Then and Now

So this is what I've been doing for the last year:

Juggle every day
Give up refined sugar
Exercise every day
Write something creative every day
Meditate every day
Cut down on TV and Facebook every day

Write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days

Give up on gossiping, bitching, moaning and criticizing for thirty day.

Practice violin every day.

Spend only eighty pounds in thirty days

Read every day

Take a photos and keep a diary every day

Ultimate challenge (combining all my favourite challenges)

That's it! That's this year summed up in thirteen different 30 day challenges. Pretty awesome. It's been a few weeks now since I finished my last challenge, and I must say it's quite strange not having a challenge on at the moment. But it has been perfectly timed as now Uni is over and I've been having a little bit of a holiday!

Before properly abandoning this blog, I just wanted to do one last post about how much this year has meant to me, and how much good has come from it. I think deciding to do this was perhaps one of the best decisions of my life, it's led to a lot of positive changes! When I think of the person I was and the way I felt about myself a year ago and then think of who I am now, well there are a lot of differences! Here are a few:

Achieving My Goals

Then

All talk and no walk. I knew I had talents but I wasn't doing anything to utilize them. I was dreaming of all the things I might one day do, but wasn't attempting to do any of them.

Now

I feel like I have taken some giant leaps forward this year, mostly within my writing. Not only have I managed to keep up this blog, but I've also got two notebooks full of poetry, some of which I perform now and again, and I wrote 36000 words of a novel. Sure, most of those words were a load of crap, but hey, that's a massive step closer to that dream than I was before! I'm also writing for the online publication The New Female now, which I know I wouldn't have been doing if I hadn't have flexed my writing muscles in this blog! I feel like writing isn't something I think about any more, it's something I do. I am a writer. It's even on my business cards.

But even outside of writing, I have taught myself this year that I can do pretty much anything if I put my mind to it! I learned how to juggle for god's sake! And that knowledge has given me so much power: I am a go getting gal and I love it.

Health (Body and Mind)
Then

Pretty unhealthy eating habits, swinging from extreme diet to biscuit binge, and ultimately feeling pretty shitty about my body. Quite a few unexplained mood swings, and a general feeling of blue about life.

Now

My first few challenges kick-started my love for good nutrition and exercise. I am now in my sixth month of no sugar, and feeling a lot fitter! Yes, I did lose a bit of weight this year, but that's not actually the biggest benefit. My body has changed a little bit, but my attitude to my body has changed a lot. My first priority is health, not my dress size. In fact, recently I have gained a bit of weight and it's really not bothering me, because I feel great on the inside. A healthy body means a happy head, this happy head really aint got time for body shaming any more. I can't say that I am super healthy all the time, but I have to say, when I do slip into a bit of a junk food phase, it's not as satisfying any more. I begin to crave spinach. Seriously, I treated myself to a loaf of bread the other week and I actually had to force myself to get through it. I never thought that I, worshiper of toast, would ever say that.

Meditation and reading have also helped me so much! I love that balanced feeling I get from meditating, and I feel so much better now that I put more energy into reading, and other head healthy activities, rather than watching the TV all the time. It's very easy to let your mind slip back into a restless place, but now that I know what it's like to have it at peace, I am always striving for it.

So much balance. So much awesome.

Confidence

Then

Outwardly, I had a lot of confidence, but really I was pretty insecure. I didn't feel like I knew myself very well, or even liked myself that much. I knew I was a good person, but I still didn't put a lot of value of myself.

Now

I love myself. And I'm not ashamed to say it. Self love is awesome! I feel so assured of who I am, what I want, and what makes me happy. Through these challenges, I've figured all of that out, and I can treat myself with the love that everyone deserves. I am a stronger person because of it. Sure, I still have my insecurities, but I also have the ability to tell myself that that's ok. I fuck up sometimes, but I have the ability to forgive myself. I have been treating myself with utter love, and as a result: I think I'm pretty great.

Life Satisfaction

Then

Bored. I was bored! I loved my course and I loved my friends, but I didn't really feel like I had much else going for me. No interests or hobbies, no achievements outside of uni. I felt bored with life and also bored at myself. I felt like a boring person. I spent most of my spare time watching TV and letting the world slip by.

Now

What do I do in my spare time? Let's see... I read, I write, I juggle, I work out, I practice my violin, I meditate. That's a pretty satisfying list of hobbies, and they have come directly out of my challenges. But some other things have come out of them too. I'm always giving myself new projects to do now. I plan a lot more trips and activities than I used to. I go outside a lot more. When I'm bored, I find something interesting to do. I strive to achieve something every day. I have had a total attitude adjustment! Sure, every now and then I will veg out in front of the TV, but pretty soon I get tired of that. I can't sit and twiddle my thumbs the way I used to. I am officially a proactive person.

