This Wednesday I did something I’ve never done before. I started something new. I told myself I would go to bed after writing down three things that I am grateful for, and then in the morning I will get up and get some exercise, and that is precisely what I did. After my work out I listened to a short podcast on mindfulness where the presenter talked about setting a daily intention in the morning when your mind is at its clearest.
I am aiming to build some new mental habits which include thinking about what I am grateful for before I go to bed, complete some meditation/mindfulness throughout the day and to start setting a positive intention for the day in the morning. I feel like doing more but I think if I try and do way too much I won’t actually get anything done.
So for now I am going to focus on two things: making my gratitude journal, and also setting my daily intention in the morning. I wonder how these new habits will change me.
The beginning of the year always brings with it a new energy and time to reflect and realign my goals – and it always coincides with my birthday – well sort off.
In 2018, my main focus was my business. Learning how to be a good boss, managing my business finances and balancing client care with the needs of my business. While all of these things are still important to me now, I want to use 2019 to focus on self care.
This, perhaps, may sound selfish and counter intuitive to good business practice, yet I have always been of the belief, that by caring for yourself, you are also caring for others. So what will self care look like for me in 2019?
Decluttering – Anyone who saw my post in 2017 on how I decluttered my closet will know that I am a huge advocate for Minimalism. This year, my focus will be on decluttering other environments. Some of the things I want to declutter significantly are:
My Office: After running my business for a year I feel a lot clearer about what I want to do with the space in my office and I feel more comfortable about throwing out some resources that a year ago I wouldn’t have dared to.My Schedule: In order to have more time to grow my business I will need to take some time off work from client care so that I can start building other aspects of the business. I have lots of ideas, that, to be properly executed need time and research.My Makeup and Bath Products: I use these every single day and they are part of my daily routine. I would like to feel more polished at work, but I am unhappy with my current selection of beauty products. I’m hoping to do some research and build a collection of make up and beauty products that I truly love and will use on a daily basis.
Setting Clear Goals – Like most girls, many of my past New Year’s Resolutions have been to “Lose Weight”. While I am not skinny I am generally in a healthy weight range. Having a fitness goal has eluded me mainly because I’m not really sure what a fitness goal is or how to set one. This year my fitness goal is to start pole again and be able to do an “Inverted V” straight from the ground. It looks like this:
As well as setting clear fitness goals, I want to be setting clearer financial goals as well. Some of the things I am doing for this are:- Reviewing my regular business and personal expenses ensuring that they are the right choices for me.
– Reviewing my financial products; e.g. savings accounts, credit cards, insurances
– Setting up clear savings targets for what I am saving for
Becoming more mindful
For me this means:
Eating Slower and with fewer distractions – It’s so hard to eat without doing something else! My goal this year is to eat my meals without looking at my phone and to chew my food slower. Practising gratitude – I find myself constantly comparing my life to others especially on social media, I know I have a beautiful life, even though it is not always photographable.Purchasing mindfully – I’ve gotten rid of so much junk this year already and to be honest it has been really difficult to find environmentally friendly ways to get rid of the things I don’t need anymore that I am making sure that when I do purchase something I really, really, really want it.
Not worrying about being perfect
While decluttering at my parents house last month, I found a whole bunch of artwork that Jess and I had intended to send to “Saturday Disney” when we were kids. We never sent it, always striving to make it perfect, but perfect never came. I’m going to be braver about sharing my progress when trying new things, instead of waiting until things are perfect before sharing 🙂
