Being able to control yourself — Mind over body, salads over pancakes can be a tough thing. Tried following one single thing for 30 days? Leo’s famous A Year of Living Without tells you more about it. Inspired by him, I started Living With or Without. A series of notions I’m trying to change about myself. A 12 months project. Now in its baby stages.

Surviving a whole month with just green tea instead of eating any sort of dessert can be challenging. Can be tempting. Can be exhausting for people with sweet tooth. Such 12 things over 12 months — each month living with or without few simple things in life will.

Since the age I remember I had nails & teeth, I remember biting. A dirty habit. A nasty one. So decided to start this 12 month project with nastiest thing. Stop biting ( nails !! )

A whole month without biting nails lead me to believe in a lot of things. It was very silly at first but went on to a stage where it made me confident. It was all possible for me. I could see future. A good one.

So, moving on to next month, I decided to stop procrastinating. I have never been able to complete a course online. I have postponed it up to years & decided to take up on that. A course on Udacity about basics in Java — wanted to complete. It wasn’t much of success but it wasn’t a fail either. Some days, Ms. Procrastination queen. And some days, I wasn’t.

By March, I was confident on doing anything. I wanted to go world touring in 30 days. Holding on to that thought, I decided to run for a month. Every single day. As I had taken part in two 10K events & having been able to complete it in a good timing ( 1hr.15min. Not to forget — First timer!!). So I decided to get ready for next one — TCS 10K in May. I ran 3k, I ran 4K & somedays in name of running, I did a lot of walking & nothings. But it gave me more power to think beyond capacity. To think of all the things that I CAN DO.

So, here I am, in beginning of another brand new month, another brand new idea — Drink green tea instead of desserts. That’s right. I ‘m gonna!!

2014 is gonna be full of things I have been resisting, procrastinating & hoping to do. So by the end of 2014 .. I’ll have done 12 different things & atleast few I can hold on to for rest of my life or may not stick to any of it but it’s amazing how one habit can change the way you think about a lot of things around.