Good time though - my time for my personal circuit of 5.5 laps, 1 km walk and climb up jacobs ladder was 65 mins.

Didn't stop and buy brekkie today, went home and cooked bacon and eggs instead.

Stomach really off, mega sore - apparently I found out later, there is a lot of it going about. It just leaves me feeling washed out.

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 70 - 61

Dig Deep Into Thy Reserves:
Now is the time to persevere

*******************************
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius

The weak fall by the wayside, give up and go back
"This is not what I signed up for"
"What did you think it would be like?"
"Well I didn't think we would spend weeks and weeks marching to battle, resting briefly and then picking up the sword and marching all day, every day. I thought there would be glory and the spoils of war to enjoy"
"Well what do you think is going to happen when we get to the battle front? Do you honestly think we are going to walk in and they're just going to give up and hand us their country - without them putting up a fight? You think the marching is bad soldier, wait til you see the blood flowing."

• Are you willing to put in another day's effort to reach your destination?
• Are you prepared for what lies ahead on the battle field?

Exercises / Action Activities:
*******************************
70 - 61: Dig deep thy trenches - Perseverance is important.
What you do today impacts on what you can and will achieve tomorrow.

If you have followed the program so far you will know how easy this program can be, so long as you make sure you work the program every single day. If you miss a day or two, you will also know how easy it is to stop working the challenge program - we pretend we are too busy, we say, well I'll start again tomorrow - knowing full well you won't.

The important thing to remember is this - the stronger willed person will pick up the shovel even when they don't feel like it, and will start digging again:

• Exercising when you don't feel like it.
• Cooking and eating a healthy dinner when it's so much easier to get takeaway.
• Picking up the telephone and making the difficult sales call
• Writing one more page
• Saving one more dollar

I talk a lot about baby steps, each day is a baby step. However, each part of each day contains millions of micro opportunities - do we do the right thing or do we do the wrong thing. Each micro decision gives us then a completely different set of micro decisions to make.

Are you using the challenge to make the right micro decisions or have you thrown down the shovel and walked away?

Reminder: What have we covered so far?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

• Discarding 100 things in 100 days - there should be 30 items in the gallery, but we are a few short due to the tech probs of late - don't worry, the pics are being taken and will get posted en mass over the weekend http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/
• And most of the daily posts are in, and with my journal notes the rest will be added over the weekend - http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.
  

Comments can be added at -

Kind Regards

Elle
--------------------------
Yesterday's Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine: Cotton Wool Motivation
--------------------------
As you might have guessed, something went wrong with the post I sent yesterday. There should have been a link to the Youtube video I loaded ... and it didn't come through. That will teach me to try and rush things. Anyway, it is loaded and is available via facebook, the Motivate Me website - http://bit.ly/bHdPBr and of course youtube itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pulP5qgFMaw - should you want to watch / listen ... and let me know what you think.

------------------------------
100 Day Challenge: The daily posts
------------------------------
You will be pleased to know that the posts are being added - SLOWLY ... just because I'm not telling you, doesn't mean they're not being done. But all should become clear.
http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/

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Monday - today is the last of the back to back training course preparation days. Perhaps I can go back to being just overworked as opposed to overworked and no time to do anything else.

Monday is also personal training day. Getting stronger, getting fitter, just not getting any smaller - I am going to have to look at every aspect of my diet and see what needs to be gotten rid of... looks like even the odd glass of wine will have to go :-(

The wireless router at home is playing up and I don't know why ... grrr technology.

Long days. My normal wednesday training day routine will be kicked to touch tonight as my mother-in-law flies back to the UK tomorrow. So - tonight I'm taking her out on the town. No, we are not going to paint it red, or even a slight shade of pink - Margaret doesn't drink alcohol.

We are fortunate to have a park on a hill which overlooks Perth city. Perth city by night from the top of Kings Park (Mt Eliza) is one of the best views in the entire world (IMO) and that was where we were headed. You can see forever and the stillness is amazing. I often visit the place in the early evening - when there are enough people around to make it safe enough to do - just to remind myself how insignificant my issues and problems are.

And she loved it.

Some things are worth giving up the exercise for let me tell you.

We drove back via the city and stopped off and had a cup of tea in the Duxton's wood panelled bar where the staff are always pleased to see you, even if they have never seen you before. Then home. We are going to miss her, hopefully it won't be too long before she heads back this way again.

On my way home from work I was deciding what to cover in that day's edition of the Daily Dose. As I was mulling over the range of topics I could discuss with you, I came to the conclusion given what was going on in my head I would never remember everything I was thinking about... so, me being me, got out the video camera I now carry - turned it on and propped it on my dashboard ... the result wasn't brilliant, but it did make a change, and I shall consider using that method in future.

If you haven't seen the post yet, hop across to the Daily Dose archive and look for the post of the same name :-)

Saturday = Gym day today... and with a trapped nerve in my neck which has given me several days worth of pins and needles I'd hoped the heavy weights session would pull things back into line. it didn't - so - Chinese pressure point massage it was. Which helped somewhat.

The state of my neck / shoulder / back also impacted on what else I was able to achieve. But I did clean out some more stuff for the Discarding 100 things in 100 days. In fact I am getting rid of several bags of rubbish - old craft projects I no longer choose to do, knitting wool and odds n ends, and several metres of old cables. I needed to find some cables - and the spaghetti was nothing like you could ever imagine, so that was quite interesting and also gave me a number of items for the chuck away list.

But not content with that, I also washed out some outdoor planters to take over to a girlfriend. I've discovered I can't use planters in the house or the garden because the cats think - that because a container is full of dirt, they can use it as a litter tray. The amount of money I have wasted on pot plants - so they are going to someone who doesn't have a cat :-)

The now spare room is beginning to look rather spiffy - not much more to look at and then we can consider prepping for paint.

My son is off to camp for an outdoor ed class he is doing as part of his studies. He goes tomorrow and he has yet to find anything - including his sleeping bag. Now I was going to clean out the linen closet as part of the challenge to discard 100 things in 100 days - just wasn't planning on doing it - TODAY.

But the chuck out and clean up yielded several gazillion miles of net curtain and half a dozen kids single duvets.

So, camera out, photo's taken and into bags and the boot of the car for delivery to the recycling centres.

Something tells me that I will be carrying on with the discarding at least 1 thing per day for about a year at this rate.

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 60 - 51

Conquer thine enemies:
Breaking bad habits

*******************************

"This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections"
St Augustine

Armies are structured so each member of the unit has his own duty to perform. You have been given your orders. You will learn these duties quickly and you will perform them - perfectly - every time. If you fail to learn and perform your duties you risk the lives of not only yourselves, but those of your fellow soldiers.

You will cultivate these good habits, and together we will conquer thine own enemies of sloth and greed. Together this army will conquer the enemies of our great country.

********************************

Habits, if there is one thing I can guarantee it is this - we all have habits. Some of course are great to have, without habitual behaviour we would forget to clean our teeth and have a shower. Can you imagine not remembering how to drive your car when you got to it every day?

Then there are the habits we try and cultivate. I must go to the gym, I must eat better today, I must work on my book / project, I must call my old clients and see what I can do to help them grow their business.

And then there are the habits we wish we could get rid of. I should stop smoking / drinking / wasting time / being lazy.

