The resolution “officially” began in early December.

What would happen if I said Me First! for 100 days?

Child safety being the exception (3-year-olds need to eat, after all), what would happen if I only did things that made me benefited, pleased, or helped me… before I helped anyone else?

Inspired by a woman’s challenge to not purchase anything new, I created my own personal challenge.

100 Days of Me, First.

Starting in the frenzy of December holiday planning was perhaps not the brightest of ideas.

Then again, it may have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

Here’s what’s happened so far.

Week One – Who am I?

Logging a daily journal, a pattern emerged.

• I was spending less than 30 minutes of one-on-one, tech-free time with my daughter.
• I’m addicted to the web.
• I hate working in the evenings
• I’m doing way too much for other people who don’t appreciate my efforts. (Handmade Christmas gifts for everyone sounded like a good idea at the time.)

I may have coined the Lazy Parenting movement, but being lazy does not give me a free pass to ignore my child.

Mommy Guilt crashed in waves.

I let myself drown in the guilt for a bit.

I noticed I was frantic, frenetic. This person I had become looked like the old version of me I worked so hard to get out of my life.

My teens and 20s were filled with suicide attempts, rooted in environmental and reactive depression (basically, my body and brain shut down when overwhelmed).

Over the past 6 years, I’ve worked hard to cultivate a life a life grounded in optimism and self-care. (Read about it here.)

I had swerved off my path.

Week One was about getting back on track.

What really makes me happy?

A quick list:

• Travel
• Spending time with my daughter
• Writing
• Yoga

I took some immediate steps:

• Going online, I booked tickets to Medellin, Colombia, South America for March 2016 (Bucket List item)
• When I picked my daughter up from school that day, we went to the playground. I left my phone in the car.
• I wrote, for the first time in weeks. (And I call myself a writer.)
• I went to yoga the next morning.
• I hit up Amazon for my holiday shopping.

Not a complete fix, but progress. I felt calmer, happier, and a bit less stressed.

All by being selfish. I’m liking this Me, First! business.

Week Two

What am I distracting myself with?

Work days are unproductive, due to a whole bunch of issues that every families faces. Time constraints, illnesses, an overload of commitments.

So I took a week to let myself be distracted.

I researched my daughter’s mysterious illness to my heart’s content. And made progress on potential causes.

I filled my SUV with boxes and bags of things that were, well… in the way. We didn’t love them, need them, or have room for them.

Goodbye.

I shipped out a box of baby clothes and toys to a friend with a newborn.

I rearranged my daughter’s closet so she can access her daily outfits, and got rid of half of the stuff she never wore. (She came out fully dressed this morning when asked to go choose her outfit for the day.)

With room to organize (and breathe), toys was rearranged for independent access. There are 7 toys in my living room right now, 5 neatly stored under the coffee table. If a new toy enters the room, one is returned to the toy cabinet for storage.

We’ve done it before. It works.

It's my 3-year-old's job to channel her inner Dora and clean up.

A place for everything and everything in its place! makes for one less stressed mama.

Onward.

Week Three

What am I avoiding?

I started paying attention to items languishing on my to-do list.

Work, first. The work I was avoiding turned out to be work that didn’t directly benefit myself (aka my bottom line).

Talk about an eye-opener. I was avoiding work I didn’t want to do because it didn’t have a pay off (mentally or monetarily).

Duh.

Letting go of most of my to-do list, I targeted three Me, first! things. Being an online entrepreneur, my list might look different than yours, but here it is:

• Get back to basics
• Stop trading hours for dollars
• Focus on work that directly benefits my long business goals

Me, First! is about being selfish in a healthy way. It’s about recognizing that I’m not the best mother, business owner, writer, and person when I place other people’s needs ahead of my own?

Including my daughter’s needs.

Selfish? Fine. I’ll take it.

Barely a third of the way into my 100 Day Me, First! Challenge, I’ll admit it — I’m struggling.

There are up days and down days. Illnesses, deadlines, and school parties will never disappear, but saying no to more and yes to less is heading this mama in a healthier, happier direction.

You’ll find me outside with my daughter, at yoga, and writing. Organizing and stressing less.

(Oh, and I got my hair done.)

It’s progress. That stronger, healthier, happier me is coming back.

I missed her.

I read once that to plan a New Year’s Resolution is to plan for failure.

This year, don’t plan your New Year’s Resolution.

Take the Me, First! Challenge, instead.

Choose 100 days of fulfillment over anticipation.

100 days of contentment over commitment.

Make a list of things that make you happy and do just one.

Right now.

I’m waiting for you.