Category: motivation

Bingo balls-- photo by alejandro gray for Unsplash. July is motivation bingo month
fitness · motivation

July is motivation bingo month

catherine w1 Comment

Yes, it’s already July 20th– where has the month gone? But just this week I discovered that both my workplace and my yoga studio are doing a kind of motivation bingo.

This cat is confused. Let me explain. Photo from Unsplash.
This cat is confused, too. Let me explain. Photo from Unsplash.

Gamification of tasks is a tried-and-true way of making otherwise dull jobs more interesting, and also can help us focus on goals by offering us incentives, an element of competition, and rewards for completion. The idea of a bingo card for tasks is simple but brilliant (in my humble opinion).

  • The tasks or challenges are laid out clearly
  • You have choices about which tasks to do, and in what order
  • There’s a reward after doing a certain number of them (yelling BINGO! and of course little prizes)
  • At the end of the game, you’ve done a bunch of tasks, which is probably good

Here’s a mood-boost bingo card my workplace sent out last week. They used some campus-specific tasks, but you could adjust it for your own environment.

A 5 x 5 bingo card from my university for a mid-summer mood boost. Imma do it!
A 5 x 5 bingo card from my university for a mid-summer mood boost. Imma do it!

My yoga studio– Artemis in Watertown, MA– is doing a summer yoga bingo game. My friend Norah is on the case in a serious way. Here’s their yoga bingo card:

Yoga bingo card, encouraging folks to do classes and also check out the neighborhood.
Yoga bingo card, encouraging folks to do classes and also check out the neighborhood.

Norah and I went to Good Harbor beach in Gloucester yesterday with our friend Nina, and Norah regaled us with her strategies. She thinks she can get 5 classes in this week, which, if she plans it right, will cover many spaces. Each bingo she gets puts her in a raffle to win yoga swag. But I think it’s the thrill of the chase and the triumph of hitting those bingos that makes it fun. She already loves yoga and our studio (as do I), but this focuses the attention and reawakens the worthy competitor in her.

And, I admit, it’s doing the same for me. I just found out about this yesterday, but I’m in. I’m signing up for a restorative class this afternoon, thus giving me two spots- weekend class plus restorative class. Who knows where I’ll go from there… 🙂

Hey readers: have you/are you in the midst of any motivator bingo games? What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

ADHD · motivation · walking

Creativity Walks – more walking, more fun

Christine Hennebury

As I mentioned in my post at the time, when I was in Halifax for the Storytellers of Canada – Conteurs du Canada conference back in June, I did a lot of walking and I really enjoyed the process of getting where I wanted to go on foot. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of opportunities (or time-flexibility!) to walk to my activities on a week to week basis.* 

Either my commitments are too close to get much extra exercise in or they are too far to reasonably walk without adding a lot of extra travel time. (If only regular time worked like conference time, hey?)

And yes, I suppose I could just choose to take longer walks some of the time but I can almost guarantee I will talk myself out of that process on a regular basis. 

Ideally, I would have a meeting or a class a couple of times a week that was within 45 mins walking distance and I could build my schedule around it, including the walk time. 

However, since the ideal situation is not naturally occurring, I have decided to create it myself… 

At least once a week, I am going to go on a creativity walk! 

I’m going to pick somewhere to  walk to where I can read, draw, or write and I am going to shape my schedule so I have plenty of time to get there. And, since I know what my brain gets like, I am also going to create a definite plan for what to do while I’m at my destination and I am going to bring the things I need to be comfortable (a stool or a blanket and some snacks.) 

This combination should help my outing feel like a treat rather than an obligation. 

I’ll report back once my first creativity walk is complete!

*I don’t count my brief ‘walk to work’ each morning because it’s quite short and that stroll is not really about the exercise, it’s about shaping that part of my day.

Technically this post has nothing to do with snails, except for the fact that I have no plans to go particularly fast on these creativity walks, but I just really like snails. Image description: a yellowish-brown snail shell (with the snail inside) resting on the metal railing of a bridge next to some overhanging leaves.

fitness · motivation · swimming

Finding Motivation When Your Triggers are Gone

Diane Harper

My main pool closed a month ago, and will stay closed until January. My other pool closed at the end of June. It will be closed until the fall, at least. That means no lifeguarding, no teaching swimming and no mandatory training where I need to ensure I meet the fitness standard. My swim club is also on hiatus for the summer.

What’s an externally -motivated girl to do?