These last 2 groups of habitual behaviours are the ones holding us back from everything we say we want to achieve / do / see. Without the habit of eating well we may carry excess weight around, we may be causing ourselves health issues down the track. In the same vein - a lack of exercise means our muscles lack tone / shape and our clothes tend to look pulled or strained. Whilst we can go for the baggy, cover everything up look - be honest, you know it doesn't really work - and if you want to test my observation - go to any cafe or supermarket and observe.

What habits do you need to cultivate?

The point of the 100 day challenge as you know is to cultivate the habit of working on our goals on a daily basis. Are you setting the patterns and behaviours into your daily schedule so this does become a habit?

Which is always something to think about

Reminder: What have we covered so far?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free. 

70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely to survive the battles that lie ahead.


Elle's 100 day challenges:

• Discarding 100 things in 100 days - there should be 30 items in the gallery, but we are a few short due to the tech probs of late - don't worry, the pics are being taken and will get posted en mass over the weekend http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/
• And most of the daily posts are in, and with my journal notes the rest will be added over the weekend - http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.
  

Kind Regards

Elle

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It's going to be a very long day today - and I've got training tonight with Hils at Efit121

Dropped off all the linen cupboard stuff at Good Sammy's - all five bags of it :-)

Even though I was tired, and because I had to take my son to school for a 7am start, it did mean I could call at Bunnings to pick up some paint preparation stuff, a handle so I can paint the ceilings without using a ladder and of course, some ceiling paint - $99 later and I haven't bought the filler or the main paint colours yet... eek.

Dropped 1 kilo this week - so far so good. Changing my diet though, reducing the refined carbs to almost zero and cutting back on the booze.

Training was excellent, tired or not, Hilary always makes me work hard and my muscles are complaining - but all good.

My personal ad-hoc spending is great ... It's been a good thing to do and one I shall continue after the 100 days is over.

Starting the remove the carbs from the diet properly today. The higher protein, higher fat, low sugar and low refined carbs seems to be the only diet that works successfully for me. I suppose I could be insulin resistant, but without getting bloods taken I have no way of knowing. The first couple of days will be hard as I try and remember not to eat the breads etc, but one day at a time.

35 days into the challenge already, boy where does the time go? No, don't answer that - it's quite scary.

I've been organising a breakfast seminar for the last month and today was the day. Had to get up ridiculously early to get to the venue and get set up, but the hotel staff brought me a cup of coffee, so not everything was bad. As the platters of food were being brought out, one of the hotel staff saw me standing by the registration table and was concerned that I wasn't eating... given it was all pastries and bread at this point, I said I was saving myself for the hot food. And standing away from the tables meant I was not tempted to eat the naughty stuff.

Day 3 of the reduced carb diet too ...

Pics of the discarding 100 things in 100 days gallery are in ... today a single kids walkie talkie!! goodness knows where the other one is.

Health wise I am suffering with hayfever... or is it? Not sure, the glands are up in my neck, it feels like a lump is sitting under the gland and I don't know whether to change the anti-histomines or go to the docs. Not feeling great today.

Diet good though

Massage to ease the back, release the neck a little.

Pics in the gallery - today is a single door handle...

Organising the spare room tonight, which basically means I get to move boxes and boxes of stuff, some of which will join the discarding 100 things in 100 days gallery, other stuff will be re-boxed and stored differently. But I need to find walls and floors so I can start prepping the room.

Glad it's Friday today and no kids to pick up tonight which is even better.

Organising my outfit for the Big Walk tomorrow... going to be good... then it was off to the gym.

The Big Walk today ... 15k's, slightly windy (which means I couldn't keep my hat on) and warm - less than 6,000 people took part, but I raised just over $200 for the kids with cancer at PMH but the event itself raised over 50,000.

Completed the circuit in 2hrs 13 mins...kept a good pace and rhythmn going and I was shadowed by a group of women who decided I was keeping them at a good pace too.

Time stamp, I completed the City to Surf which is 12k's in 2hrs 18 mins - the difference when you walk to your own pace I suppose.

Pics are in the gallery if you want to take a look see

Oh and talking of pics today's is "blind weights" - the things you keep "just in case"

Challenge day today and the wireless internet connection I have at home is still not working... off today so I can get it sorted.

Down almost another kilo in weight - the new eating plan appears to be working.

Had a swedish style massage today - the pain in my neck is quite nasty - turns out the trapezius muscle is shorter in the left side than the front and I had a knot on the sternocleinomastoid muscle - painful to have and even more painful to get rid of... remember that lump I thought I had - well it was a knot in the muscle tissue. Also had a knot the size of an apple in my left traps / shoulder / neck ... explains all the headaches I suppose.

Today's pic is a dead mouse - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/100-items-in-100-days/

Today is the turn of the first ever modem we had - I know I have said it before, but it really is amazing what you keep. Not this time, it has gone to silicon heaven.

Not much to report today other than the knot is being persistant, or is it hayfever or the glands - can't tell, I might have to go and get a professional opinion.

Saturday is always a busy, run around and do stuff kind of a day and today was absolutely no different. First thing it was the gym, followed by paint supplies, then breakfast with friends before heading off to organise the bedroom furniture. I am getting them all delivered from the same place, saves time, frustration and delivery fees. Then it was home via the grocery store, putting it all away, laundry and then it was time to get into the shed to find my box of painting "stuff".

I knew it would take some time because that box is at the back of the shed - and is over filled with empty boxes and other "stuff" most of which will find its way into the discarding 100 things in 100 days gallery. Lots of goodies, some - like the boxes will be recycled, other stuff will be thrown away, whilst the last few remaining items will be taken to a thrift / charity store, but as the pics hit the gallery I will let you know. Unfortunately I couldn't get rid of all the boxes because I ran out of space in the recycling bin, so a couple of the larger ones had to go back in the shed. But it's a great start... and I found the painting stuff.

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest - but rarely for me these days it seems. Anyway, I should because I am feeling tired and run down. Not a good sign.

Beautiful day today, not too hot and it made a glorious change to go to the ocean and just watch the people bake to a crisp or play volleyball in the hot white sand. A brief respite before heading back home and back to the usual round of weekend cleaning and sorting.

Pic is in of course - today it is the turn of some French phrase books and TAPES ... err no. I'll keep the books, but as I don't have a tape player anymore - time to go.

Challenge is still going well, well I would have to say that really wouldn't I? Actually no, if I fail I do tell you - I know it's not very often, but keeping tabs through the website really does focus the attention.

Today's pic is a dress I was persuaded to buy a couple of years ago. A designer piece which I wore once - it has already been taken off to the thrift store, so someone is benefiting from my mistake.

Training tonight, can't miss my Monday training as it sets everything else up for the week. But thankfully no kiddy pick ups from work or college, which meane I might be able to have an early night.

Tuesday's are usually good but busy days starting with an early drop off to take my daughter to college, then onto work and has been of late - course preparation for Wednesday - and training day. Today is not exception except my mood is truly horrid. Nothing bad has happened you understand, just can't seem to tolerate bad drivers, rude shoppers and a million other things ...

Pics still going into the gallery, the next 3 days are the last of the linen cupboard - all the bits n pieces have already been taken to the thrift stores, so someone is going to benefit from my chuck out sessions.

