Marvellous March

I'm a bit late with my blog this month as me and the lovely Mr Bob have had a mini-break in France.  I have to admit that I was looking forward to the trip with a mixture of both excitement and apprehension.

It had been 26 months since we last stepped foot on French soil and the world is now a very different place.  We were unsure of what to expect, what documents we did or didn't need and how the French would now look upon us.  Let's be honest, the UK hasn't exactly put itself in a great light with Europe, or the rest of the world for that matter, over the last few years.

I'm very pleased to say that everything went smoothly, we weren't thrown into jail for putting a cross in the wrong place on our forms and the French people were as welcoming as ever.  I suppose it does help that I can speak enough French to get by and not have to resort to shouting 'CHIPS' at the top of my voice - there's a story there, but I'll save it for another time.

Anyway, the whole point of this blog is to celebrate 'Marvellous March' and how far we've come already in 2022 as we hurtle towards the end of Q1.  My last couple of blogs were all about easing into the new year, not overwhelming ourselves but still setting goals and challenges along the way.

That's exactly what our French trip was all about, dipping our toes into the water again in terms of travel, practising my French and broadening our horizons.  Throughout January and February, I've been working on creating some new routines such as committing to regular study times for my French and researching what we were going to do during our trip.  

We should have been going to France just before Christmas but yet again Covid put a stop to that so we'd re-booked for last week.  Knowing that we had the trip to look forward to gave me the impetus to reinvigorate my French practise, I even asked my French tutor for more homework!  Over the weeks I've been slowly building up the intensity and then started researching places to visit, the paperwork we needed to complete etc.

Hopefully, that's exactly what you lot have been doing for your Q1 goals, ie, easing into the new year, gradually building up to the things you set out to achieve.

Don't worry, although my French trip was at the beginning of March, I haven't peaked too early with my 'Marvellous March' as I also have an upcoming trip to London at the end of March which also has a French connection.  I absolutely adore a French female singer called Zaz, her voice is incredible and she can play an array of instruments to boot.  We've been lucky enough to see her in concert twice in France but she's now doing one night at the Albert Hall on mine and Mr Bob's wedding anniversary.  It was meant to be and I think I will quite literally burst with excitement!  It's worked out perfectly, I've topped and tailed March with two fabulous trips to really make it 'Marvellous'!!

I've been incredibly lucky, my Q1 goals have gone pretty much to plan and I'm working on some new ones for Q2.  But what if yours haven't quite worked out ... don't despair, let's get you back on track.

The biggest threat to achieving our goals is ... BOREDOM!!  You know me by now, I live and die by my routines and habits.  However, it's a fine line as routines can become just that ... 'routine', therefore boring.  

Although it's important to stick with routines and habits, we need to constantly make tiny tweaks to them to keep our minds and bodies interested.  For example, in order to keep fit, if all I did was run every morning, at the same time, do the same distance and at the same pace, then I'd soon become very bored and more than likely get injured as I'd be overworking the same muscles.  Yes, I have a routine every single day but it's also different every day, I don't even call it an exercise routine, for me it's all about movement.  What movement does my body need today?  It could be as simple as a short walk or yoga session, or it may be an all-out intense cardio session.  

Do you see what I'm saying?  The routine and habit is there but it doesn't have to be the same every day.  By doing this, you prevent yourself from becoming bored and it keeps you motivated as you work towards your goal.

I'll leave you with this thought so you can start planning on what you need to tweak for Q2.  See you in 'AMAZING APRIL'!!

#2022

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