Your Best Life in 60 Seconds…or Less

By Fawn Weaver on Thursday, January 5, 2012

One of the things I love most about the New Year is we are given another opportunity to create the life we most desire; our best life.  There is nothing mystical or magical that occurs between 11:59pm on December 31st and 12:01am on January 1st.  But somehow, everything just feels different.  We determine within ourselves (whether through written resolutions or verbal confirmation) to do a few things a little different.

Well, I’d like to challenge you to do something with me for most of the remaining days of January.  They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit and there’s one good habit I’d like to make a part of my inner being.  So I’m kicking off a new challenge for myself beginning this morning (feel free to join me)  and by the end of this month I pray it will have become a permanent habit in my life.

I’ve mentioned this Proverb before but it’s worth repeating: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.”  I truly believe this.  In every area of our life, we can speak life or we can speak death.  Our positive thoughts and words attract light.  We have all been given the power to change our lives for the better or for the worse.  And what we say, do and believe plays a major role in that change.

So here’s the first half of this daily challenge: Wake up every morning and spend at least 60 seconds saying thanks and listing all the things you are grateful for that day.  You can do this while laying in bed staring at the ceiling, making the bed, while drinking a cup of tea or coffee, eating breakfast, brushing your teeth, etc.  It doesn’t matter when you do it, as long as it’s done in conjunction with the very first thing you do in the morning.

The second half of this daily challenge is to declare (either out loud or internally) that you will focus on everything you have to be grateful for that day and will acknowledge challenges but will not dwell on them.  Your thoughts will remain focused on everything you have to be thankful for in your life.

There are many roads leading to happiness, but all of them, must at some point merge with Gratefulness.  So for the next 21 days, I will make a choice at the beginning of each day to be grateful.  And before this month concludes, my hope is this daily acknowledgment will become a part of the fiber of my being.

If you feel compelled to go on this 21-day challenge too, let me know in the comments section below.  And if you’re already doing a different challenge this month, to kick off the new year, please share that one too (feel free to leave the link).  I’d love to know about all the great challenges out there.

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

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Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club
Fawn Weaver is the USA Today® and New York Times® bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 900,000 women in over 110 countries around the world. When she’s not blogging or working on her next project, she's happily doting over her husband of nearly eleven years, Keith.

 

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  • Paula

    Great idea Fawn and one I am going to try my best to do as well. One thing I am doing this year is creating a "memory jar". Each day I am writing a memory of something on a small slip of paper that happened the previous day, folding and storing them until the end of the year. You can use a jar, vase, or any other container. At the end of the year, I hope to spend part of New Year's Eve re-living those precious times and giving thanks for what we have accomplished throughout the year. Have a great day everyone!

  • http://www.hopefulfuture.blogspot.com paula R

    this is a great idea! I'm in but I may have to edit it a bit for myself, since I wake up every day to the sounds of a fussing toddler ready for his breakfast! but I will do this while he's eating, instead of when I first wake up.

    one thing I'm challenging myself to do is drink enough water! I'm horrible about not drinking enough so I am almost always dehydrated. Not okay!!!

  • Fawn Weaver

    @Paula S- I LOVE the idea of the memory jar. That's so unique! I've never heard of a memory jar but I love the idea. @Paula R- Sounds great! Oh yes, a fussy toddler first thing in the morning can make that 60 seconds tough. I woke up this morning and began giving thanks for every thing. You see the world so much more clearly through the lens of gratefulness. At least that's what I think :) . Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment!

  • http://www.thesefiveofmineplustwo.net Kasey

    I'll join you, happily! It's a wonderful idea and would be a great habit to form!

  • http://www.thedontlovedare.com Audry Cece

    Fawn, thanks for posting! I love hearing about what everyone is doing for the new year.

    I am doing "The Don't Love Dare"- A 40-Day journey for the young women trying to let go of an unhealthy attachment to a guy.

    Great blog to share with daughters, nieces, friends- anyone you feel could use it.

    Check it out! We're on Day 4!
    http://www.thedontlovedare.com

    Thanks and blessings in your new year:)

  • http://blessedbeyondmeasure-ts.blogspot.com Torrie

    I have started The Gentleness Challenge. It is being hosted by Courtney at Women Living Well. The idea is as mommies, to speak to our children (and everyone for that matter) with a gentle spirit. Cut back on the frustration and yelling to get our children to obey. The challenge started Jan 3rd, but it's never too late to start. You can check it out by clicking on my blog. I am not only participating, but also blogging about that week's video lesson and what I'm learning and areas that are still a "challenge". Come join me!!
    Blessing!