Probably need to exercise away the frustrations, but won't have chance tonight :-(

Can you believe we have reached the end of the first half of the 100 day challenge - well done everyone who is taking part. I hope you are getting as much out of the challenge as I am.

Challenge email due tomorrow.

Given that I feel like I have hit the wall, I am taking myself off to the doctors for a service and tune up. It's been a couple of years since my last set of blood tests, so it's probably about time. Testing for all the usual suspects - thyroid function, liver, fasting blood sugars, Vitamin D, hormone levels - to be honest though it's probably just a case of doing too much and not enough sleep.

Saying that, the kids and I re-arranged the house yesterday in preparation for the sofa bed (which my daughter is currently sleeping on) to move into another room of the house... what did I say about doing too much?

So tired and we have beds arriving this afternoon, which means I shall be busy putting them up later ... hoping for an early night ... new mattress - go me xo

Car booked in for service today... prevention my friends is always better than finding a cure. Saying that, it's going to be an expensive couple of weeks - 4 new tyres, and given they are low profile ones - probably going to be expensive... that and a couple of filters they forgot to replace last service and new front brakes and rotors... But if you don't do the maintenance you will find it gets more expensive in the long run... and the same goes for everything

• relationships
• money - need to save more than you spend
• homes, gardens and cars
• clients

everything and everyone benefits from a regular maintenance service and check up - are you taking care of yourself and everyone and everything?

So the start of the re-modelling and re-decorating of the house begins today ... ceilings and coving first. Walls have been filled and prepped, still need to be sanded back, but I can begin the painting in what is now the spare room. Great exercise (about 5 hours in the first session), and because you can take each wall as an individual part of the bigger project you can see the steps you need to take. Perhaps decorating is by far the easiest way to check your progress - so can you use the same principle for other goals?

Technology - my email accounts which are supposed to talk to each other have stopped, probably someone stuffed up the code when upgrading - who knows - I just know it's a pain in the proverbial.

Training tonight was fantastic - Hilary at Efit121 really put me through my paces tonight - weight on her scale was not the same as mine which was disappointing, but the training was amazing. I am so much stronger, fitter and controlled. If anyone wants a kick a** trainer - then Hils is the lady to talk to. Just not Monday's at 6pm - cos that's my time.

Still not sleeping well, something else to discuss with the doctor perhaps?

Think I might have hypothyroidism if 6 out of the 10 markers are any indication.

Won't get results til monday though.

Struggling with low energy at the moment, which makes motivating myself hard. There is so much to do, just don't have the energy or inclination to do much of it. Upping the vitamins in the vain hope it works :-(

Up very early to get to a breakfast seminar I had organised. Is this the reason why I don't have much energy at the moment? DOING TOO MUCH?

Check your work / life balance - are you in balance? What are you going to do about it?

At a client site all day today. I love being a consultant as I get to share my knowledge with lots of other people and their working lives are made much easier as a result.

Very hot day today - and it's not yet summer.

Signs of summer ... very hot, going to the movies later to see The Social Network.

Not much to report today, other than it being very hot. Pics are in the gallery, although I did buy myself a cup of coffee on the way in to work today... so I suppose that's another fail for the no ad-hoc spending thing. Ah well you get that sometimes.

Challenge day tomorrow so I shan't send out a Daily Dose e-zine today.

Today is going to be the usual saturday madness, with a few additions:

Took the car in to have a set of new tyres. Sports models!! eek. Anyway, while they were being fitted I walked into Northbridge to get a few groceries, wandered back (thank goodness for backpacks), paid the bill, moved the car then went to the gym which is just around the corner. Did a 40 minute weight and abs session, then it was time for brekkie. The peace was shortlived however because I wanted to get home to start painting. Yes the colour is going on the walls. Bye bye awful purple, hello blushingham red and Antique White USA...

I love challenge days, a 10 day snapshot in time that can help us stay on track, and push hard for the next 10 days.

My "hit the wall" phase of recently not feeling very well and on top of everything is now under control - blood test results tomorrow though, so we will have to see what the official verdict is.

After giving the wall 2 coats of red yesterday I am now able to move on to the other walls. Undercoating first to attempt to get rid of the lighter purple and then 2 top coats. Great all over exercise and because I tend not to stop once I have gotten started - hours of exercise, bending, stretching and carrying on.

Anyway, enough rambling, I have the challenge email to write and get on its way.

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 40 - 31

Celebrate thy victories

*******************************
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking"
Marcus Aurelius

Centurions you have fought well these last 10 days of our personal campaign. You have succeeded where weaker men may have failed. You dug deep into thy reserves and persevered even when you thought it foolhardy to do so.

You have now learnt it was not foolhardy because you are all victors. You can stand tall and proud with the rest of this victorious legion for together you have become a formidable opponent to those who may try and thwart your resolve in future.
 
Today you may bask in the glory and the knowledge that you have won this day.
 
BUT
 
Be complacent not, for tonight our enemies while they may be on the back foot, retreating, they will re-group and they will attempt to infiltrate the ranks again. IT IS UP TO EACH ONE OF US TO ENSURE THAT CANNOT HAPPEN, we will not allow our enemies to lay us to waste.
 
So, tonight - rest, recover because tomorrow we move on.
 
******************************

Do you stop to acknowledge and celebrate your victories? Have you gotten to the end of a single day and told yourself that was amazing, well done you!
 
Why not?
 
You'd say all that and more if it were someone else who had impressed you.
 
So why are we so bad at patting ourselves on the back for a job well done? Don't we think we deserve it?
 
It is vital to celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well, why did it work so well and how can you capitalise on that knowledge in the future?
 
So, looking back over the first 60 days of the challenge so far - what have been your successes? Where have you won a battle or two? You will have some victories to share I'm sure. Celebrate each and every one of them, you deserve to.

********************************

Reminder: What have we covered so far?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free.

70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely to survive the battles that lie ahead.

60 - 51: Conquering thine enemies - Defeating your habits. Only by defeating your bad habits can you create the space for the good habits we need to cultivate. Are you creating the space and the habit of creating good habits?

50 - 41: Re-drawing your battle lines - Watch your rear. It is important to constantly check six, make sure you are not falling over your goals by default. It can be easy to do, but now is the time to ensure you are going in the right direction.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

Discarding 100 things in 100 days http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/ going to have to start delving into the backs of cupboards now all the very obvious things have been discarded.
The posts are in :-) http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.
Say goodbye to girly purple / lilac hello sophisticated antique white USA and blushingham red

Kind Regards

Elle

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Sunday's are always busy and today is no exception. Carrying on with the painting and decorating at the moment, clearing sticker glue detritus from doors so I can sand down ready for painting.

Bin full of gardening waste

And I persuaded my daughter to give me a hand to sort through some of her stuff from the wardrobe of her old room (the one I am painting) ... not much to chuck, but we did find some goodies to add to the discarding 100 things in 100 days pile ... namely - karaoke sing along cd's ... classy - check the gallery ... lots of stuff in there now ... and yes I am ahead of myself but that's OK, that's the beauty of decorating :-)

Saturday morning and I want to complete the last of the painting - walls in the spare room... which means I am going to give up the gym today. But that's OK because I will be doing a lot of exercise today... and tomorrow actually.

Painting finished by about 10.30, just the doors to clean of old stickers / glue detritus - have to go to bunnings to get some gunk remover, but I need to get the gloss and the associated paraphernalia that goes with painting gloss...

