Бесплатный фрагмент - Make your dream come true in 1 day

Make your dream come true in 1 day. Even if you stay at homе*

(If you cannot get outside, you always can get outside the box)

«The majority of people have a dream, which can be accomplished within a week. But they make it into the dream of whole life» (an unkown author)

How many wishes and dreams are getting covered with thick layer of dust in the backyard of your heart? As for me — I have lots of them, forgotten and forsaken. A mountain of wishes, to be honest.

So, once (although I didn’t know then, WHAT it will all turn into), my friend Assel declared that she starts a 30-days challenge «Say YES to the NEW things».

The rules were simple: to try something absolutely new every single day during this period, or try doing usual things in an unusual way. By the end of the day we were publishing the report about our experiences.

I just took my wishes which had been put away long time ago, forgotten and forlorn, and put them into the «Accomplishing machine» (this is how I call the principle of our Challenge functioning). To put into the Accomplishing machine means to declare your intention to try and manage something within one day, and then, willy-nilly, everything goes towards the set goal (not without your active participation, of course).

And every day my old patterns and beliefs about what I can and what I can not do — were thrown up in the air, broken and torn.

Clouds of dust. The old construction of beliefs was getting ruined.

And then this dust was washed away with the rocking waves of the New life, coming into my reality in more and more interesting ways.

Are you craving for real happiness? The recipe for it is simple, and it is accomplished in such a project.

Even from the point of view of hormones of happiness, there is a complete cocktail:

— joyful anticipation of something new every day — dopamine;

— fulfillment of the plan, sometimes at the limit of your possibilities (the flow) — dopamine;

— feeling like a winner in any case — testosterone;

— recognition of this victory, support of the group — serotonin and oxytocin.

As a result, you get the fabulous sensation: «I can do whatever I want. It may take more than one day to do something, but thank God I can still do a lot!»

Yes, it will take more than one day to reach a goal, requiring regular actions during longer period (getting rich, buying a house for a million dollars, getting in shape or building ideal relationships). Then, the formula will be a bit different: 1 day +1 day +1 day + … = result. The question is simply what these days are filled with: actions towards the goal or inaction? Are they filled with reeadiness to take lessons and move on, or with apathy?

The main trophy that you receive by fulfilling your long-standing one-step dreams (to try, to learn, to launch a project — everything what requires just one decisive step) is the solid belief that you can do more than you always thought about yourself.

* for historical reference: the book was created at the time of universal self-isolation, which was established to prevent the spread of coronavirus).

It’s like an affirmation «I can do everything! I am capable and smart. I am rich and successful.» You can pronounce these statements over 1000 times a day, but if you don’t take action, if you don’t really take steps to confirm these beliefs, then all these words will remain just words.

So the only thing that COUNTS in the implementation of dreams is your ACTION. Challenge helps you enter the state of the game when you either just do or complicate and avoid doing.

You start to think: «How can I implement my dream with the opportunities available? If this was all a game, what would I do?

For example, you have a long-standing dream of visiting Mexico.

You can dream all your life and never get to this beautiful land, or, you can get a lot of impressions about people, culture, music, cuisine and traditions of the Aztec country in one day without leaving your home. How?

You can order Mexican food for home delivery.

Play Mexican music.

Watch a video tour featuring the beauties of this country on YouTube.

And you can even find ways to chat with real live Mexicans via video…

Yes, I agree, this is not a real journey. But, if you try to do your best managing what you are ABLE to MANAGE, then you will get REAL impressions about this country (the taste and aroma of food, the rhythms of music and songs, the manner of local communication …). Yes, the trip is unreal, but the IMPRESSIONS you get — are REAL! Isn’t it marvelous?

So, what is better — to dream all your life about some beautiful faraway country and never get there, or to immerse into the ocean of impressions, which are available right now? It is just the question of creativity.

So, in the following chapters I will share impressions of my 30-day adventure, based on the photos and text of my Instagram posts.

A few words about myself: I am a 37 years old Russian mom of two kids (4 and 2 years old), living in Yekaterinburg. I am married to a super-patient hero. We have no assistance with kids and household, so everything is run by me and my husband. I have a blog on Instagram (@natasha_idi), where I share the insights from books I’ve read. You can subscribe, and, although the texts are written in Russian, you can always hit the «translate» button under the post and get the notion of what it goes about.

Ok, off we go with the Challenge reports!

DAY 1

«Some doors are forever closed, while others open in the most unexpected places» (TV series «Game of Thrones»)

I joined Assel’s 30-day challenge @assel_happiness)

The idea of challenge is to try something new every day, and then write about my feelings.

So, my task for today is to 2X-slow down my usual speed of doing things. To do everything 2 times slower.­

Oh, if you only knew what kind of f… challenge it is for me! But I said to myself: «Whatever I manage today- is enough, even if it is just small things.» Anyway, I always can catch up tomorrow.

By the way, today I’ve recorded a new episode of the Teitelbaum’s book «The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction». Today I was speaking slower than usual, and this is also not easy).

So, I am reporting from the image of «Natakha-the-Turtle»: daylight is coming to an end. Slowing down is difficult. As if a mad racehorse is trying to dash somewhere, and you tell to this horse: «You are not a Horse, you are a Turtle today.» And the inner Horse says: «Whaaaat?»

Sometimes I forget and slide into the usual «frantic electric broom» mode.

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INSIGHTS:

1. Slowly — does not mean «inefficient». It simply means giving your body more time to adequately respond to brain impulses.

2. You are taught what acceptance is, while practicing the slow-mo: accepting my choice to do it exactly as I chose. It is about the acceptance of the natural flow of events.

