About 6 months ago, I decided I wanted to try to change my habit of negative thinking. I felt I was heading into a depression of sorts. I’d just had my 5th baby in 7 years and I was struggling. Greatly.

I had come to believe that negative thinking is something that a person can actually become addicted to just as much as an addiction to any other drug/food/chemical. Watch this edited clip from the movie What The Bleep Do We Know. It’s fascinating and will show you what I mean.

Watch it to the very end. The most powerful statement is the very last one. “If you can’t control your emotional state, you must be addicted to it.”

If my negative thoughts are an addiction, then I’ve got to break the cycle as I would another addiction. So, I started to formulate a plan.

I remembered listening to a Flylady & Friends show on BlogTalkRadio in which Marla was describing how she helped Kelly to quit smoking cigarettes. She told her to write down some mini-missions (2 minutes or less) on little pieces of paper and put them in a jar. When she felt a strong urge for a cigarette, she was to take out an assignment and do it.

What that would accomplish is to divert her mind onto something productive, something good during the time of her desire for the negative thing. If she could get past the 2 minutes, the urge would be lessened.

I figured that something like this should work for my negative thoughts. So I started a Happy Thoughts Box. I went out and got a very cheerfully decorated box, some cutsey happy but small paper, and a girly fun pen (purple with glitter!) and started writing inspirational phrases or mini missions on each paper. I planned to put them in the box, and whenever I felt myself getting into a funk I’d pull one out and do it. I thought it sounded like a good plan.

I still think it sounds like a good plan, and though I never continued on with it (it seems like just starting the project plus a little more alone/bible time was all I needed to get me back on track) I think that I should do it now.

This inspirational page in the Control Journal is the same thing. I’m going to spend 15 minutes today writing down more thoughts for my box and start a page in my notebook. Maybe if I have something positive in there I’ll look at it more!

What are some of your inspirational quotes? What do you do to get yourself out of a funk?

Yes, anything. Things you don’t want to do. Things you think you can’t do. Things you think you shouldn’t bother with because you think it won’t make a difference.

You can. You should. It WILL make a difference.

How do I know? I learned from Flylady. Over and over I am amazed at what 15 minutes of focused time will do. And then I don’t do it (see, it hasn’t become a habit), and then when I do it again, I am amazed. Again.

This is my entrance hall. The view from our dining table (lovely for ambiance, isn’t it?) and the view as you walk in the front door.

How welcoming.

FOUR minutes it took me to make it like this. FOUR.
Including quickly spraying it down & giving it a wipe. I’ve been looking at that stuff for DAYS, thinking I didn’t have time to do anything about it and wishing someone else would, feeling a little sorry for myself that I have such a messy place and obviously I can’t handle this by myself…

A little more welcoming, don’t you think?

What am I going to do with 11 more minutes?

This. This is our liquor cabinet & we also keep our keys&sunglasses basket here. As you can see on top, it’s also got bottles up there. I hate that. Besides looking messy, it makes it seem like we must drink a LOT. Which we don’t. And off in that little nook there is stuff piled on those drawers.

And here’s what it looked like afterward. Notice the CLEAR SURFACE!

Still 3:33 on the timer. (yes, I stopped it to take the pictures!) What else?

This is our hall closet. It has a curtain that falls down when my toddler plays with it because it’s not really attached. It’s been down for days, and I just “haven’t had the time” to fix it.

And here it is with the curtain. Much better.

Still 2 minutes on the timer. I guess I can take care of this little hot spot.

You can do anything for 15 minutes. I dare you!

And we are on day #8 of the Babystep Challenge to a Peaceful Home, following Flylady’s recommendations.

This is easy. Get a 3 ring binder and put paper in it. Of course, we all have office supplies hanging around the house. I love office supplies! I LOVE to go to Office Depot and walk around looking at all the things….weird. But I bet lots of you are the same way.

This is where I write down my morning and evening routines; one on each page. I’ve already been practicing them all week. Now I have them written down so that I can check them off and make sure I don’t forget anything.

I’m still cheating a little because most of these have already been habits of mine, and I already had them written in my Control Journal. But, I look forward to re-doing whatever needs to be fixed as I go through these babysteps again.

Writing down what we need to do reminds us. I definitely need this, but I think I don’t. This is the danger. I keep it all in my head, and most of it I remember. But some of it I just don’t fit in, and I let it just go….

I have a decent Control Journal. It sits on my counter, buried under papers that I never get to.

I don’t use it much.

I’ll start it again.

Do you put post its up around the house? What works for you to remember what you need to do next?

1. Keeping your sink shining (my step 1 post here)
2. Getting up and getting dressed to lace up shoes. (my step #2 post here)

Why am I starting again with Flylady’s Baby Steps? Read here to find out.

Today has been a very busy day with grocery shopping and trying to get back on schedule after that. So, I’m glad there is not a new action for today. I’m content to just “do what we have already done”

And, I LOVE the enthusiasm so many are showing. I love the accountability I’m getting by posting publicly, and I’m having fun. So, today I’m just enjoying knowing where these Babysteps will take me…..

Imagine the peaceful home that is awaiting.

You can do it too! Join in, even if you haven’t started. Start now.

This means getting completely dressed, right away, including hair and face. You act differently, more professionally, when you have clothes and shoes on. When I do this I am ready for anything that might come up (or anyone who might come to the door).

To read Flylady’s complete explanation of why to do this, go here.

This is a good habit and is not one I struggle with. Well, now that my baby is almost 10 months and I’m not up at all hours nursing her. With a tiny baby, I’m lucky if I am able to get dressed at all. Or shower. Or have time to use the bathroom.

Wait a minute, I still don’t get a moment of peace in there!

But I digress.

As I was saying, I have already made this a habit of mine and so I won’t pretend it’s new to me. But, I will say that it’s a good one. I get all the way dressed before I wake the children. My shoes tell my brain that it’s time to go to work.

And, off to work I go!

Did you get dressed to shoes today?

If you want to know more about this series, read this post to know why I’m doing this.

I’ve noticed that some others are blogging their Babystep Challenge Experience. Let’s get together on it! If you have a relevant post, add it below in the Mister Linky! After doing that, please link back to this post so we can all share. Thanks!