“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.” — C.S. Lewis
If there was one template for success, we would all use it. However, I believe we must keep discovering our patterns through repeated failures. Here are some ideas of where to look.
Since returning home from the Santa Fe House, my weight has been on a bumpy, mostly down-ride. Two kilos down, in two and a half weeks, I am reaping the rewards of intermittent fasting.
My productivity level has done almost the inverse. It is going up and up except for a brief dip shortly after my weight went up temporarily. Overall, these scores have been up compared to what they were after the pandemic started before Santa Fe House.
I think I can conclude that my new antidepressant is working. It is too soon to tell what its long-range effects will be. Whatever adverse effects it could be having on my weight are offset by the intermittent fasting discipline, which I plan to continue indefinitely, even after I reach my ideal weight.
Last night, fasting was much more pleasant than it has been. I noticed the welcome feeling of fat being pulled out of my fat cells. If you are trying to lose weight, I encourage you to be aware of that feeling and invite it. I noticed it, especially in my thighs and hips. Feelings of joy accompanied that.
Last night, I also felt feelings of joy regarding my increased activity level. The pace has not been hectic. I have just been more focused.
Salad Template
Yesterday, I was reading a cookbook, A Good Food Day by Marco Canora. The post-workout salad recipe caught my eyes. It was not just a recipe; it was a salad template. I thought, “I can make a salad like that.” So I got up and made one for lunch with my ingredients on hand.
Here are the leftovers which I will enjoy sometime today:
Here is the recipe:
Template:
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For example, I used:
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1. One leafy green
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spinach
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2. One animal-sourced protein
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sliced, cooked grass-fed sirloin steak
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3. One tender bean or grain
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cooked quinoa
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4. Crunchy vegetables
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sliced yellow squash
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5. One to two onions
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sliced green onions
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6. A handful of herbs
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chopped parsley
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7. Slices of avocado
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half an avocado
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8. One or two types of seeds or nuts
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pumpkin seeds
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9. Extra virgin olive oil and vinegar or citrus
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extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar
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10. Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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sea salt and freshly ground pepper
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Think of how many combinations you can create with this template! I look forward to other possibilities in the future. I hope you will experiment with Marco’s formula. Marco Canora is a chef who was forced to change his eating habits due to poor health. I think his template belongs in my DelectaBalance Diet. I am grateful he provided a template, not just a recipe, in his cookbook.
Cleanliness
Another day has passed, and I reached a new record high in JV Life Tracker. Yesterday, a maid came over, and she transformed the place into a “castle fresh.” My husband was so pleased he said we could do it every month. That will make the condo much cleaner all the time.
Increase in Productivity
Yesterday, I also made some breakthroughs with my app development. My mental energy has increased. I attribute this surge to my new antidepressant, Imipramine, and what I learned from The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. If you have difficulty making yourself do things, I recommend that book. It was a life-changer for me. I talk more about it in Nine Tips to Help You Act When You Are Not in the Mood and Joy in the Morning.
I still want to break through on areas that have stumped me, such as doing the promotion work for my blog and app. However, I need to concentrate on one baby step at a time. I first need to focus on self-care so that I am healthy. Many of my activities in JV Life Tracker are self-care activities. I have been doing more of them lately, and they are helping me. Later, I will add activities that break my promotion work into small bites that can be done daily. The only way to get major projects done is to do the job a small task at a time.
I have already added tasks such as checking my voicemail and texts on both phones. That alone is quite a bit to keep up with.
Gratitude
As always, the practice of gratitude daily tends to increase positive feelings. Here is my entry from yesterday using a template. You are free to use the template I have here. I encourage you to establish a gratitude practice if you have not already. It will train you to observe what is going well in your life.
5-10 things I am grateful for:
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comments, feelings, ideas, moods, and empowering questions:
I have not felt this good since before December 2019!
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0-100
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comments
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mood:
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100
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feeling good
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energy:
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95
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feeling energetic
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accomplishments:
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accomplishment
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1.
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I lost 2 kilos since Santa Fe House. Now, I am losing my pandemic weight gain.
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2.
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I have established the habit of getting out every day.
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3.
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I created a new salad using a template from a cookbook.
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Template
If you want to make a template yourself, The Journal offers a simple way to do it. My ebook, Joyful Vibrance: Transform Your Body Image, Energy, and Mood!, which you can download for FREE just for reading my blog, discusses creating temples in The Journal. Get the application for yourself, if you have Windows, and enter a world of creativity. I use it to develop and organize my blog entries. I have only scratched the surface of the power of a template.
One template that seems to be helping me is the progress notes for my Top 5 scores I introduced in Number Our Days. I have a perfect score so far!
Notion
This afternoon, I discovered a new (initially released June 2018) productivity app that is FREE for personal use, called Notion. It is an anything-and-everything organizer and journal program. Use it for notes and docs; wiki’s; projects and tasks. You can choose a template to begin your exploration. I have not explored it entirely, so check back as I learn more and possibly link my blog entries to it. I did not want to fail to mention it when discussing the power of a template. There may be something in Notion for you.
Prayer
MORNING PRAYER
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If you would like to join me on this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One. If you wish to download a FREE copy of my ebook (with no need to enter your name or email), click on the book below.