I have been working my way through the Goddess Guide Book by Leonie Dawson, which has given me a fabulous focus for my planning and considering life and business in 2013. I am loving it! One of the sections is about setting Life Rules. Not, as I said last week, to make your life regimented and painful and joyless, but to make your life better. So I thought I would share my 2013 life rules with you - I've done a little poster (as you can see) which will go on my digital photo frame and flash up every now and again to remind me to live by these rules. Rule number one: Lighten Up As a general rule, I don't take life very seriously at all. I laugh easily, I'm fairly cheerful. But I noticed last year that when it came to my business and work, I was forgetting that getting stressed, being critical and worrying are NO HELP AT ALL! Since I've implemented life rule #1, I've just chilled out a bit about (self-imposed) deadlines and 'getting shit done'. The result? I'm getting more done! Which I find utterly hilarious. But when you are light, relaxed, chilled out, life is easy, and solutions to seeming problems come more easily. And most things that get us stressed and cross are not worth losing your sense of humour for! Rule number two: Go to sleep earlier The biggest symptom that I suffer with from MS is exhaustion - I always seem to be tired. I realised a few weeks ago that I'd been 'blaming' MS and using the disease as an excuse not to do anything about it. After all, if it's MS's fault, I don't have to do a thing. Hmm. I also realised that I've been going to bed later and later and getting up later and later, which is not good in winter, because you miss some of the very few hours of daylight. So, I am going to bed earlier. I have to say, rather than feeling restricting, I feel like I'm really spoiling myself, snuggling down in bed early! Rule number three: Be Gentle with Myself As you may know if you've been reading my stuff for a while, I am a big fan of taking great care of yourself. It's a foundational piece of life, and makes life easier. And I've been getting better and better at taking good care of me for the past few years. However, I am still sometimes quite hard on myself - having expectations of myself that are unrealistic, working on even when my energy is gone, and generally not treating myself with tenderness. Being gentle with myself does not mean I'll go off the rails like a child with no discipline, it means my self-care will go up a notch...and ironically, again, I'll be able to get more done more easily! Rule number four: SINGLE TASK! The only rule that made it to capital letters, because this is one I am absolutely determined to master! For years, I have worked with 6, 7, 8 or more windows open, flitting from task to task. Instead of waiting for a program to open, I'd go and do something else in those few seconds, meaning my attention was always scattered, and at the end of the day, it would take hours to finish work because I'd find half a dozen unfinished tasks still open. My experiment with Wild Donkey Riding reminded me that focused attention gets way more done. This year, I am planning to work less hours, and get more done in the time I'm at my desk. So, single tasking is the way forward. Rule number five: Spend more time with my friends I am tired of saying to friends "We really should get together more often". We've all been saying it for YEARS. So this year, I am making it my mission to get together with friends more often. Even just planning in dates to spend time with friends I haven't seen for a while has been fun! Rule number six: Trust MY wisdom over others This has been a 'Life Rule' of mine for quite some time, but occasionally I forget and let someone pull me away from my truth. It never ends well! The good thing is it always feels 'off' somehow so my inner wisdom is still guiding me, even when I'm going against it! For the 9 years I have been in business, this has been a journey of enlightenment for me. First from learning I was not 'wrong' and that I could run my business in a way that didn't make me feel like a tight- sphinctered suit, through to understanding the profound depth of my inner wisdom. I thought I'd 'got it', but it appears there are yet more layers of confidence and belief in my wisdom to uncover. Thinking about how far I've come already, I'm quite excited to see what the next level of trusting my inner wisdom looks like! Rule number seven: Work with my energy I have been known to sit at my desk when I am struggling to hold my head up and stay awake. This is stupid. It's counterproductive - no work gets done, it just takes me longer to recover! I don't know why I do it. But more than that, I want to be more aware of when my energy starts to dip so I can get up, move around, dance, get some fresh air, move away from my desk/sofa and re-energise before I get to the point that I feel I've been unplugged! Rule number eight: Eat more natural foods Whenever I am on a diet, I notice a rise in my energy levels. Basically because I eat less sugar and processed foods. I don't wish to be 'on a diet' forever, but when I'm busy snarfing pizza and Paprika Pringles, I want to remember to also have food that didn't come from a machine! So there it is, my Life Rules for 2013. These are the things I know will make my life easier, better, more fun. Many of them have been 'unofficial' rules for years, but there is something very powerful about writing them down, making a poster of them, putting them where I will see them all the time and not forget them for 8 months of the year, and 'officially and publicly' committing to them. I'm curious, what rules are you going to live by this year? Comment below to let me know what rules you'll be living by...and how you will remember to do them! Love Donna.x