Then it was on to IKEA to look at furniture and bits & pieces, then off to the carpet warehouse and finally groceries. I tell you, some days I deserve a nanna nap

Stomach is still off after the anti-biotics, not a pleasant thing to have to tell you - but I have not been feeling well now for a couple of weeks. Blood test results showed low Vitamin D and slightly low white blood cell count... infections grrrrr

Had a night off, was supposed to go training but after spending half the night awake, didn't go. Walked down to the ocean front and watched the sun go down before heading back home and a night of watching kids movies with the boy. Well I do get to sit down occasionally.

At a client's today, because we only have a half hour for lunch means of course we get to finish half an hour earlier in the day ... went off to the gym and did a cardio work out, not feeling strong enough to do my normal weights work.

Hand is very sore from painting on Monday evening. Was going to do the 2nd and last top coat tonight, but will give it up as a bad job and do it on the weekend. Not such a daft idea, I do like to see the final coat in daylight.

Frustrated day which translated into a frustrated evening and a broken night's sleep

:-(

Just a normal day today ... sorry, even I have normal days you know.

Work, more work and then home ...

Hope you are having a good Tuesday

Hurt my right thumb, hand painting !!

Normal working day today, well as normal as my working days can be, not training tonight - postponed until Friday - so painting it is ... first of the main walls top coat... it's looking really good. Shame about the hand.

I cannot believe how fast this last 100 days has gone. Hence the reason we need to be laser focused so we don't let our "normal" lives overrule our challenge to ourselves and our daily action towards reaching our goals and targets.

Work is incredibly busy and when I go for my walk in the mornings I can see evidence that celebrations are beginning - christmas decorations always seem so wrong when it's the height of summer. I don't think I will ever get used to having a boiling hot christmas day.

And talking of which - unseasonably hot the last couple of days means training is going to be harder than normal. But I am not bailing, need to keep up the momentum. Just hoping the Vitamin D tablets are working.

Nice walk this morning, gave me lots of thinking time out of the heat that has been dogging us for weeks now. It takes me a while to get used to Australian summers, but with the driest spring on record, I can only hope for the wettest summer. Fingers crossed.

All the pics are in the gallery by the way. Had yet another mammoth clearing out session on the weekend, as well as all the painting and decorating I am doing. Good job I'm fit.

Great sleep last night, best one in - FOREVER

December! Where has the time gone? This is why the 100 day challenge is soooo important. 81 days ago we could have decided to wait for some unforseen point in the future, but we didn't. 81 days in and I have heard of some amazing success stories. One lady has set up her business - yes in less than 81 days. Yet another challenger has recorded his first album and another has written the first draft of a book.

Myself - well I have set out and achieved many health and fitness goals and my house re-modelling is underway, along with the other interesting challenge of finding and discarding 100 groups of things. Lots more items are in the camera, just need to download them.

The losing weight thing has stalled at a loss of 5 kilos - half of what I wanted to lose, but the infections, anti-biotics and other tablets took their toll as I wasn't able to do as much exercise as I wanted / needed to do. But - that month is now behind me and it is time to move forwards. It's not that we have set backs, it's just how we deal with them that counts.

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb" Nelson Mandela

Have you checked the gallery recently? No? You should, it's truly amazing what I've found lurking. Got another couple of big ticket items away this week, namely 2 very large planters and some portable air-conditioning units. 1 is in the gallery, 1 isn't. But they will be taken off to their respective new homes this weekend.

Taking my car to the garage today to get front brakes replaced and a couple of filters which had been missed from a previous service.

Preventative maintenance means less expensive bills in the future... hmm something tells me there is a Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine post in that topic :-)

Given I was on foot, I took the opportunity to walk and do the mental filing before the shops opened. I had about 6 hours to kill, so used it as an opportunity to go to places I wouldn't normally visit - namely the shops to get some bits for Christmas - a new tree for instance. Nothing massive because of the cats, but totally tacky as it revolves and plays really tinny christmas carols.

I also had one of the best Chinese Pressure Point back massages I've had in a very long time. The sittting down all day thing really does take it's toll on my back and spefically my sciatic... painful but good.

Must start exercising on a wednesday again ... the pain in my lower back and sciatic from the walk on sunday is almost gone, so I should. But to be honest, too many late nights and I really don't have a lot of energy. Got to pick up my daughter from TAFE at 10pm though, so still can't have an early night.

Food still good - wading my way through copious amounts of salads, but filling up on protein shakes and water

Pic today = broken headphones...

Still have a few computer issues caused by my daughter's liking to download crap from the internet ... her computer is going to have to be re-built... silly girl.

Feeling much less bloated than of late

Pic today is old paint charts - hmmmm - really should stop keeping things I don't need and will never use again.

The 100 Day Challenge Program
Days 20 - 11

Have Courage for the end of our campaign draws close:

Do not be afraid of what lies ahead

******************************

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live"
Marcus Aurelius

Only by facing our greatest fears can we be victorious. Did David cower at the thought of Goliath? Did Alexander doubt his ability to conquer the known world? Have you not stared down your many enemies during these battles and defeated them?

So then, what are your fears now? Surely you can have no fear left because you have faced death many times and you have been victorious.

Why then do you shake your heads?

Fear of the unknown? You have faced the unknown many times and did you falter? Did you stand weak kneed before fleeing from the enemy?

YOU DID NOT

And do you know why?

It is because at my command you will obey. Because you are strong of mind, strong of will and strong of body and I am proud to command you.

******************************

Do you suffer from fear and doubt? If you do, you are not alone. But what are you afraid of?

It is interesting to note that most people will admit to having a phobia – “I’m afraid of heights”; “I really dislike snakes”; “I don’t like speaking in public”, but will not admit that they delay doing things because they are afraid of either doing the task, or what will happen when they do. But fear keeps up doing the same things over and over again. We repeat patterns of behaviour, because we are afraid of what will happen if we don’t. Repeated patterns of behaviour means we react in exactly the same way to the same kind of stimuli.

Are you afraid of failure?

Those people who are afraid of failure are those people who rarely try anything new. If they don’t start a project they can’t fail can they?

Are you afraid of success?

Those people who are afraid of success are likely to sabotage their own efforts, or allow their efforts to be sabotaged. Or they give up half way through. How many people have been on a diet? How many times have people said to you “oh go on, it’s only a small piece!” and you have been persuaded to take something that you didn’t want. 

Are you afraid of change?

The reason why a lot of people fear success is because it usually means considerable change, and not just for you. And the ones that fear the changes the most are those people who profess to love and care for us:

“What are you doing that for?”
“I like you just the way you are”.

You see, fear based comments do not have to be an outright attack, sometimes subtle comments repeated often enough are all it takes for someone to stop you right in your tracks. The point is they don’t want you to change, they are happy with the status quo. They fear that they will lose their “hold” over you and their place in their version of the perceived hierarchy.

Yes – they fear you, and the power that positive change will have over you. So they will do everything in their power to sabotage your efforts. Of course they may not do this deliberately; a lot of what we say and do is habitual.

But this is also important for you too. Trying to make too many changes all at once can be overwhelming and it becomes easy to slip back into the old way of doing things. Then those people who have been telling you all along that you are no good – will now be able to say – I told you so. You are hopeless, you can never finish anything.” They will move from being fearful to dominant – and you may find it extremely difficult to start all over again. Because you may feel that you have “failed”.

