2010: A Year of Improvement

In July I first heard about, and joined, Mindbloom. I told you about it here, and gave an update here. I have kept up with it, as you can see by the larger size of my tree, and it has been a big help to me! Some people use a day planner to accomplish daily tasks, some people use scraps of paper, some just remember what they need to do, and they do it. Well, I use a make-believe tree on my computer.

The specific areas that I have made progress on in 2010:

1. Daily scripture study and prayer. While I do forget occasionally, I have been more consistent in these areas over the past several months than I had in years.

2. Keeping my room cleaner. I even make my bed more than half the time!

3. Being more patient. This is something I have to work at daily, but one of my Mindbloom tasks is "don't raise your voice at the kids" and knowing that's on my little tree does help me think of it and try harder.

4. Prepare delicious, less-expensive meals.

5. Health. I had a LOT more water to drink, I've lost weight, I've taken vitamins more regularly.

There are countless other little things I have on there, like taking the dog for a walk, contributing spare change to our "fun" fund, going on dates with Aaron, exercising, drinking plenty of water, having lunch with a friend, making after-school snacks for the kids, taking more pictures, and taking time to practice the piano.

Of course not everything gets done every day. But if there is an area that has been neglected for a while, that leaf turns yellow, then brown, reminding you to do something about it. Each leaf represents an area of your life, like "finances," "career," "creativity," or "health," and each leaf contains as many specific goals as you want to set for that subject. While I have not been as consistent about "nurturing my tree" as I was in the beginning, I still check it often and it feels good to check-mark the things I have done. The bonus is that it's free... you should check it out!