Around the end of July I was feeling bored and miserable. The summer was not what I had hoped for, with little sun, few Sunday sessions and pretty much no fun outdoor activities to be had! I was caught in a cycle of getting up, going to work, making the same old dinners and bingeing on Netflix every night. BORING!!
So one day I decided to create a mind map (using www.mindmup.com) to have a visual of my LOVES in life and what I should be spending my time doing. The idea came to me after meeting a friend on the train who was also in a bit of a rut. She told me about a bit of advice she had been given – write a list of things you love and then write a list of things you do every day. Then, in future, aim to make the second list as close to the first as possible! Simples!
Once I mapped out my ‘loves’ I realised I wasn’t really spending much of my time on them at all so I expanded the map to include the possible ways I could improve this. The result is below! I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to share this picture because it’s very personal, a little cringey and people will quite possibly read this and judge me and think I’m a total sap. But then I thought of this quote –
‘If you had no fear of failure or of what people thought of you what could you achieve?’
– and thought ‘fuck it!’ These are things I love and whoever loves me will be proud of me for going for it! So here it is….
As you can see I love food, writing and (more recently) I have been enjoying some photography! So this mindmap is the reason I started writing again on Lovefoodbaby. You can also see I love organisation (a bit obvious given the colour coded mind map) and travel. After taking this screenshot I also added singing to the map. I love to sing but actually NEVER do, at least not outside of the shower!
I was pretty happy with myself once I completed this but, about a week later, when I took the last piece of fruit out of my glass fruit bowl I saw the mindmap underneath piled up with all my bills and random pieces of paper gathering dust! Looking through the pieces of paper with lists and plans and random writings I realised something. I’m a friggin amazing planner, but not the may west *best* at actually DOING anything!!
And so the idea of a dream board was formed!! I realised that unless I saw the mindmap and lists and other random things I print off every day I will never actually act on any of it!! The boyfriend was kind enough to get me a big cork board and I began pinning. It’s like my real life pinterest board and I love it!
Ever organised, I printed off a title and little subheadings which I’ve listed below –
Title
Live…Laugh…love! (I know it’s cliché but it only became a cliché because it’s so on point and I really identify with it!)
Subtitles
- Mind map – Where it all began!
- Map of the world – Highlight the placed I’ve been (19 countries and counting!)
- Places to see before I die – The satisfaction of ticking these off will be immense!
- Goals – For this year and for 5 years (I told you I was a planner)
- Achievements – It’s important to remind yourself of the good you’ve done!
- Recipe of the week – Watch out for my new hastag – #NewWeekNewRecipe
- Inspiration – Quotes, pictures and anything else that inspires me!
And so the finished product looks like this! I’ve added a lot more to it now but you get the jist.
So I guess the big question is did it work? Well so far so good! I’ve made it as interactive as possible so I am changing the recipe, crossing off the days of my fitness challenges and adding/changing pictures and quotes pretty frequently. It’s in my bedroom and I see it every morning as soon as I get up!
Have I achieved anything with this yet? YES!
- I’ve lost 10 pounds and started to notice muscles that definitely weren’t there before, thanks to my challenges etc.
- I’ve learnt how to make 4 new recipes in the past month
- I’ve really cut down on my TV time
- I’m feeling a lot more positive and like I have a real direction in life which really is the best change I could have asked for!
I know this stuff isn’t for everyone and someone will laugh at it, mock it or disregard it but it is working for me and I think it’ll work for you too if you give it a try! Let me know if you do!! Let me know in the comments below, follow me on Twitter –@Shlawlor and add me on instagram – @lovefoodbaby
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