If you encounter this kind of behaviour on a daily basis – and loved ones are prime candidates. You may have even unknowingly done this yourself. You should avoid telling them your grand plans. Remember the importance of the daily plans and changes. Making small but subtle changes means they will not shocked by the “new you”.

Imagine that every day you are given a blank canvas on which to work. Most people haul out the same one, and re-paint the same lines. It's easier you see. They may change one or two colours - but day after day, they paint the same picture.

Can you imagine getting to the end of your life and having to walk down a corridor with your daily paintings hanging on the walls? How scary would it be to see the same thing? Row upon row of the same picture, an endless stream of monotony, interspersed occasionally with the odd picture that stands out, a day that was “special” in some way.
  
You pause for a moment, to reflect, but then as you return to the walk down the corridor the paintings return to the same themes over and over again. You try to go back to the special picture you saw earlier, but it’s no longer there, just like a day that has been wasted. Once the time has been spent you cannot get it back again. So you are forced to keep walking, past pictures that all look the same.

Now imagine what it would be like to walk down a corridor where the walls are lined with vibrancy. You would walk quickly towards the next one, to see what new and exciting things you had done. You would smile, you would frown, and you would remember the happy times, the sad times, and the days of pure bliss. Each day the painting is filled with something different.

The question is what would your paintings look like? Would they be filled with the same kinds of images day after day, or would your pictures be filled with lots of different things and memories?

Isn’t it time you painted a different picture every day?

Are you afraid of truly living?

The final fear that most people have to suffer is that of truly living. We are afraid to take chances, usually because of what we feel other people might say and think about us, so we run around in ever decreasing circles, trying to make everyone around us happy, whilst at the same time, never making any time to find out what we ourselves truly want, or want to achieve.

Of course there will be people that we all know who always put themselves before anyone and everyone else. That is not the kind of person I am advocating that we become. In order for us to really start to live the lives we were meant to live, we have to embrace change, we have to want to live each and every moment that has been allotted to us and in order to do this, we need to choose success over the failure of not trying. We need to choose success over the traditional thinking that says, I’ll do it tomorrow. We need to choose success over the habits that have held us back. We need to choose to truly live and not mere existence.

What would you do if you knew you could never fail?
And would it really matter if you did?

As we move into the last 20 days of this challenge, I would like you to ask yourself what would happen if you said YES to every opportunity instead of NO - what difference do you think that would make to your life?

********************************

Reminder: What have we covered so far?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free.

70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely to survive the battles that lie ahead.

60 - 51: Conquering thine enemies - Defeating your habits. Only by defeating your bad habits can you create the space for the good habits we need to cultivate. Are you creating the space and the habit of creating good habits?

50 - 41: Re-drawing your battle lines - Watch your rear. It is important to constantly check six, make sure you are not falling over your goals by default. It can be easy to do, but now is the time to ensure you are going in the right direction.

40 - 31: Celebrate thy victories - Review, reflect - It is vital to celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well, why did it work so well and how can you capitalize on that knowledge in the future?

30 -21 - What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others - Be fair and honest in all your dealings especially when it comes to being honest with yourself.

Elle's 100 day challenges:

How have the last 80 days been for you? I have heard of some amazing success stories of people who have done some amazing things - one lady has set up her business, another reader has written the first draft of a book. How have you done? And please remember it doesn't have to be BIG things, just personal challenges you have set for yourself.

Discarding 100 things in 100 days http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/
As always I am a couple of days behind with posting the journal entries, but I will catch these up over the weekend -  http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.

Kind Regards
Elle

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Last week was a bit of a blur I must confess. Not only was I trying desperately to get a legal publication finalised and off to the production house, but I landed a 3 day migraine as well. Add in 2 doors and frames to gloss, christmas shopping to get and I'm sure you can imagine.

I feel like my oath not to buy things (except from a supermarket) has fallen in a hole too this last couple of weeks. But that is the trouble I've bought a lot of gifts (which didn't count) and a lot of stuff for the house and car (also not counted) but did i spend anything on me? Actually I did, but that was because of what we found - leather bound journals going out for (not very much money) and you know what I'm like for empty books... so there you go, did I fail? Yes probably, but hey  am only human.

Weight loss is steady at 5 kilos - so again half way to target.

Discarding 100 things - yes, on target with this. I do have a lot of pics to load - maybe get some time on Wednesday - but then again we're having carpet laid, I've got to drop off a couple of pressies, pick up my son from work - and put up the spare bed and move furniture and clean the rest of the house before Thursday / Weekend....so maybe not. But the pics are there, and I've got some doozies for the finale.

Anyway, challenge day tomorrow - again - another 10 days gone just like that... will backfill all the other posts as and when I get chance. But in the meantime I have to get changed because it is personal training day at Hilary's house of pain (http://www.efit121.com.au).

Where there is unity there is always victory
Don't let yourself or others down now

******************************
"Where there is unity there is always victory.”
Publilius Syrus

Centurions, the end of the campaign draws ever closer. We can give up now, or we can march on to victory.

Do you want to enter our great city as the champions and the victors of our greatest battle ever, or are you content to go back having almost reached our goal of being the best we can be.?

Do not hang your heads. You have worked and fought hard. You have protected yourselves and your fellow centurions and all that is needed is one final push.

Are you willing to commit to this one final push towards victory?

******************************
Can you believe we only have 10 days left to the end of the year... and of course our first 100 day challenge comes to an end. Now you can continue to use the next 10 days to further your personal goals or you may decide not to. The next 10 days will pass whether you work on yourself or your goals or not. And yes I know Christmas and New Year are going to get in the way. But even so... now is perhaps a good time to hide in a corner away from the food and start the next set of planning :-)

One of the keys as I keep pointing out to you (and I am sorry for being a bit of a broken record on this) is this - we can all be faked out by being busy. We can all be "busy doing something" but those "some things" may not get us to our goals. Usually because our plans are not in place, our drive and our passions are not aligned and our personal "battles" never get won.
 
Most people don't do well, because they are usually busy doing nothing very much. Or more to the point, they think they are busy and productive, when in reality all they are is busy and don't mind telling anyone who listens. Those with plans in place usually don't have time to discuss generalities they are too busy working on their goals to do so. And in doing so they find ways to practice and hone their skills and abilities, finding ways to better prepare for whatever else lies ahead.

As we do count down the last couple of days, now is not the time to give up and say I'll do that again on January 1st. Sticking to your new habits is vital during this time - and believe me when I say that if you can make even small steps now, during what can be deemed to be the busiest, scariest and often silliest time of the year, then we can get anything done.

During the next 10 days I would urge you to take a good look at the way you used the program during the last 90 days. Where can you tighten up your habits? What can you do to make the program work even better for you when you start again. Yes I did say start again - why lose the momentum you've gained?

Have a couple of days off, reward yourself for a job well done, but then dive straight back in - use your momentum to keep going, pushing forwards - because if you're not careful the weeds will take over the garden - and we don't want that.

********************************

*Reminder: What have we covered so far?*

100 - 91: Preparing for battle- What challenges were you hoping to
complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you
made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays- Review your plan and your daily
activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is
it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you
cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid
of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches
/ trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something
we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it
for free.

