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| Marilyn’s Way Stepping Stones Series |
Stepping Stones is about establishing three habits or what I call stepping stones for each routine or landing of your day. Based on Flylady Lessons, these three specific stepping stones for each routine/landing and in this order of importance is what the foundation is. We do our three stepping stones first before we step on any secondary stepping stones within that routine or landing. We cannot be successful without having each routine/landing placed before each other to form a day. These stepping stones for each landing in the order of importance are as follows:
How and Why Did I Come Up With This??
Anything is easy when you have a good day. I believe all of us can agree with this. It is when one has a bad day that things begin to get out of sync. What we don’t realize is most bad days have been building for the past three days. We skip a step here and skip a step there. Eventually this leads us to our bad day. Everything seems to be going wrong and we wonder why. Next comes the self pity and self loathing. What I am trying to do is help you to keep from getting in this position. When we are in this type of mode it is virtually impossible to get anything good done.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Everything Ends In Excess?” We can only go so high and go so low. Sure the highs are fantastic and the lows are debilitating. What Stepping Stones is striving for is the middle with a nice cushion surrounding the stones. The smaller stones are steps we can visit when our primary stepping stones are completed. Many of us have never learned to live in the middle. We may find it to be boring. We are looking at this completely wrong! We need the middle to be anchored for all the times we may have extreme circumstances. We need to learn how to get back to home base making it comfortable and stress free so that we can make decisions that affect our lives.
During the time we spend on Marilyn’s Way Stepping Stones, we all will continue to practice the 3 stepping stones for each routine/landing. If we can’t do all three on a particular day, the routine we let go of is the Afternoon Routine. My goal is to teach you that the Before Bedtime Routine is the most important routine of the day. When we take time to prepare for the coming day it gives us a chance to do so much more.
The other tool we will learn to do and I feel is the key to building the foundation of running a home is what I call linking or associating or piggybacking stepping stones together. For example, in my Morning Routine I have found to be true and crucial to flying is “Getting Dressed To Shoes, Hair and Makeup.” My clothes are laid out the night before as one of the stepping stones of the Before Bedtime Routine. Therefore this is one decision I do not have to make come morning. Usually choosing what to wear can eat up someones time for some reason. I don’t know why, and I am not interested in finding out at this time. I just know my day gets started sooner when I already know what I am going to wear.
What I have learned to link together are stepping stones as I am Getting Dressed To Shoes Hair and Makeup. When I am in the bathroom styling my hair, I have linked the stepping stone of swishing and swiping. I associate or link together when I go to the bathroom I wash my hands and then plug in my flat iron. Before I get dressed, I make the bed. I associate getting dressed with making the bed. Sometimes I don’t feel like putting my makeup on. Then I remind myself it only takes 5 minutes at the most. Those 5 minutes carry me through whatever comes my way during the day. How do I link “What’s For Dinner?” That is linked with me applying my makeup.
During the time I got Dressed To Shoes, Hair and Makeup, I swished and swiped, made my bed, and decided what was for dinner. I chose to share with you how I link together stepping stones in my Morning Routine as an example. The reason I chose Morning Routine is to show you how important the first stepping stone “Getting dressed to shoes, hair and makeup” is. If you focus on this stepping stone and get it down as a routine/landing, the habits of swish and swipe, making the bed, and what’s for dinner are all incidentals.
Yes, I do more than just these three stepping stones for each routine. I believe I counted the number of stepping stones in a normal stress free nothing extra kind of day is thirty two stepping stones. Now if someone told me I had to step on thirty two stepping stones to complete my day I would tell them they are crazy and yet this is what I do every day. I owe much of it to linking them together.
Week #1
Our first week and throughout Marilyn’s Way Stepping Stones, we will be practicing these nine stepping stones. In addition we are going to create an area we call a “Launch Pad.” It is best to have it near the outside entrance where you come and go into your home. Here you will keep your purse, keys, and a space to lay down things that need to go with you the coming day. I also have a mirror located there for last minute checks on the way out the door. I usually take Lily with me so on the porch there is a specific place for her leash.
Many of us are rushed in the morning. This gives us the edge. Knowing where your keys are, the paperwork that needs to go with you, and any returns you may have. that you established always in the same place also known as the “Launch Pad” allows you to have a better nights sleep. Get yourself one of those Command Hooks to place on the wall. They won’t damage it. Make your “Launch Pad” functional and fun at the same time. When you are done, take a picture of it and show in the group on facebook. It will be fun to see what everyone’s Launch Pad looks like. I will show you what mine looks like. It isn’t anything elaborate. I just find comfort knowing where my purse and my keys always are and you will too!
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| Keys and Mirror |
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| “Launch Pad” |
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| Last Minute Items |
One thought on “Marilyn’s Way Stepping Stones Series Begins!”
wow I love the launch pad idea. I am not sure how I would implement it into my home. I have a ahuge front hall that the family members like to use as a dumping grounds UG! and I have an nice table area to put keys and purses but it seems that the family members use this to dump their stuff and it is never neat and organized! i am a little frustrated by this . . . . to say the least. any ideas??