Rest was a good start. I “allowed” myself several weeks of not swimming. By allowed, what I really mean is I didn’t bother looking up lane swim times at nearby pools. I felt guilty about not going but just couldn’t get myself organized. Hence the air quotes around “allowed”.

Then I started getting messages about people I knew going for swims. I decided that I would see each of them as an invitation and join if at all possible. So far this week, that has meant one pool swim, one swim in Gatineau Park, and one at the nearby lake. I’m already far ahead of where I was in June, distance-wise.

I’ll be a swim angel again this year for the annuals Bring On the Bay swim, so there will be more swimming this week to ensure I’m ready to support my swimmer on Saturday.

Going forward, I’m keen to try out some new swimming venues around town. I know I’m more likely to do so if I go with friends. For the next little while, my challenge will be to make some of those plans and follow through, even if others don’t have the time or interest to join me.

But also, if I don’t feel up to swimming, won’t. As much as I am motivated by peer pressure (in a good way), swimming when I’m overtired is not fun.

Wish me luck finding the right balance and checking out some new places to swim!

Three swimmers with bright floats in the small lake near my house in Ottawa.,
Go Team 2025: Remember That Time You Were Terrific?
advice · fitness · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2025: Remember That Time You Were Terrific?

Christine Hennebury

Trick question!

You’re actually terrific every time!

I know that circumstances aren’t always terrific.

And I definitely know that you don’t always *feel* terrific.

But neither of those things diminishes your inherent terrificness.

(Is terrificness a word? I vote yes!)

You are always out there doing what you can with the resources you have – even those resources might change from day to day (or hour to hour or minute to minute.)

It’s a hard thing to be a person and while there’s all kinds of talk out there about how important it is to push yourself and to try hard and to strive for perfection, there’s no need to be putting that pressure on yourself all the damn time.

So instead, let’s start with a basic truth – you’re terrific – and then you can add any bits and pieces to that foundational terrificness whenever *you* want (no one else gets to decide the timing on that.)

And, yeah, it’s a tricky thing to remember how terrific we are but here’s a gold star for our efforts to keep our terrificness in mind.

If you aren’t quite up to accepting your terrificness, then the gold star can be for anything you happen to be working on.

Image description: A drawing of a gold star with a background of sets of overlapping concentric circles ​drawn in black ink.
Image description: A drawing of a gold star with a background of sets of overlapping concentric circles drawn in black ink.

Keep up the good work, Team!

💚⭐️💚

Novelty seeking is probably my favourite sport
fitness · habits · health · motivation

Novelty seeking is probably my favourite sport

elan.paulson2 Comments

When I was in my 20s I was asked in a job interview (to be a casino table dealer) if I prefer various or repetitive tasks. I knew the best answer was: you say “both.”

But…turns out it’s not true: while some ppl take comfort in it, I struggle with repetition. I don’t usually take pleasure watching the same movies again and again. I get bored eating the same food. I have little interest in returning to the same vacation spots year after year.

That’s all fine. But when I pick up then drop exercise classes, sports leagues, or health routines, I can be critical of myself. It has become part of my self-story that I can’t make good habits. Some days, I even tell myself I am lazy; as evidence of my half-efforts to stick with stuff, I point to a closet of barely user gear.

Then, last week, someone I know described themselves as a novelty seeker. And I thought, hey, me too. ME. TOO.

Novelty seeker positively reframes all my negative self-talk. Recently, I went line dancing, I disc golfed, and I played scrimmage soccer in one week. I am taking up cycling in mid-life. I run around making things. Truly, rather than focus on one sport or type of exercise, I have always sought various ones.

Being a novelty seeker means that I trade off becoming really good at one or a few things by doing them over and over for the joy of experiencing many new things all the time. It means I am not less active, just differently active.

I still seriously admire all the people I know who run long distances, lift weights daily, or play pickleball 5 times a week. And I can appreciate that there is likely great variety within these activities that perhaps I don’t notice (because I haven’t stuck with them long enough).

Perhaps ultimately it is less about the number of favourite sports and activities we have and more about the mindset we bring to what we do. The idea of novelty-seeking works for me. What works for you?

Composite of multiple sports balls from Wikipedia is CC0.
Go Team 2025: Take Care of Today’s You
ADHD · advice · fitness · habits · health · mindfulness · motivation · self care

Go Team 2025: Take Care of Today’s You

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

Hey Team,

While trying to strike a balance between overplanning and just kind of winging-it, my ADHD-brain often forgets that there are many options in between those two extremes.

