Challenge Complete

robe / mug

Holy moly… Can you believe today is the last day of January? I feel like a broken record saying this, but the month flew by so quickly! A trip back from California, a trip home for a weekend to see my family, a weekend getaway to Montana with my college friends, a lot of work, brunches with girlfriends, breakfast meetings, after-work events, and a whole lot of blogging. This month has me ready for a nap, that’s for sure!

planner / notepad / pen

I’m always quick to get down on my self and can be pretty critical of my personal performance, but I’m actually quite pleased with how this past month went! I really focused on trying to be my best self this month. I’ve all but cut coffee out of my diet.. down to one cup a day! I worked out as much as I could outside of my travel schedule. I tried new workouts. I brought my lunch to work more days than I bought lunch. I cooked breakfast almost every day. I cooked more dinners than I ordered in. I’ve opted for sleep when I know my body needs it. I’ve woken up early to get extra work done. I’ve pushed myself to shoot more outfit photos, even when it’s freezing and even when it’s snowing. I’ve focused on being more organized in all aspects of my life. I’ve kept my apartment more tidy. I’ve found new beauty products that have made a huge difference. I’ve prioritized my friends and family. I’ve caught myself in mental downward spirals and talked myself out of my over-analytical thoughts. I’ve tried to be incredibly more positive and upbeat, even when I’m exhausted. I’ve set daily, weekly, and month goals and done my best to achieve them. It’s been a pretty good month! Is everyday awesome? Unfortunately not. But your perspective is your reality. A little change in your attitude can change everything!

One thing I’ve found super helpful this month was completing one mini challenge each and every single day. It’s made me feel a sense of accomplishment, even when my day has seemed out of control. Remember when I told you about the Birchbox Challenge on New Years Day? Well, I did it! Sure, there were some days where the task at hand didn’t fit with my schedule, but I made sure to set aside time on a different day to check off those challenges.

Fitness challenges, exercises on setting boundaries, healthy recipes, lifestyle tweaks, and more… Each task is seemingly easy, but the series of changes definitely add up for a great sense of achievement. There are quite a few things that I’ll be making a habit of — solo-tasking from Day 30, yoga poses to fight cravings from Day 27, reading instead of TV from Day 25, a healthier workspace from Day 22, getting more sleep from Day 16, moving every hour from Day 15, meditation from Day 10, yoga in the AM from Day 5, and the delicious breakfast smoothie from Day 1.

Did you partake in any of the #BirchboxChallenge activities? What did you think?!

book

fitness band / pen / notebook

patterned plate / gold flatware

A special Thank You to Birchbox for partnering on this post!