Here’s the challenge for this week: Quadrant II activities are items in your life that, though important, are not urgent. They include activities such as exercise, long-term planning, maintenance and prevention, etc. Identify a quadrant II activity that is currently neglected (but would make a significant impact on your life if you committed to it) and incorporate it into your life.

I’m already a quadrant II heavy individual, but there are definitely some areas where I could improve if I worked on them everyday. One of these areas is mindfulness. This week I have made a promise to myself to incorporate 5 minutes of formal mindfulness practice into everyday. This means, for 5 minutes I will concentrate on one of 3 things: my breathing, the sounds around me, or on my emotions. I received the outlines for these mindfulness practices from the book The Mindful Way through Anxiety: Break Free from Chronic Worry and Reclaim Your Life. After each practice, I have decided to write a short log of my experience. I will share this log with you at the end of the week. The ultimate goal, with these mindfulness practices, is to rid my body of tension and anger so that I can get more out of life. Through these practices I hope to learn more about myself, and my own subjective experience. Many of the emotions I experience throughout my days are muddy (muddy in that I’m not always 100% positive what I’m actually feeling). I need to clear up my experience, open myself up to spontaneity and love, and breathe in the opportunities that are all around me.

Although I am already a frequent exerciser (is that a word?), I have recently been feeling aimless and unmotivated in my workouts. With P90X, I had a clear goal, and every workout I completed was a step closer to that end goal. I miss that feeling, so yesterday I decided to do some research and come up with a brand new workout plan. I have this Women’s Health Magazine special edition magazine, and I found a workout I quite liked inside. I was, however, dissatisfied with the toning portion of the plan. What I really wanted, was to target my legs. So I did some more research, and I came across Shape’s Sexy Summer Legs Six-Week Workout Program. I’ve decided to combine the cardio elements from the women’s health workout, and the strength and toning exercises in Shape’s workout. Here is what I’ve come up with:

Monday: Fat Burning Run (6.5 mph for 45 minutes) + Sexy Strong Legs Workout (completed)

Tuesday: Roof Raising Run (7.5 mph for 45-50 /10 k)

Wednesday: Fat Burning Bike (6 intensity for 45-50 minutes) + Lean Legs Workout

Thursday: High Intensity Running Intervals (5 intervals – 25 minutes)

Friday: Fat Burning Run (6.7 mph for 45-50 minutes) + Total Body Toners Workout

Saturday: Roof Raising Bike (7 intensity for 45-50 minutes) + Dynamic Stretch and Stamina Workout.

Sunday: Rest and Stretch

Now that I’ve shared my plans with you, I can’t back down. I’ve made myself accountable for my actions, so now there is no way I can go back on these promises to myself.

Part of this new exercise regime, is cleaning up my eating  habits. I want to make sure that I’m eating 3 nutritious meals a day. I also need to work on cutting back on my incessant snacking. I don’t need food to stimulate my mind, life should stimulate my mind. I currently find myself turning to food when I’m avoiding something, and this week I need to work on managing this bad habit, and perhaps eventually reversing it. All that is required here, is to be mindful of every time I put something in my mouth.

This may seem like a lot, but I’m already doing many of the things in this plan to a lesser degree. I’m not trying to create new habits, just amplify existing one. Well, mindfulness is a new habit, but that’s really the only one. I challenge you, readers, to try this with me. Is there something you could be doing that would improve your life dramatically. Don’t even think about it, don’t give your brain a chance to talk yourself out of it. Join the challenge with me. You’ll feel so proud when you reach your goal. I know you can do it.