A new month, a new year, a new decade has begun. Wow! What an opportunity we all have to create a fresh start for ourselves!
Take a moment and think back...do you remember what life was like at the beginning of this past year? How about the beginning of 2010? Remembering the details of life is not that easy for many of us. Ten years ago can feel like a completely different lifetime!
All too often we don’t create the time to reflect back on exactly where we’ve come from throughout the years. We just keep plugging along, living life, not necessarily paying attention to what we’re really doing. We’re busy, we’re working, we’re raising kids, we’re watching TV, we’re doing all the things. We’re not really paying attention, though. Once you start paying attention, what do you notice? Where have you made progress? Where do you still struggle or feel stuck? How happy do you actually feel from day to day? Attempting to answer these questions is the first step to take if you want to intentionally create a life you love.
Throughout the last few years I have learned to appreciate the importance of consistent reflection. I do my best to build this practice into my life in many different ways, regardless of what phase of life I seem to be in at the time. A big part of my practice is to simply write things down. I create lists and write down all of my random thoughts in some sort of a notebook or journal. These notebooks are filled with my personal goals, different business ideas, life experiences I want to have, income desires, home projects, favorite quotes, reminders and so on. Not only do I love creating these journals, I love looking through them and reflecting back on exactly where I was in my life as I wrote those thoughts and ideas down. It becomes very easy to see and truly acknowledge how far I’ve come when I’m staring at the pages of ideas and goals I had on my mind. Some of them starting off as only a dream, are now my reality. I notice how consistent some of my desires are. I also notice how I’ve changed my mind over the years. I’ve had a bad habit for a long time of setting goals I thought I SHOULD want to accomplish. Luckily over the years I have learned to lighten up a bit and let go of old ways of thinking. I’m learning that it’s OK to outgrow people, places, things and ideas. It’s OK to change your mind if something feels off or not quite right. I had to honestly work at this!
What I love the most about this practice of reflection is the importance of continuously checking in with myself. What’s going really well right now? Where am I still stuck? What changes do I want to create for myself, my family, my business?
The truth is, I radically transformed my life in a very short amount of time once I became serious about taking ownership of every single one of my decisions. As a working mother, I had to decide what my priorities were in order to even begin to consider accomplishing anything in these important areas of my life.
The first step to taking ownership of the decisions you make is to define your priorities. Do you know what your priorities are?
My current priorities:
- Quality interaction with my two daughters and husband
- A wellness routine that includes meditation, movement, sleep and nutrition
- A meaningful career that offers valuable support to my clients
There’s only so much time in a day. I do not believe you can do it all AND actually be happy! You have to choose carefully where you spend your time, energy and money if you want to live a life you actually enjoy.
If you fail to plan the time for the things that matter most to you, you’ll be lucky if you accomplish any of your goals. Learning how to maximize the time in your week is one of THE MOST important skills that will directly impact not only your level of success but also your long term consistency, which is honestly what matters most to me.
Let’s take a look at how I approach planning my weekly routine as an example. My life is a very common example of the lives of the many women I connect with regularly, so I’m sure you’ll be able to relate on some level. Here is a list of the common tasks I need to find time for in my weekly schedule if I want to stay consistent with making good choices that help me accomplish my goals based on my priorities that I listed above.
Sleep: 8 hours/night
Physical activity: 30 minutes/day
Read: 30 minutes/day
Meditate: 30 minutes/day
Work commitments: 4-5 hours/day
Plan our weekly menu
Schedule grocery shopping
Meal prep
Pack lunches (my girls are taking over in this area now!)
Review and organize all incoming mail and bills
Review sports schedules/driving schedules
Review school paperwork/emails
PLUS all of the other adult responsibilities we need to create time for...shower, straighten up/declutter, do laundry, go to orthodontist appointments, visit parents, attend school programs, etc.
I strongly suggest you take the time to write out the exact tasks on your list. Then estimate the time it will take to accomplish them. Then actually write out in detail how you will accomplish these tasks in a planner. You will quickly see there is very little time left over! What is one to do? First, go through your list and decide if you really need to or want to do be doing what’s on your list. Seriously, if you hate doing half of what’s on your list and you don’t have any of your own priorities already included, how much are you enjoying your day-to-day life?
If you care about your health, wellness and overall life experience, below are a few simple habits that will assist you in creating positive changes this year:
Eat a vegetable at every meal
Drink a glass of water at every meal
Move your body 30 minutes every single day
Sleep 8 hours every night
Proactively plan out the details of each week
Pay attention to when you feel the happiest – and do more of that!
What would your life feel like if you committed to every one of those habits for 30 days, 90 days, the entire year? If you find you’re really struggling in life, just pick one or two to start, but commit to those habits daily. I find that most of us skip over the basics in life. Those things that feel so simple that it’s hard to believe they actually make any impact. My encouragement to you is to make it as simple as possible and get back to the basics of caring for yourself. Not only will this have a positive impact on you, but it will absolutely impact the lives of those you spend time with. The ripple effect of self care is huge!
In order to stay focused on living life to my fullest potential, I decided that this year I’m changing things up. Instead of setting the traditional New Year’s resolution, I’m going to focus on a list of words that I find myself thinking about and saying aloud frequently. Creating this list of words keeps it simple, as it directs me right toward my life priorities. I want to make a conscious effort to expose myself to as many experiences as possible in both my personal and business life that allow me to feel connected with this list.
Authenticity
True joy
Family
Connection
Community
Reflection
Abundance
Personal responsibility
True wellness
What words would be on your list? It can be hard to make your first list, especially if you’ve never really thought about it before. But go ahead and try. Find 3-10 words that make you feel connected to living your best life and write them down. Then look at your list every day. Compare your list to your weekly schedule. Do you find plans on your schedule that support your list? If not, you’ll want to start making some adjustments, no matter how small.
I love new beginnings, fresh starts, and clean slates. But I equally love reflection and observation without judgment as I assess how I feel about my progress – or lack thereof, in some cases.
What we do each and every day matters. The smallest decisions we make repeatedly are the ones that have the most impact on our lives. Are you paying attention to the choices you make each day? If not, right now is the perfect time to start. Living an intentional life that you love is worth planning for!
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” -Annie Quillard
Holly Mann is the owner of Fresh Habits. Learn more at www.freshhabits.net or email her at holly@freshhabits.net
