Fail To Plan? Plan To Fail.

Here's something super inspiring, today from my Instagram:

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All I wanted was a matching Christmas pajama pic. Inspired by this photo, from a blogger I love:

www.instagram.com/lvdmrthncrrts

​First of all: nailed it. Clearly. I mean, I did buy the same pajamas. Second, the underlying lesson in all of this is to not force something that just isn't meant to be. At least not right now.

Here's my reality:

Right now, my life is hectic. I don't have perfect lighting because we're living in a basement waiting for our house to be finished (yes. Still waiting). My youngest is just now learning about his freedom, and has no interest in a camera. None at all. It was 10pm when I took this, WAY past their bedtime (they are night owls like their parents).

My perfect photo was doomed to fail.

I think my point is that, sometimes, it's ok to be realistic. It's fun to be a dreamer, and I am a dreamer by nature for sure... but, it's ok to embrace reality sometimes, too. If I wanted this cute holiday picture, I needed a better plan. I needed better hours, better lighting, better moods. I forced it, and it wasn't what I wanted (although, angry Simon is pretty cute).

I think there are probably some areas in your life that feel forced right now, and I think all you need is a better plan. Maybe it's your health, maybe it's your Christmas shopping, maybe it's innovating at work! Time to make a plan to:

• prioritze your work tasks so you have the mental capacity to think of something amazing for your clients 
• unplug for the weekend to focus on relaxation and family, so your stress doesn't impact your health 
• make a list and shop for one person at a time for Christmas 

If you've struggled or if you've failed, be intentional. Get a plan in place and try again. Then, let me know how it works. I like success stories.

Inspiration from Dr. Seuss

I got today's little morning reminder from last night's storytime with the boys. As I read this book out loud, I found myself so encouraged - I had to pause and laugh a little at the simplicity and blatant challenge of this message. 

You have a brain in your head. Use it however you see fit.
You have feet in your shoes. Now, go.

What I appreciate about his books: the way he lays it out there - no frills, no fuss. It brought me, even just for a moment, back to the basics of what truly drives me. Let's remind ourselves of what we have in our hands, what we're capable of, and then let's go to work. It's more than just dreaming about possibilities... we have to actually get moving.

Yesterday, I was frustrated at work with the fact my clients don't seem to read my reports. I put a lot (a LOT) of hours into them. It's what I do all day. Oftentimes, I'm sure the clients only skim them for graphs that tilt in the right direction. They don't get deep into the analysis like I do, and it disappoints me. It took a short phone call with my superior (sorta the Dr. Seuss of my workplace, if you will) - to identify the problem and find the solution: I need to get on the phone with as many clients as I can and go over the reports with them. Get their feedback. Learn what they want. Adjust their next report to make them happier. I can't complain about what I allow, so I'm not allowing reports to just slip under the radar anymore.

What are some things in your life that you can innovate, improve, or take on? If it makes you miserable, or is a source of frustration, it means there's room for improvement and it has your name all over it. You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes: make it happen.
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Make Yourself A List

Write it down.

Do something for you, today. Take a breather. Plan out your meals. Inspire. Fix what's ailing you.

Write it down.

Dream your dreams, but list your goals. Call your mother. Compliment a stranger.

Write it down.

You make grocery lists and honey-do lists... but why not make a list for yourself, of completely random things that could improve the heart of your day?

Leave a handwritten note. Read your Bible and memorize a verse. Drink a bottle of water. Print out pictures.

Before you forget, write it down.

Wanderlust

What if you had a year to travel, no budget or limitation? We have a fun email string at work each Friday (hence, called Fun Friday) where we ask general questions and read everyone's cool, non-work related answer. For a virtual office, it's nice to get to know everyone a bit more those way! 

The question this last week was "if you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?"

I found myself thinking long and hard about where I'd wand to visit the most, which place I'd want to check off my Bucket List first... and I couldn't just pick one. So, in true Corianne fashion (I'm the world's most indecisive person ever), I changed the rules to fit me so I could not leave any stone unturned. I pretended that I had unlimited funds, and a full year dedicated to bouncing around the globe.

Here's where I would go, for one month at a time:

Writer's Block

I don't think a case of writer's block is supposed to go on for, like, a year.

I've had a really hard time getting things out on paper. Maybe it comes with the territory of being a new mom: I'm totally unmotivated to do anything other than survive the day with a work inbox at zero, and a baby that is clean, dry and happy. Maybe I have too many blogs: I thought organizing my life into separate URLS would make it easier for me to put the right thing in the right place... but I think the organization in itself is just freaking me out.

Maybe I could collect my thoughts better if I made it my mission to try something new every day... so I would have some fresh new material to cover. Although, ugh, the thought of finding something new every single day to blog about makes me want to delete everything and go into hiding. So, no.

I can think of so many things I want to write about, but my brain is so tired.

I used to be able to not get my thoughts down fast enough.

I used to wake up, excited to run to my laptop and start writing.

How do I get that back?

Does it ever come back? Or am I past my blogging prime? ;) Haha

I'll leave you with some photos from We Heart It that made me smile.