70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are
you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely
to survive the battles that lie ahead.

60 - 51: Conquering thine enemies - Defeating your habits. Only by
defeating your bad habits can you create the space for the good habits we
need to cultivate. Are you creating the space and the habit of creating good
habits?

50 - 41: Re-drawing your battle lines - Watch your rear. It is important
to constantly check six, make sure you are not falling over your goals by
default. It can be easy to do, but now is the time to ensure you are going
in the right direction.

40 - 31: Celebrate thy victories - Review, reflect - It is vital to
celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little
when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well,
why did it work so well and how can you capitalize on that knowledge in the
future?

30 -21 -What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others
- Be fair and honest in all your dealings especially when it comes to being
honest with yourself.

20 - 11 - Have courage for the end of the campaign draws close - You
have faced so many obstacles over the last 80 days, but you are here, and
you are stronger. Now you know you have the strength and the courage to
tackle anything and everything you set your mind too.
*

Elle's 100 day challenges:
90 days have been completed. I don't know about you, but the last 10 days of
the challenge have been a blur - too much shopping and things to try and
cram into 10 days - so I ended up with a 3 day migraine instead. Serves me
right...read more at http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.

Discarding 100 things in 100 days
http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/

Kind Regards

Elle

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http://www.facebook.com/ellegb

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We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family,
friends and any other interested readers. If you find that this message is
going into the canned meat product folder can you please add my e-mail
address to your safe senders list. Thank you.

To unsubscribe: Either hit the reply button and add unsubscribe to the
beginning of the subject line. Please note: you do need to unsubscribe using
the same e-mail address you subscribed with for this to take effect. Or if
for some reason you get a bounce back - go to the contact me page on the
site and let me know via the site. For some reason (and no-one seems to know
why) sometimes my e-mail address doesn't work, and I apologize for the
inconvenience. It appears to be an intermittent technological problem that
is out of my hands at this time.

Thank you for taking the time to read these daily musings, we hope to see
you again in the not too distant future.

All contents Copyright (c) 2005/2010 Motivateme.info<http://motivateme.info/>except where indicated otherwise.

All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not
share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
 

I am trying to get everything organised for the UK Christmas posting... but we did manage to get a walk in during the afternoon. Extremely humid, makes speed and distance so much harder. But it was done.

Still trying to get the spare room finished and the house tidied - 1 discarded thing at a time.

Almost through the first week of December - unbelievable!

Wanted to walk this morning, but after a restless night, I must confess to re-setting the alarm. But training with Hils of efit121 was excellent, so all was not lost :-)

And the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine e-zine was sent - as the messages were being posted I did my usual mad monday evening run around the house. 2 loads of laundry, late dinner, cleaned the kitchen, picked up, sorted out and took some more pics for the gallery. Can't wait to finish the spare room so I can get the furniture in and the last of the boxes sorted... soon.

A grumpy day today - frustrating to say the least - still working on the legal manual for my day job - there seems to be errors in the main file (corruption) which is not helping my stress levels.

Could do with a longer walk at lunch time...

The manual is taking it's toll on my motivation to exercise... just can't seem to get up the enthusiasm. So desperately need a break.

Able to get to the gym today to iron out a few kinks.

Feel like I am spending too much money - but given that most of it is going on Christmas gifts and things for the house, I can't say I am breaking my challenge vow too much. Still need to organise carpet for the spare room, hoping they can get it down before Christmas - would like to have a clean house before the break ... talk about putting pressure on myself... must be mad.

But then again, the challenge wouldn't be a challenge if it wasn't too easy now would it :-)

Able to spend some time on my stress levels today - as in - reducing my stress levels. Thinking that I am going to find a course on yoga / meditation in the new year... my gift of health to myself.

Was also able to spend some time - walking - though not fast or for true exercise, it is what I call "doing the mental filing" - turn off the phone and the computer and get outside.

Much needed break away from the technology let me tell you.

Carpet has been organised - a bit more expensive than I had hoped, but that was one of the reasons why I stopped buying coffee's and lunches on a regular basis. Delaying gratification of little pleasures means I CAN buy bigger items.

Lots still to save for - need a bedside cabinet / set of drawers, a blanket box and maybe a chair or another set of drawers for the window alcove, oh and a lightshade and some maroon red curtains... will worry about cushion covers and bedspreads til the new year...might get a bargain or two in the sales :-)

Migraine onset, and a house full of noisy kids do not make a good combination - pass me the valium and I'll go and lie down in a darkened room

Day 2 of the migraine. Because I didn't catch this one in time I know I am going to struggle through 3 -5 days of major headaches :-(

Had to cancel my personal training session tonight, but I did go for a 4km walk - probably not a good idea because every step was like walking on glass, but as I have to pick Eden up from work at 10pm I can't go to bed even if I wanted to.

Working with my change management client today, and it was Christmas lunch to which I had been kindly invited. Work rule - no alcphol which was nice (not that I planned to drink anyway) yes the headache lingers and I don't need to add hangover to the mix.

Had a good, busy and productive day - no expenses, no spending of money, no exercise either though. But on the whole a good day under the circumstances.

My major editing job is now complete - well, when I say complete, I am just waiting for my legal librarian to send me the last of her files and I can complete the process. My mammoth 825 legal tome will be away to the printers BEFORE Christmas. I am most happy.

I can't believe it is only 10 days to go before Christmas, I am normally so organised, but not only haven't I wrapped the gifts I've already bought - I still have 4 major presents to get :-(

Yesterday I heard the plight of a lady in a care facility in the USA, she had been dumped there by her son. He had sold off her farm and possessions and left strict instructions not to be contacted and didn't want to know when she died or that he would pay for the funeral. The plea though wasn't for money - but wool so she could knit socks and slippers for other people. So after rummaging through what was left of my wool collection I gathered up some goodies, found an appropriate card and cuddly toy - and today posted the parcel. It won't get to her before Christmas, but... it made me feel so good that something as small as a ball of wool could make so much difference. When the mad rush over Christmas is finished I will send another one too.

It was quite a momentous day all round really - my partner and I encountered the barmy army at our local pub - they were in Perth for the Ashes series ... unfortunately it looks like England might lose this one :-(

Just 2 more weeks left of the challenge. I need to get cleaning, because I need more photographs.

After a very long week, my partner and I walked into town to do a bit more Christmas shopping - nice walk there and back. Bought some cold meat and a bread roll from the supermarket and enjoyed that whilst listening to some beautiful guitarists. Love the fact that the City of Perth has put on entertainment during December. Makes it feel more like Christmas.

Gym day - this was going to be hard having had a week off pretty much all the exercise because of the migraine. But I did it anyway, and added another 3 km walk to the end of the session.

Managed to locate several of the "big" christmas gifts - getting there slowly :-)

It might be Sunday, but there is no rest for the wicked... especially when it comes to Christmas shopping... but we did manage to get my daughters big gift today, and home before she came home. Mind you I am not going to wrap it, why waste paper.

Organised the last of the UK presents for the family - christmas hampers ... more food, one problem, I just hope they get there given the amount of snow that has fallen of late

The carpet is being put down in the spare room today :-) momentous day, this means we can get the spare room bed put up and the furniture moved back into place... and the detritus that has been stored around the house can finally go back into the spare room cupboard. It's mainly boxes of the kids school work, and I don't like to put that in the roof space or the shed for fear of creature damage. Too precious for that.

