Ten Day Cycle

I discovered this little ritual while reading the lovely Laura Valerie's Life. Beauty. Laughter. I love the idea of creating short term goals for ourselves.I don't do it enough and I really should, so here goes, my first ten day cycle will include:
1. Blog
I want to blog every day for the next ten days. I want to get into the habit of recording, sharing and assessing my life. I want to be able to look back on it in years to come and enjoy reading what was in comparison to what is. So that's why I plan to blog, at least once a day, for the next ten days. No matter what. This will also tie into my November writing challenge that I'll discuss this week.
2. Finish Reading Eat Pray Love
When I first saw Elizabeth Gilbert's appearance on the Oprah show a few years ago I declared that I would never read her book. Her manner, attitude and, dare I say it, "aura" annoyed me. A lot. So I swore against becoming a part of the Eat Pray Love cult that has developed since that appearance.
But then I decided that my opinion should really be based on something more solid than not liking the author as a person so, around the release of the film, I bought the book.
It's been  interesting to say the least. I loved the "eat" part. Italy is a very interesting place and I learnt a bit. (Who new that Neapolitan ice-cream is from Naples?)
But now I'm into India and I'm struggling a bit. I'm not sure that I buy the whole "find myself through intense meditation" thing but I'll persevere. They say Bali is a lot better. Hopefully I'll be done with it in the next ten days. A proper review will ensue.
3. Stop picking my nails
It's a bad habit. Enough said.
4. Avoid artificial sugar... for ten days.
I used to be completely addicted to Coke. By that I mean Coca-Cola, of course. My body really relied on it and one day I just decided to go cold turkey and give it up. I crave sugar because I'm addicted to it. I never used to be so dependent on the sugary stuff and now that I am I've come to the realisation that I'm doing my body a serious disservice. I'll document the way I approach this particular goal and hopefully at the end of ten days I'll be able to extend it.
5. Stretch
I hardly ever do this after my runs and I really should. It's important for recovery purposes and the more distance I add to my runs, the more imperative stretching becomes. I plan to stretch during my cool down session in order to prevent blood pooling in my limbs, prevent lactic acid build up in my muscles and keep my tendons relaxed and loosened.
6. Get to bed at a decent hour
On the nights I'm not working I really want to aim to be in bed by 10pm and by doing so,
7. Develop a better morning routine
I'll be able to get up earlier if I get to bed earlier. I do believe that a good morning routine is a great way to set up the tone for the day and I want to set up an interesting one of my own.
8. Stay in touch
My dad's ability to lose touch with people has always infuriated me and now I've found myself doing the same thing. Nowadays there is no excuse for losing contact with important people. The internet, cellphones and the ever glorious skype makes it easy to drop in on anyone, no matter where in the world they are. So, over the next ten days I plan to make contact with those people I've lost along the way and stay in contact with those I haven't.
9. Watch Mad Men and love it
I've just started watching this much talked about television show. I've been wanting to watch for ages and I can't wait to watch it unfold.
10. Bake that cake
That interesting cake from Women's Health. The one that uses ingredients like "agave" and avocado. Yep, you read right, I've been dying to try it out.