I can have a tentative plan. I can have a list (or jar) of ideas to pick from. I can have a flowchart of if-thens. I can follow a plan and then adjust the pieces that aren’t working for me.

I can…probably think of eight million different ways of approaching the things I want to do.

However, all of the options between those extremes really come down to one thing: It’s always a good idea to be responsive to (and take care of) Today’s Me.

The me who makes plans often imagines perfect conditions for today’s me.

She forgets that I might be busy or sick or uncomfortable or upset or helping someone else or just plain unable to do the things she set out for me to do.

Changing my plans in response to Today’s Me’s needs is not slacking off, it’s not giving up, it’s not getting sidetracked.

Actually, since all of my fitness/well-being goals are really about taking good care of myself long-term, changing my plans in response to Today’s Me’s needs is actually getting me closer to those goals instead of further away.*

Giving myself room to change, adapt, or adjust Past Me’s plans is a vital part of learning to take good care of all versions of myself – past, present, and future.

And the same goes for you, Team.

The steps that lead you toward your goals will not look the same every day. Sometimes you will have the capacity to take bigger steps, sometimes your steps will be smaller, and sometimes you will need to rest. And, of course, the information you gather over time will occasionally lead to you taking a whole different path or choosing a whole different goal.

It only makes sense for you to respond to Today’s You’s needs so you can continue to support all of the versions of you going forward.

Being kind to yourself like this is really a life-long practice, hey? (Yeah, I know. I had kind of hoped I could just learn it once and then keep going, too.)

Here is your gold star for your efforts today whether you are able to respond to Today’s You or whether you are still figuring out what that might look like.

I wish you ease either way.

A small painting of a smiley-faced gold star with black pinstripes in the background.
Image description: A small painting of a smiley-faced gold star with black pinstripes in the background is propped against a green background on my white desk.

*As someone with ADHD, I need to take a close look at whatever Today’s Me wants because I know that the me-of-this-moment may not be great at prioritizing or at thinking long-term. So responding constructively to Today’s Me’s needs might look a little different for me but it’s still important to do it. (I know just how stubborn Tomorrow’s Me will be if I am unkind to Today’s Me!)

Christine’s April Plans
fitness · habits · health · mindfulness · motivation · self care

Christine’s April Plans

Christine Hennebury

I’m starting April while on a school storytelling tour with my friend Catherine (not blogger Catherine, a whole other marvellous Catherine) so the month is truly off to a good start.

Storytelling is great for my mental health and the fact that I am taking a break from my usual routine AND hanging out with a dear friend compounds the positive effects.

And this tour has been good for my physical health too because Catherine is a big proponent of finding energy by getting outdoors. So there have already been several times when her choice to go for a walk has shifted me into a more active rest mode after a busy day instead of just sitting around.

(To be clear, there are times when sitting around would be the right thing to do but in this case the walk felt waaaaaaaay better.)

Since the month is starting on such a positive note I have decided to add more positive health elements.

1. I found out yesterday that April is Afternoon Tea Month which is definitely a made-up kind of commemoration but as an avid maker-up-of-things, I’m here for it.

I’m going to celebrate by taking an afternoon tea break every day.

I can hear my sisters’ voices as I write that, “Chris, don’t you already drink tea every afternoon?”

And the answer is “Of course I do!”

But my April plan to to focus on the ritual of it, the making of the tea, the clearing of mental space, the sitting down to drink it.

This isn’t going to be a ‘drink tea at my desk while working’ kind of thing, it’s going to be an actual break in my afternoon.

A cup of tea in an octopus mug
One of my favourite cups for tea (a gift from my friend Mary) Image description: a cup of tea sitting on a small mat on my table with my ebook slightly out of focus in the background. My cup has a blue octopus on the side (only part of it is visible) and it has an ice cream cone held in one of its tentacles.

So that’s a small April addition for my mental health, now on to my physical health.

2) I mentioned last week that I am following the Active April calendar so that is staying part of the plan but I am also going to really commit to evening yoga (again!) and I have made a YouTube playlist to choose from each day.

And since I know sometimes get stuck in the decision making process, I am giving myself the default that if I can’t pick one, I have to choose the video immediately after the one from the night before.

I have often done evening yoga before and I throughly enjoy it when I do but I have gotten out of the habit so this is as good a time as any to get started again.

What are *your* plans for April?

challenge · fitness · health · motivation · self care

Active April Starts Next Week

Christine Hennebury

Usually, it occurs to me to share the Action for Happiness calendar once the month has already started but, for once, I have remembered to share it in advance.

