One Little Word 2017 : February Practice

I'm taking Ali Edwards' One Little Word OLW workshop again this year. The monthly prompts encourage you to connect with your word throughout the year and I'm excited to see what happens with SHINE in 2017. February is a "daily practice" prompt - we did this last year and it's a great idea inspired by Elise Blaha Cripe. 

I read Gretchen Rubin's book last year and had several light-bulb moments. Her book supports the premise that "We manage what we monitor" : Self-measurement brings self-awareness, and self-awareness strengthens our self-control. 

Although I'm "better than before" I read this book, I know I need to work on this and I re-read some sections before I started February's prompt. I'm an abstainer, so I need to have tough limits, and this tick list daily will help. In her book (p. 143) she says "the less we indulge in something, the less we want it. Cravings are more provoked by possibility than by denial. Changing a habit may be simple, but it's not easy, and the more tools used, the better". I found her Habits Manifesto really helpful - find all her Habits downloads HERE.

While SHINE is a word that for me mostly means "more of", my wording for my daily practice in February was "Cut down on sugar and increase "green" foods. Say no to takeaways". My daily practice ties in with these parts of my word : 
HEALTHY
Good eating + Gym habit = Energised
Be mindful
INNER WORK
Self-care 

NOTICE 
Reflect on daily activities and make improvements (good habits = easier to shine without effort) 
In a lovely synergy - our focus for Book of Days this month has been Self Love. Taking care of yourself first means you can then take proper care of others. 
Last year I wrote "I am finding it motivating, encouraging, and helpful to be concentrating on just one practice for the month" and the same is true now. Although it seems like I'm trying to do 3 things, they're all connected and I wanted to be specific rather than just saying "eat more healthily". This year I'm also enjoying being able to explore more about this prompt in my Inner Work Journal. I started by spraying through a stencil for a slightly glittery background

Last month, printing the digital cards onto old calendar pages worked so well I did that again

I want to have a habit of saying no to sweet treats (biscuits, cakes, lollies, desserts, and {sigh} white chocolate) and takeaway foods and keeping an eye on packaged foods so I'll buy the product with less added sugar. I'll focus on eating fresh and green as much as possible. Every time I was successful, I was able to add a star to my chart.

Almost through the month and I'm well on the way with this -  I am so much more aware of what I am reaching for, and the aim is progress not perfection - I'm definitely doing that :-) Also as a nice bonus it is helping my energy so supporting my gym habit and I am going more regularly, and also drinking more water - all winning ♥

I decided to add some extra words to my page through a stencil - and after I did that I realised they read well together as "you can choose yes" 

Here's my complete spread within my Inner Work journal.

Of course this kind of practice of working on changing one habit could happen every month...let me know if it works for you. See all my posts about OLW 2017 HERE, and my Flickr album which includes any art featuring my word as well as the class prompts HERE.