And this is all I really wanted. I wanted to give myself a kick up the bum and change my life for the better: and that's exactly what I've done. And that's the best part: I did all of this. Anything good to have come out of this year is down to me. I brought all of this positivity in my life. I brought happiness to myself. And knowing that just makes me feel like a superhero (hence all the self love I mentioned earlier)


There's one last thing I want to mention. One more amazing thing to come out of this year. When I started this, I was hoping to do myself some good and maybe give my friends something fun to read. What I wasn't expecting was to have a whole bunch of people getting in touch with me to tell me that they've been inspired by what I've been doing, and that it's given them a kick up the bum too! Some people have even told me that they've started doing their own challenges.

To know that all of this has not only done me the world of good, but has also had a positive effect on other peoples lives... That's a truly amazing feeling.




Quite rightly, I'm very proud of all I have achieved this year.

What's next?

Well.... Off to the next adventure! I am so pleased to be able to tell you that I am going to be starting a new job in Germany this August, touring English theatre to German schools. It's an eleven month contract, so I've pretty much got another year of craziness in front of me, travelling around the south of Germany with a bunch of actors! It feels like the perfect thing for me to be doing right now, and I am so unbelievably excited.

And yes. I'm going to do a blog about it. You can read it on my super fancy new website eleanorbuchanan.com

As far as the challenges go, well I don't think I'm ever going to stop challenging myself. Maybe it won't always be with 30 day challenges (although now this year is over I suddenly have a load more ideas! Talk to a stranger every day, sketch something every say, practice origami every day, the list is growing) but now I know that there is nothing more satisfying than setting a goal and then achieving it. So I'm going to keep pushing myself as hard as I can to be the best person I can be. And I have a feeling that I am going to be very, very happy.

Thanks for reading guys, it's been a pleasure writing for you.

Love love love love love.

Ellie.

X

Finishing With A Flourish

Well that's it! My final challenge is officially over!

This is me right now:

GLORIOUS

My apologies for not posting more about my challenge this month. I was sort of busy you know, doing it.

As well as finishing Uni - that also happened.

So a year ago today I started this whole thing - and what a ride it has been! I have so much to say about how wonderful this year has been for me... but I think I'm gonna save it for another blog post. Or two. I mean, I really do have a lot to say.

But for now I just wanna talk about this month, this challenge.

It's been much like all the others were this year: Fantastic!

Did I manage to get everything on my list done every day?

Of course not.

In fact, in the middle I took a full on hiatus from the challenge in order to finish my last assessment for uni.

But, as usual, I got a lot out of it. This challenge was fairly unique in the fact that it's one I know I intend to continue with, potentially forever! And so this month wasn't really about getting it perfect first time, it was about finding a way to make it work.

Last week I realised I wasn't really sure what I was and wasn't getting done each day, I wasn't keeping track, so I made a little calendar for the week, and ticked each task off each day. I'm pretty sure that last week was my most successful in the whole month, so I think that system works well! However, should I find in the future that I need to try something else, I will. You never know what is going to happen. I'm sure there will be times when I won't be able to commit to all of these things - but as long as I keep trying at every opportunity, I'll be getting somewhere!

The best thing about this month is that I have really gotten into a habit of pro-activity. When I'm bored or have some free time, my mind instantly goes to 'what can I do that will be useful?' Sometimes that will be something from my list, sometimes it will be something else that I need to get done (like write this post for instance) but very rarely am I tempted to go for the old sit and watch TV approach. I think this month, well, this whole year really, has really adjusted my attitude, and made me a much more proactive person.

And when you are that busy, proactive kind of person, the days when you say 'fuck it' and throw all your duties out of the window for a day of movies and pizza, become a lot more special and a lot more satisfying. Because let's face it, we all need days like that sometimes. And I definitely had some this month.

So in conclusion - let me remind myself what I wanted out of this challenge:

To exercise more
To make meditation and reading (i.e. looking after my brain) a part of my routine
To have a few more poems in my notebook
To improve on juggling and violin
To keep a journal regularly

Have I achieved all of those things?
Absolutely.

I didn't do it perfectly, but I did do it. And I'm gonna keep going, always open to change, always open to more challenges, but always reminding myself that these are the things that matter to me and I have to work to make them a part of my life.

So that's that on my final challenge. Soon this blog will be done with completely, but watch out for a little more in the next month, just reflecting on the year as a whole. Like I said - there's a lot to talk about!

Till then, taraa.

x