You may even have time to plan!

I always really like the ‘small’ steps approach outlined in these calendars and I am slowly, slowly, slowly learning not to try and ‘catch up’ if I miss a day. I hope you can do the same or even just pick a few things to try here and there.

I also enjoy how Active April invites us to take action for our own happiness AND reminds us that being more active can help boost our mood and our feeling of well-being.

And, to be clear, suggesting that we seek these small moments of well being is not about being in denial of the state of the world right now. Instead, it is part of fortifying ourselves so we can do the necessary work of supporting our communities and resisting evil.

image description: a calendar of daily suggestions for Active April. The blocks are in different shades of blue and green and there are cartoon images of people doing a variety of activities around the edge.
An embedded video of Vanessa King from Action for Happiness entitled ‘No Happiness Without Action: 3 top tips with Vanessa King.’ The still image shows Vanessa Kind, a middle aged woman with shoulder length hair and bangs smiling toward the camera.

By the way, if you are looking for other things to try/celebrate/do in April, check out the list here of national days, weeks, and month celebrations here: National Days in April.

Find fun where you can and let it fuel you.

Dancing · motivation · rest

Anxiety Paralysis

Diane Harper

Are you feeling it? Judging by the social media comments I find as I doomscroll, I’m pretty sure it’s not just me.

Other things are contributing too: trying to organize a big event at the other end of the province in a few weeks; navigating insurance after my car was hit while sitting in my driveway; insomnia brought on by all of the above…

I’m trying to use all my tricks: lists, reminders on my phone, the Pomodoro app. Aiming to do five things (or even one), no matter how small to break myself out of the frozen feeling. I even took my laptop to the pool so I could do paperwork while on my break.

Eventually I was able to do a thing, which led to a few more things, so hopefully I’m getting myself back on track. But I think this will be a long process because so much of what I am dealing with requires what some people call executive decision-making. My brain is too tired to brain right now.

Yesterday I had a profound revelation about keeping going. There was a drop-in student at my dance class. She didn’t know the work, but she clearly knew how to dance. She was an honest-to-goodness ballerina, or had been at some point in the not-too-distant past. The rest of us watched in awe.

After class, our teacher said something about her being there just to move her body and be part of the group. She wasn’t performing before a critical audience. She wasn’t setting a class and training students. She was just “there”.

Just being “there”. How lovely. I need to remember to move my body in ways that give me joy, and let go of all those things I’m trying to manage – if only for a few minutes.

A child in purple ballet gear and pink slippers relaxes (or sleeps?) on the floor. Photo is from Brilliant Dance.
The Sun in My Eyes Will Get Me Through
mindfulness · motivation

The Sun in My Eyes Will Get Me Through

Mina

I’m leaving January feeling bruised by life. My word of the year, ease, has gone and hidden in a deep underground cave. I’m worn out on coming to this blog with my woes. What’s happened now? Among other things, the home I lived in for 27 years with my ex, will pass on to other owners on March 1st. I haven’t lived there for 2 years, and I thought I was over it.  Apparently not. Somewhere in a hidden corner of my psyche, I imagined that I might live there again. Recover that sweet feeling of security and home. Finality is crashing down, bringing with it all the scaffolding I thought I’d put in place to manage the grief of so many other losses these last three years. Mother. Cat. Marriage. Home. Health. And more.

Amid the dusty ruins, I have still managed to drag myself outside in my running shoes and put one foot in front of the other. Someone recently pointed me to the research around sunlight in the eyes first thing in the morning—good for regulating circadian rhythm (i.e. sleep), boosting mood and such like. And yes, some of the sources are questionable, so I’m offering no links. A quick Google search turns up a trove.

Research and dubious sources aside, how good does it feel to be blinded by the sun first thing in the morning? So good. Right? Especially (especially!) on a cold winter day, when we are sun starved.

Soaking up apricity

My last few runs have been a battle royale to get my body out the door. And the grace of that sunlight in my eyes has saved me. I run with my eyes half closed, head turned toward wherever the sun is coming from, soaking in its faint warm breath. Like a fireplace that puts out almost no heat, until you get right up close, the winter sun warms only my eyelids, its touch not even reaching my cheeks. There’s a word for this delicious, precious feeling: apricity. The warmth of the sun in winter. Having that word now to describe the sun’s solace in my eyes enlivens the experience. And it is these tiny shifts in consciousness that will get me through. And my runs. And family. And friends.