A half day at "work" today and then it is break time until the 4th January. Not that I will stop work entirely- that is unlikely given that I like to talk to you on a regular basis. But my day job comes to a close at lunch time today.

My son and I spent the first hour or so putting up the spare bed, then I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, tidying and sorting the rest of the house - hoping to make it look decent for Christmas day.

Have to say it was probably the best all over body work out I've done in a while. Try it, incidental exercise is great for boosting your fitness levels over a long period of time.

Just one week left!! Can you believe it? Me neither.

When we started this challenge back in September - there was one thing that was always going to be true. The last 100 days of the year would pass whether we used them effectively or not. And sure enough with 7 days to go, I can tell you I have had some interesting challenges during my challenges.

Illness, stress, major work loads to get through - and try to keep to my promises of

• Not buying anything for myself unless from a supermarket - failed a few times
• Losing 10 kilos - got half way there, but have dropped 2 dress sizes so far
• Discarding 100 things in 100 days - well if you have checked out the gallery, you will know we are almost there and yes the last of the pics are just waiting to be uploaded. I have cleaned cupboards and drawers, boxes and sheds - and I have given away so many things we don't use or need.
• And the re-decorating has begun with one room completed, just a couple of items of furniture to get and some red curtains and cushions and I can say that it is done.

With the children that much older, it is unlikely I will be woken up at the crack of dawn - and so it was... I had chance to put on my track gear and go for a walk / run.

4km's later, cooked some breakfast, prepped the dinner and then cleaned the car - all before the troops got up.

Thankfully the gifts were all gratefully received :-)

Hope you all had a wonderful day

Elle

Breakfast at a cafe in Kings Park - great view and wonderful food.

I love training in Kings Park - not that I was going to today you understand, but the energy was just magnificent.

Picked the kids up from dad's and then it was time for a snooze. Well I am allowed it is holiday time.

Back to training tomorrow though - gym first thing.

Gym today, not too bad - missed the class start time, so did my own circuit.

Managed to fit in 50 girly push ups during the circuit too.

Had breakfast in Leederville with my partner, then we went to Hyde Park - a great place, soaring trees offering a canopy of shade, 2 lakes filled with bird life and lots of people enjoying the summer holiday. Not us though, we used the shade to complete 3 circuits... each one being between 800 and 1km long. Not bad.

It has been suggested to me that I need to put as my number 1 new year's resolution : down time or non-striving time. I am not known as the energiser bunny for nothing it seems, but I do tend to wear myself down and hit the wall every couple of months. So it is an excellent suggestion and one I am going to attempt to put into my weekly schedule.

But not first thing - training with my personal trainer today (hilary at Efit121 - http://www.efit121.com.au) I know I've spoken about Hils before, but she's a remarkable lady and pushes me to the absolute limit of my endurance. But that's a good thing. Quick rest and then it was off to the hills to meet up with my partner and a walk through the John Forrest National Park... probably not too far as it is very hot, but it gets us out and into the trees... balance.

Today was supposed to be my non-striving day, except I got up and went for an 8km walk first thing. It was a bit warm by the time I got back and since then my legs have felt like lead... but I have to keep pushing.

I've also caught up with all my entries, and managed to do some reading too - my one big pleasure after exercise. I love to get caught up in a good book. If you have any to send me I am always looking for things to read, to gain new insights and knowledge. Or if you can't send me one, why not recommend one to me ...

Go on, set me some homework.

You'll probably love the last of the photo's - there are another 10 on my camera and they will be loaded tomorrow ... but everything from flasher mac's to dance mats ... oh and we can't forget the matrix coat.

The last of the challenge emails will be posted tomorrow ...

I cannot believe how fast another year has gone, and especially the last 100 days. But being focussed on my goals 1 day at a time has allowed me to break through many issues and I have achieved many good things. I didn't always succeed, but I shall be going into the new year knowing I can do anything for one day. And in doing so, will be setting some new challenges knowing that I can succeed.

Well done everyone. The 100 day challenge for 2010 is now complete.

The 100 Day Challenge Program

End of the program

Battles will always need to be fought:
Just when you think you have finished...along comes another challenge

******************************
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
Seneca

Victorious centurions you have succeeded where weaker men have failed. You have fought bravely day after day and this battle is now over.

Behold your triumph
but beware your complacency.

As we march onwards through life other battles may loom which we will need to fight, old enemies may reappear, so we must stay alert and to always be prepared.

I ask you to rest briefly because you deserve the rest and the triumph. But I demand that you continue honing of your crafts and skills of fitness and preparation. Our future depends on this.

******************************

Congratulations, you have made it. You should be very proud of yourselves and your achievements.

I hope you continue to use the challenge to push yourselves though your next set of challenges, because there will always be challenges - but by taking them one day at a time, you can achieve many great and wondrous things.

********************************

Reminder: What have we covered during the 100 day challenge?

100 - 91: Preparing for battle - What challenges were you hoping to complete during the 100 days. Are you still on track? What changes have you made? Why?

90 - 81: Assessing your initial forays - Review your plan and your daily activities and make adjustments where necessary. Did you tweak your plan, is it working better now? What else do you need to do?

80 - 71: Assembling the troops - Get help when and if needed. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself, so don't attempt to. And don't be afraid of asking for help either. OK, some services we may have to pay for, coaches / trainers / teachers and so on, and as we all know, if we pay for something we are more likely to value the service we receive more than if we got it for free.

70 - 61: Dig deep into thy reserves - Now is the time to persevere. Are you willing to keep pushing on, to keep trying? Only the strong are likely to survive the battles that lie ahead.

60 - 51: Conquering thine enemies - Defeating your habits. Only by defeating your bad habits can you create the space for the good habits we need to cultivate. Are you creating the space and the habit of creating good habits?

50 - 41: Re-drawing your battle lines - Watch your rear. It is important to constantly check six, make sure you are not falling over your goals by default. It can be easy to do, but now is the time to ensure you are going in the right direction.

40 - 31: Celebrate thy victories - Review, reflect - It is vital to celebrate the wins and essential that we blow our own trumpets just a little when we know we have done an amazing job. Stop, reflect on what worked well, why did it work so well and how can you capitalize on that knowledge in the future?

30 - 21: What you would not have done to yourselves, never do unto others - Be fair and honest in all your dealings especially when it comes to being honest with yourself.

20 - 11: Have courage for the end of the campaign draws close - You have faced so many obstacles over the last 80 days, but you are here, and you are stronger. Now you know you have the strength and the courage to tackle anything and everything you set your mind too.

10 - 1: Continue to push hard, don't give up now - we are so close to the end of the challenge we may be tempted to slack off and tell ourselves we will start again in the new year. Don't be tempted to fall back into old habits, because if we are not careful they will creep back into our lives. Be vigilant during this time.

Elle's 100 day challenges:
I started this 100 day challenge hoping for some radical changes. Of those challenges, I have had some successes and some not so successful outcomes - illness and personal challenges did get to me during the last 100 days of the year. But I have pushed through and have created the stepping stones to a much better 2011. I have re-set my challenges and I will continue to post the odd blog or two just so you can see if I am still working hard...  http://www.motivateme.info/100-days-challenge/.

