On the way back home from Australia I picked up the latest issue of O, The Oprah Magazine and read all about “Dr. Oz’s 28 Day Plan to Renew your Body, Mind and Soul.” It was basically a list of 28 meaningful yet manageable tips on how to improve your life, which included things like: “eat more dark chocolate, forgive someone, floss” and so on.
I thought to myself, Dr. Oz, this is no-brainer. All I have to do is only one thing from your list each day for an entire month and I’m on my way to a better, more evolved Pippa Lord?! Easy.
Not.
When it comes to this type of thing I always have the greatest of intentions at first but easily slip into lazy gal mode and find myself Googling Andrew Shue for longer than I care to mention. I have a short attention span, so investing a month was too scary, but what about a week? I can do that.
All you do is one small thing every day to improve things. You don’t have to solve world hunger, “find yourself” or meet your soulmate. Just think about all the little things in life you keep putting off because, well, just because.
Here’s the thing—if you have too many small and avoidable things in your life, it can slowly build into something much bigger, and stop you from getting the things you want. But that’s a whole other Pippa Diary….oy!
So, here goes. Below is my list, but you can definitely build your own.
This week, I will…
Day 1: Pay a bill (10 minutes)
Yes, it’s that bill you’ve been putting off, putting off and putting off. They’ve called, emailed and for some strange reason—and it’s not always financial—you just haven’t done it. Just do it. Or if you can’t pay them, just let them know when you can. Do anything you can to ensure you’re acknowledging that it exists and not running from it.
Day 2: Call a relative or an old friend (15 minutes +)
This is familiar—again, sorry, Grandma!—but don’t put it off any longer, and just make the call. This is not a text, BBM or Facebook message. It’s an old-fashioned dial a number, let it ring, wait for someone to pick up and, if it’s Grandma, make her day. What a concept.
Day 3: Book those doctor’s appointments (15 minutes)
OK, not fun—I get it. I’ll run from anything non-clothing or non-salon-related that even mentions the terms “sample”, or “results”, but it’s really way too important to ignore, and never as scary as you think (i.e gynecologist, dentist, dermatologist etc). Even if you’ve recently seen them, book an appointment for six months from now so you don’t have to worry about it later. I promise you’ll be so happy you thought ahead. And remember, this is for your own good. Yes, I went there.
Day 4: Bring your lunch to work (5 minutes—seriously)
Yup! It’s that annoying save-money tip, but it’s actually quite a good idea (not to mention, probably calorie-saving, too). Most takeout food is overly expensive and kind of crappy, so really it’s a win-win. You’ll save dollars and get to show off your chicness in the kitchen to colleagues. Nice one.
Day 5: Ditch your wardrobe (20 minutes—factoring in try-on time)
Throw out five things that you don’t wear, and donate to charity or a friend. It’s not an extreme makeover or anything, just throw out five things. That’s all. It’s an obvious call, but having all this stuff around is really just a bad use of wardrobe real estate.
Day 6: Read the news (5-30+ minutes)
These days it’s kind of shocking how little you can know about what’s going on around you and the rest of the world. One afternoon buy a newspaper and just read (we also like The Economist—it boils down international news in informative, easily digested blurbs…and, sorry, but we feel hot reading it). Mix it up—don’t just read the things that interest you actually invest yourself in learning about something that wouldn’t normally interest you. Sometimes I only read stuff about work, but where’s the enjoyment?
Day 7: Sleep eight hours (9 hours—factoring in media wind-down + flossing)
Amazing woman and Sous Style icon Arianna Huffington is an avid promoter of “sleeping your way to the top” by getting at least eight hours a night. Now if Ms. Huffington can do it and still run her empire, than so can you and I. You can wind down by drinking tea, and ditching the Blackberry iPhone, TV and laptop at least an hour before bed. Also, switch off the alarm and wake up when you’re darn ready!
OK, let’s do this. Let me know how your week goes. Email me at pippa@sousstyle.com
Pippa x