  • Fawn Weaver

    Thanks, Kasey! I'm happy you're joining me. It's probably the easiest challenge in terms of time and effort but one of the toughest in terms of consistency. Please check in with me to hold me accountable and I'll do the same with you :) . @Audrey & Torrie- Thanks for adding your challenges on here as my hope is everyone will kick off their new year with a challenge that works toward a goal they have in their heart. Both of your challenges are awesome! So glad you shared them here.

  • Tara

    I'm in, too. Gratefulness is something that I struggle with. I tend to focus on the negative– what isn't going well, what I'm frustrated about, etc. Starting my day in gratefulness is a habit I would really like to develop. Thanks for posting this challenge.

  • http://www.happywivesclub.com Fawn

    @Tara- You are certainly not alone. I think we instinctively give more of our attention to what's going wrong than what's going right. I'm so happy you're joining me too! :)

  • http://thebossymom.com Susan Hill

    I think I'd like to take that challenge and direct it at my kids. They are getting to the age where they are 'testing' everything I say, and it gets hard to remain positive sometimes. I think I will take the remaining part of January and make myself say out loud things I'm thankful for…so they can 'hear' it, also. Thanks for this…

  • http://www.happywivesclub.com Fawn

    @Susan- I hate to admit this but I was that child! I questioned everything my parents said…and I mean everything. If they said up, I'd need an explanation on why they didn't say down. Hang in there – it gets better :) . And I'm so happy you're joining me on this 21-day challenge!

  • http://thebossymom.com Susan Hill

    lol. Well, at least you turned out well, huh? ;) I guess it makes me second-guess myself when they are always questioning and pushing me. {sigh} It will get better…and for the next 21 days, I will see the good in them.

  • Fawn Weaver

    Great, Susan! They think I turned out pretty good…but I certainly tried their patience. We laugh about it on a regular basis now that I'm in my mid-thirties but in my teens it was no laughing matter. This challenge is perfect for you (and me). Looking forward to knowing what you learn throughout this 21-day process.

  • http://littlemommybigappetite.blogspot.com Little Mommy Kim

    I like the thought of waking up and listing things that you are thankful for.. really start the day off on the right foot… just like a prayer!

  • http://www.happywivesclub.com Fawn

    Exactly, Kim! When we begin our day right, it certainly has the impact of dictating the rest of the day and I love that! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

  • http://www.satisfiedbyhislove.blogspot.com Emily

    I'm with you Fawn! I already do something similar through Ann Voskamp's A Holy Experience (have you visited there?) so this will probably just help me stay on track! For anyone interested she actually has a calendar on today's blog post to help you focus on specific things you might be able to give thanks for!

    http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/01/the-1-habit-your-new-year-cant-do-without-giveaway/ Just hang tight til you get close to the end of the post and you'll see it!

    Ummm…I'm not up on blog etiquette…is it okay to recommend her blog here?

  • http://www.happywivesclub.com Fawn

    Oh yes, absolutely! I'm happy you posted the link here to the challenge you're doing to begin the New Year right. I haven't been to Ann's blog this year but I love her positive message and am always blessed when I do visit her blog. Thank you so much, Emily, for sharing and please let us know what life changes you experience as you continue on your New year challenge.

  • http://FeminineAdventures.com Anna @ Feminine Adventures

    What a lovely idea!

    Each month this year I'm aiming to develop one new habit. Mine for this month is simply to get dressed before breakfast. Not very impressive, I know, but I've never been good at it. My husband is so gracious, but I think he'd prefer me to waive him off to work dressed and ready for the day [especially since I can't wear anything too provocative around the kiddos. ;) ]

  • Fawn

    @Anna- That's a fantastic idea! Sound like a great year of wonderful new habits for you. Ambitious! That's why I love it :) .

  • http://theblogfrog.com/1506737/ DM

    I love it. I do wake up each morning and say thank you. But I'm having a tough time trying to change a habit. Love the challenges.

  • http://www.happywivesclub.com Fawn

    @DM- It's funny how the key creating a habit is repetition and the hardest thing to do is repetition. I have to remind myself every morning to keep up with this challenge. Thankfully, if we're alive and breathing we have two things to be grateful for and everything else is just icing on the cake. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

  • Erika C.

    I’ve decided to become a calmer person in my relationship by following the strategies in “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff in Love.” Each week I practice one of the strategies all week. This might make a good complement to that for me because it starts the day out right, but is very quick!

    http://marriagepeace.wordpress.com/

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      I LOVE this! Keith and I are huge fans of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, and its author Richard Calrson. Have you read the Happy Wives Club book by any chance? The final interview in the book is with Richard’s widow at the home their shared together for more than two decades before his untimely death.. A really powerful love story.

      • Erika C.

        I haven’t, but I really love their ideas. I think our modern lives get going so fast that we forget to slow down and appreciate our mates

        • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

          It’s so true. But once we learn to slow life down…it becomes marvelous!