Courtney wrote a mail recently called “A Toast to the Tiny Steps (Every big change is the result of 100 tiny steps)”
And in that mail she lists a whole lot of the little steps she took which resulted in big changes which changed her life – for the better. In Courtney’s case she was diagnosed with MS which was her reason to start making changes. She suggests we create our own list – so I thought I would – seeing as my blog is about how I am taking steps to create a simple beautiful life for myself and my family.
From Courtney – “Write your own toast and list your 100 tiny steps. Raise your glass, or a taco (yes, you can toast with a taco), or ice cream and celebrate these tiny steps that have helped you change your life.”
So here goes, so far this are the small steps I have taken. Courtney is many many small steps ahead of me, but rather than see my progress as disheartening, I shall toast it as a start. My start:
Big: Changed my diet
Timeline: ongoing.
Tiny:
- swapped coffee for a shake at breakfast
- then started making breakfast smoothies
- got veg and simple home cooking recipe books for Christmas for home cooking inspiration
- tried some new recipes to re-ignite my love for cooking
- bought organic eggs and locally farmed meat
- did my first juice cleanse
- keep trying to drink more water
- keep remembering to avoid all processed junk food
- next – eat less meat
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Big: Paid off all personal debt and started an emergency fund
Timeline: ongoing
Tiny:
- unsubscribed from all but one email offers
- bought Dave Ramsey book
- downloaded a budgeting app called 22Seven which records all spends and makes saving and investment suggestions
- just signed up for the Decluttered course – I am hoping to start my journey to financial freedom
______________________________
Big: Started to move my body
Timeline: started
Tiny:
- signed up for a year-long self-practise yoga course
- joined a 5.30am yoga class once a week
- keep trying to get onto my yoga mat 4 x a week
- started to go on short runs, and loving them (even if most have been chasing my young children around our village on their bicycles)
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Big: Started some personal healing
Timeline: started
Tiny:
- started Courtney’s daily 5 minute hand on heart challenge and posted on instagram to hold myself accountable – thank you Courtney.
- started seeing an EFT and energy healer
- started regularly saging house to clear negative energy
- started taking some online courses to up-skill career-wise
- started writing asimplebeautifullife blog more often – to improve my content writing skills
- started posting on asimplebeautifullife instagram page more often – to improve my social media skills
- started creating a asimplebeautifullife MailChimp newsletter to family & interested friends – to improve MailChimp skills
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Big: Get rid of 50% of our stuff
Timeline: started
Tiny:
- regularly give the children’s outgrown clothes away
- At Christmas time we give some toys away
- Decluttered and removed the easy things – like duplicates, unwanted and uncomfortable clothes, kitchen surfaces
- Noticed the space I created (Courtney’s words)
- Felt a little lighter (Courtney’s words)
- I think hard before buying any new clothes now
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Now that our renovations are almost done at home, the period of limbo will soon be over and I can begin to clear more clutter and give everything we love a place in our home.
It’s a work in progress, worthwhile work, and even if I am not yet where I want to be, I am further towards creating a simple, beautiful life, than I used to be.
Incidentally the picture below is from Recruit My Mom which is a web-based job agency in South Africa with a focus on educated, capable mothers who have chosen to stay at home to raise their children – but who are still able to contribute to wider society through the work they can do. A brilliant idea which has grown from strength to strength in the flexibility it offers and the value it places on people who have chosen not to commit to a life of drudge.
