We all know we should drink more water, but how much?  The rule is half your body weight in ounces of water a day.  If you weigh 200 pounds, you should be drinking 100 ounces of water per day.

If that sound daunting, I understand.  That’s why this personal challenge is so great!  I am inviting you to set a personal goal, not live up to some expectation - what do YOU need to do?   If you currently drink say, 30 ounces, raise that to 50 ounces, or whatever you feel is appropriate. Set a personal goal for yourself.

If measuring water by ounces sounds like a drag – here’s a tip…take your current water bottle, or one that is gathering dust and is crying to be used.  Fill it, measure it and boom – never measure again.  If you know your bottle is 16 ounces, and you currently drink 2 a day, set your goal to 3!  No measuring that way.

Do you loose track on how many bottles you drank, or lack incentive?  Here’s another tip.  If your goal is to drink 3 bottles a day, start the day with 3 rubber bands around the bottle.  When you finish a bottle, take off a band, launch it across the room and get your co-worker to drink their water.  Okay, no fighting kids, the point?  The bands help you keep track and remind you to drink your water. Boom, killer idea right?

Still think it will be tough?  Here’s another tip.  Stack this habit with one you already do multiple times a day.  So, if you have a routine of getting up to use the bathroom multiple times a day or perhaps take a walk to get your blood moving; let that be the reminder to drink your water.  Every time you get back to your workstation, drink some water.  Here’s a little education of why drinking water is important, as promised.

Ever heard the phrase, “Once you carry your own water, you will learn the value of every drop.”?  To me, this quote embodies a mindset of gratitude. So often we go through life without acknowledging the blessings that are around us because they are merely there by circumstance. We take these things for granted, but when we take responsibility for these elements, and become more mindful of the processes that provide it for us, we start to realize how blessed we really are. By carrying the weight of the task and experiencing for yourself the effort required to produce the result, you’ll develop a new level of respect for everything that goes into it.  When we attach value to something, we are more apt to give attention to it.  Do you value your water?