Discarding 100 things in 100 days - http://www.motivateme.info/discarding-100-things/ Yes there really are 100 things in the gallery and the last 2 items are amazing...

Kind Regards

Elle

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Did you participate in the last 100 day challenge? Did you achieve many great and wonderful things? Or did you begin the process of working on your goals one day at a time? Either way, congratulations and well done. By breaking down our goals into manageable chunks of time, we can and will achieve many dreams and goals.

I am re-setting my challenges to start 2011, and will keep you up to date with what I am doing. If you would like to let me know how you are doing, I would love to keep up to date with your progress too. But if you are struggling then let me know, because I can and will help you overcome your roadblocks. You can email me at [email protected] - it may take me a day or two to get back to you, but I will endeavour to answer each and every question or query you may have with regards to getting the most out of the challenge.

So what are my challenges for the next 100 days?

1. Well I would like to do 200 push ups - preferably biy style, but will settle for girly ones if I have to. The plan is to be able to do 50 x 4 with a one minute (ish) break between sets. Lactic acid build up may may it difficult to do more, but I will revise and let you know. By the way my first attempt at boy push ups on the 1st January - was 5 sets (10, 10, 12, 15 & 20) a total of 67. Not a bad start.

2. In  2011 I would like to reduce my body fat by 10% (I'm aware that one may take a bit longer than the 100 days, but again I will revise when I have some stats).

3. Again for the next 100 days I am going to restrict my purchases as much as possible to what I can buy at a supermarket. The last one worked pretty well and I have gotten rid of one creeping bad habit of buying coffee on the way to work in a morning. Well the day job starts again tomorrow and I don't want to get back into that expensive habit.

4. 2011 I want to finish re-decorating the house. Again, given my limited time that will take me the best part of the year to complete, but one room / area at a time :-)

5. In 2011 I want to reduce my size by another 2 dress sizes - that's about 10cm girth measurements. There is a chance I can do this within the 100 days, again I will review the stats and advise. If I can keep up the rate of training, then this will be an almost guarantee.

6. Train for a reason. I do intend to run the 2011 Perth City to Surf 12km category. It has been on my bucket list for some time. So for the first 100 days I will concetrate on the first 6km's ... I'll worry about speed later.

7. I want to double my readership of the daily dose of motivational medicine. If you could help me with this one that would be great ... let them know about this site and hopefully they'll sign up :-)

8. Complete at least one book in the 100 days... this one just needs time and headspace... will revise and let you know when and where you can get your copy :-)

So, are you going to join me? Hope so.

Speak soon

Elle

 I have created a downloadable file of the Complete 2010 100 Day Challenge Program for you. You can access it HERE.

You will be pleased to know it has been edited for clarity.

I hope you find it helpful as you move forwards into 2011 with your dreams, goals and challenges

Kind Regards

Elle

The 22nd of September marked the beginning of the count down to the end of the year. This year we will be working on ourselves. We all want to know "what's in it for me" well do the work, work the challenge and you will find out quite quickly what's in it for you. Remember the next 100 days will pass whether you do the work or not. Are you ready to make a difference to you?

===========================================

The 100 Day Challenge: Email Program for 2012:

Get ready to begin

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/9/19/the-next-100-days-will-pass-regardless-of-what-you-do.html

Introduction

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/9/21/are-you-ready-whats-in-it-for-me-the-100-day-challenge-progr.html

Part 1: No Excuses

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/9/22/100-day-challenge-whats-in-it-for-me-part-1-no-excuses.html

Part 2: Dare to be different or dream BIG

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/10/1/the-100-day-challenge-part-2-dare-to-be-different-or-dream-b.html

Part 3: The land of regret

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/10/13/the-100-day-challenge-part-3-the-land-of-regret.html

Part 4: Focus

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/10/22/the-100-day-challenge-part-4-focus.html

Part 5: Actions speak louder

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/11/2/the-100-day-challenge-whats-in-it-for-me-part-5-actions-spea.html

Part 6: Coping with the overactive gene

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/11/10/the-100-day-challenge-part-6-coping-with-the-overactive-gene.html

 Part 7: Believe you can do it

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/11/21/the-100-day-challenge-part-7-believe-you-can-do-it.html

Part 8: Attitudes maketh the man (and woman)

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/12/2/the-100-day-challenge-whats-in-it-for-me-part-8-attitudes-ma.html

Part 9: Settling for a life of personal bests

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/12/12/the-100-day-challenge-whats-in-it-for-me-part-9-settling-for.html

Part 10: Cue the reward

http://www.motivateme.info/daily-dose-ezine/2012/12/20/the-100-day-challenge-whats-in-it-for-me-part-10-cue-the-rew.html

If you have yet to purchase your copy of the 100 day challenge, you can do so here

Best

Elle

What will success look like to you?

Only you can decide.

Only you can take the actions required.

To get fit and healthy we cannot delegate the task to anyone else. We might get help in the form of a nutrition expert and a personal trainer. But we are the ones who still have to eat the right foods and do the exercise.

That is why we say the 100 day challenge is a personal one. You can do amazing things in 100 days, all you have to do is decide, then show up and do the work.

But what if you don't really know what you want? You might want things to be better you just don't know what or how. Well the 100 day challenge: Life change program has been written to assist you move through the process of change, and creating new habits. We offer challenges to "challenge" your thinking and your actions. And we offer support through the entire process.

The beauty of this program is that it need never stop. Once you know the principles of the 100 day challenge (complete each day to the best of your abiliity) you have the foundation for amazing achievements.

Take the 100 day challenge, it can change your life.

I began my latest 100 day challenge on January 1st. Straight after the last one finished.

My current challenge is to clean and clear the clutter that litters my life, and to attempt to read 100 books or more. To force me to sit down once in a while.

I had also hoped to run the couch to 5k program, I started well - but had to give that up as my foot (my previously broken foot) started hurting again, along with my achilles. So I switched back to walking and squats and put that challenge back on hold.

Apart from a broken nose due to cleaning - I kid you not. I am doing OK. But let me explain.

My walk in food cupboard (pantry) had become a bit of a dumping ground for everything and anything. So one of my first jobs I decided was the top shelf, with the idea of working down to the floor and cleaning / clearing as I went. For some reason I had put a large tub of ceiling tile adhesive on the top shelf. As I went to get it off the shelf, I obviously did not have enough grasp on said bucket and it face planted and cracked my nose. Eye watering or what. Having determined it was roughly in the same place, and ice and witch hazel later - and yes lots of colourful language, the top shelf was cleaned and cleared.

Thankfully - no accidents have occurred since. But I am now down to the bottom shelf in said cupboard, but have also cleaned the spare room, empted a suitcase of stuff and sorted that out. Recycled 3 bags of clothing and about a ton of paper.

I am slowly ticking off the number of shelves, drawers, cupboards that need looking at and sorting, and it feels so good to know that other people will benefit from my throw out.

Apart from the top shelf - most of the cleaning sessions have been at worst about an hour, at the least about 5 minutes.

My other challenge is personal and professional development. I want to write at least 500 words a day, and to read upwards of 100 books :-) a bit of a challenge given that I have a lot to do each day, and yes so far I am at 30 of the 100 - so not too bad going.

The challenge is personal, but it is designed to challenge you, your thinking and yes your every day life.

What can you achieve in 100 days? You'd be surprised ... take the challenge. http://www.motivateme.info/challenge