­3. I found the way to heal my long-term wound which is called «I-Never-Have-Time»). I realized that if you do something not according to your usual behavioral template, then the template gets broken. If, for example, you are afraid to do something, then according to the habitual pattern your usual reaction would be to get frightened and never do the feared action. But when you decide to go into your fear, it would break the routine habits.

Or when you think that you don’t have time, and you accelerate even more to catch up with your plans — this would be within the typical behavioral template. And if on the contrary, you slow down despite the usual reactions — you are breaking the mould.

DAY 2

«Change something in your life! Sit on the TV and watch the sofa» (An unknown author)

I didn’t take my photo today for Instagram posting, and it was because of the challenge. Today’s task is to do everything with the left hand. Well, the makeup today was also made with the left hand. I would rather prefer not to show the results of this «art» to the public.

I started to write today’s morning pages also with my left hand. And, I have to admit, I have never seen such ugly ornatenesses)

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I heard that switching to your opposite develops neuroplasticity.

The positive in it all is that you suddenly come to understand HOW valuable is your right hand (leading hand). I also felt like a child who is just learning to do something. It helps to understand your own children better and not scold them for their imperfection.

DAY 3

«Every day, God sends us — along with the sun — the opportunity to change everything that makes us miserable. And every day we try to pretend that we do not notice this possibility, that it does not exist at all, that today is in everything similar to yesterday and indistinguishable from tomorrow. But those who take a closer look at their day will find this magical moment.» (Paulo Coelho)

­The task for today is to come up with a poem on the topic proposed by the fellow-challengers.

They suggested, among other things, the word «little kangaroo»…

So here is what we have:

***

What is happiness to you?

Not a bird and not a gnu.

Happiness is little kangaroo,

Sitting on veranda roof.

The kangaroo is a funny little fella’

Meet his friend — the sweet coala!

Coala’s name is Tidi-Tude

In local language -«Gratitude».

DAY 4

«Nothing is impossible in life. I am trying to convey this simple thought to all of humanity through my work, my own life. Try and you will be cool!» (Will Smith)

Today’s task: to read a book in a day. YES! 700 pages in an EPUB reader («Unlock you: Be Calm, Confident and Happy in just 10 Minutes A Day,» Andy Barker, Beth Wood).

I’m not a spead-reader, I’m even not standing near such a person.­

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Was it difficult? Yes, I had to give up all my favorite routines in the morning (sports, morning pages, online learning). Yes, and the house chores are paused. (Tomorrow I’ll catch up).

One of the side-effects — more carbohydrates were eaten than necessary. Apparently, the brain in this mode requested compensation.

What are the insights?­

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It is feasible to read a book in a day, if you set it as your goal. But it is rather stressful to read in such a way permanently, even if this is a book on how to cope with stress.

Everything is possible if you set a goal and do not lose the focus. And this applies not only to reading books.

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DAY 5

«Never say to yourself,» I cannot.» In this way you are depriving yourself of power.» (Richard Bach)

After yesterday’s book «revelry» I thought of taking something easier, like «enjoy a piece of chocolate in 15 minutes,» but my bum is again craving for adventures, and this time the chosen adventure was to write and send an article to the Lifehacker.ru.

Was it difficult? Yes. Although the topic is critical and essential to me (the draft name of the article «How to work from home and stay effective. 15 tips from a mom working from home with two young children»), but there were nuances:

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— the children had an urgent need for my attention at the time of writing this article and it seemed that with all their behavior they were as if saying, «Who are you to give such advice in articles? Look, you can’t even handle two completely adequate offsprings like us!»

The muse also seems to be in quarantine, and was in no hurry to come to me.

I familiarized myself with the rules for writing an article on Lifehacker’s website and was a little confused by the abundance of information. My inner perfectionist immediately appeared — «Hey, hey! An article in a day, come on! Let’s take at least two days for this task, huh?»

But I decided that this is all a game. And however bad it is written, it would be still okay. As for the inner editor, I will turn him on later. After that the writing got much easier.

Fuf, sent it. Even if they don’t accept it, then I’ll try to download it at least on «Yandex Zen”*).

Conclusions:

1. Such stressful situations perfectly show my strategies complicating things rather than just putting my head down and doing what is necessary (when I forget that everything is just a game, and start looking for excuses not to do something).

2. It is possible to write an article within one day. The only question is whether the editor will approve it)))

**Yandex Zen — (Russian: Яндекс. Дзен) is a personal recommendations information and entertainment service created by Yandex (Russian Company).

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DAY 6

«Wether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.» (Henry Ford)

Chocolate meditation

I took the idea and methodology from the freshly read book by Beth Wood and Andy Barker «Unlock you: Be Calm, Confident and Happy in just 10 Minutes A Day»

The method in the book is called «conscious eating».

My observations:

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I have never eaten chocolate in SUCH A WAY! This, indeed, as the authors of the book describe, is similar to a feelings when you go on a trip and look forward to it and enjoy it, eagerly inhaling every second you are in a new city.

I did everything as was prescribed — I held the chocolate in my hands. Inhaled the aroma. Anticipated. And… started relishing it. Let the tongue savour it. I allowed the taste to open up, let the chocolate magic fill my mind…

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And, at the same time, my inner «racing horse» was trying to rush somewhere during the chocolate ceremony: I permanently was tempted to wipe the crumbs from the table, do a bunch of things, while the chocolate melts in my mouth. I think mothers of babies will understand me: while you are chewing your sandwich, you have time to wash, to iron a couple of things, to wipe the windowsill and wash half of the refrigerator. With the titanic effort of will, I seated myself down at the table, just to make it simple. Just sit. Just eat. The chocolate.

Pros of the experiment: I understood that one slice is enough to enjoy! Out of those two in the photo, only one piece actually participated in the savoring meditation.­