Television and the one conscious decision that significantly impacted my life.

My TV Detox:

6 months ago after a particularly challenging day I sat on the sofa ready to Veg. I was a willing participant and wanted to be taken on a journey to escape my overly active wired brain. I went through the entire menu and NOTHING, seriously what a pile of ****. How on earth was I supposed to escape reality and fall down the rabbit hole with this pathetic offering?

That was my moment of awakening. The frustration of not finding an acceptable level of **** to watch and pass out to was the juice that kicked me in to a higher level of thinking!

Things had to change. I made myself a cup of tea, took a book from the shelf along with a notepad and pen. Off to bed I went.   This is where I wrote my 9 life changing commitments and I am sharing them with you today.

Precursor…The list is just a list but couple that list with action and awesome things happened.

9 Commitments to myself:

1. Stop watching TV for the foreseeable future.
2. Read 10 pages of a book each night before bed.
3. Alternate the books from education to fiction and try books that would not normally appeal.
4. Reduce social media interaction and the constant need to check my phone.
5. Drink herbal tea.
6. Dance with the girls in the morning before we get dressed for school/work.
7. Play superheroes in the evening before bedtime routine.
8. Be more ‘present’ with the girls.
9. Spend at least an hour a day ‘on’ my business.

6 months have passed and I have still not watched any television. By stopping one activity I have in fact grown significantly in the following areas:

• 10 pages was an achievable benchmark and often I found myself lost in the pages for longer.
• 12 books completed and enjoyed. Currently reading number 13 and now the proud owner of a book light.
• My reading pace and my retention of information increased.
• The landscape of my creativity has broadened.
• I have learnt how to incorporate transformational language into my conversations.
• My daughter (4 years old) learns one ‘Super Big’ word a week. We break it down by learning to sign it first and then put it in to contexts. She asked her father for a consequence to give mummy the other day, as I had been naughty! Ginormous, magnificent, phenomenal, tremendous, fabulous…just to mention a few.
• Completed a business reboot which included a rebrand and new website.
• Learnt that dancing to four songs in the morning is a great way to start the day. Our playlist is as follows: Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars – uptown funk, Tailor Swift – shake shake, Pharrell Williams – Happy and then we go totally crazy to GHOST BUSTERS!
• Our house boasts a fabulous array of super hero costumes. I’m Spiderman, Harper is the hulk, Addison is super girl and Daddy - well let’s just put it this way….He’s Daddy, every girls real life SUPERHERO.
• With quality interaction comes happy children who are not fighting for your attention as you have given it to them.
• Reduced tech time especially in the evening has contributed to improved quality of sleep.

What did I learn…

When I looked for activities to escape from crazy days or stressful situations my brain numbed, I adopted a zombie physiology and became detached.

When I changed my mindset from looking to escape reality to searching for activities to boost the quality of my thoughts, energy levels and interactions I found the enchanted forest. When you spend the majority of your time in the enchanted forest you have no desire to find the Rabbit hole!