Unlearning A Fixed Mindset: Leaving Old Habits Behind
Ever since I was young, I always had this feeling like I’d never have enough time. This feeling was literally applied to everything, but as I got older, it became less like a feeling, and more like a mindset. It applied to bike riding with my friends, making funny home videos after school with friends, leaving those so called friends behind traveling to college, and even now while I sit in a cabin with my husband and dogs far from home, work, and other responsibilities. If you have FOMO (fear of missing out), or any sort of decision fatigue over how you’re going to spend your next 19 hours and 42 minutes, trust me, you’re not alone. Fear of Missing Out Examples in My Life For so long, this was how my thought process worked. Clearly, today it still happens, although I’m actively teaching myself to unlearn this annoying habit. It drives me crazy each time I catch myself falling into its trap again, but luckily I’m able to recognize it more often these days. Yesterday, when we were to leave early in the morning for our weekend getaway, I got huffy with the hubs because he had to work a little extra in the morning. EVEN THOUGH this allowed me much needed time to do some catching up on work myself, (and set up the house for an easy return), I was rather bothered that we would be missing half of the day outside of the home to enjoy each others company. Kind of petty, don’t ya think? Petty, selfish, we all have those moments, because that’s just how we humans can be at times. The good part is that we can keep working on becoming better partners, and better individuals to be around. We can improve our attitude toward adventures and still allot enough mental space to have a nice time. Today, I had another one of those moments…didn’t take very long to creep back in. Rude! I was standing outside letting my dogs find their perfect spot, thinking about how checkout is at 11am tomorrow. “Crap! I thought, only 22 more hours in this beautiful place…wait, no! 21 hours! Ughh!!” Talk about annoying voices in your head. *eye roll* Related: How Self Reflection Helps You Grow as a Person Tips for Helping FOMO I’ve been working on leaving a plethora of old habits behind in the last several years, some of which you’ve probably already read about, and some of which may come about in the future. This overthinking, annoying fear of missing out thought process is most certainly one of them. The angst and the overwhelm about what I need to fit into these small chunks of time that I somehow managed to carve out of my hella busy schedule just want to take over sometimes and I’ve been working on ways to not let that happen so easily. Some of these tips may sound repetitive, but I promise you, that’s for a solid reason. They’re working for me, and if they can work on this ridiculous mind that runs a hundred miles a minute, I promise they are most likely going to work for you, too. Here’s my faves: (I’ve even implemented some of them this weekend so far) The 4:7:8 breath work technique. It truly is a winner. Check out a video if you’re not sure what it is, (I’ve linked one in the text on the home page for you!) Replace those racing and negative thoughts with better ones. Clear your mind and reset. Try visualizing exactly what you want to look like or where you want to be in 3 months, 6 months, or a year from now. Like really see it in your mind. Look inward. Someone recently was sharing a tattoo, in which we both agreed the inner work was the hardest part. This goes the same for your inner work on yourself. Spend some time working on being more mindful or trying to recognize when you’re getting stressed. You could even go as far as writing those moments down to reflect on them on a future date. Sit down or go for a walk (if you’re like me, when you’re thinking you cannot walk at the same time), don’t feel weird, just know it’s not just you! Try not letting any thoughts flood in during this time. Just focus on being present, and make sure you’re in nature, not a closed gym. Touch some trees. Or hug them, yes really. I recently traveled to my dads with my husband where we cut down a tree that’s been there my entire life. When I hugged the empty stump at the end, my husband laughed. But seriously, it was my way of feeling the goodbye entirely. I felt more whole doing so, and I’ve let go of feelings of guilt, shame, or people thinking I’m weird for doing things, because you know what, weird is just what I am, and I’m finally okay with that. Related: Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now Leaving Behind a Bad Habit Another habit I’m leaving behind this month is alcohol. I’m seeing where things take me, but as a self-proclaimed health nut, it’s just no longer for me. I’m looking toward a healthier and happier future where alcohol doesn’t consume my free time over reading, writing, being present with myself and loved ones, the list goes on. The more I do this thing called reading, the more I am educated about the cons widely outweighing the pros. And as a person (or woman, rather), in her 30s, it’s high time to make better decisions about what I’m ingesting. (This goes for nutrition as well! Which I promised in a past post that we will continue to touch on, so stay with me folks!) I’m hopeful that during this part of my journey with leaving old habits behind, you’ll be willing to follow along and do the same. Whether that looks like overthinking, drinking, or
Shining Light on Stress and Mental Health Barriers: Lessons Learned From the Solar Eclipse
Hey all! Have you heard? May was National Mental Awareness Month and we passed recently through National Stress Awareness Month in April! If you’re anything like me…or the many humans that experience stress and mental health barriers, you’ll want to check out today’s post for some apps and tricks on how to navigate some of the daily stressors we all face. How the Total Eclipse Resonated with My Mental Health If you didn’t get a chance to check out the total solar eclipse this Spring, please be sure to head over to NASA’s website to view some incredible pictures of what you missed! We were lucky enough to both request off of work in time so that we could drive out to the totality zone and snag ourselves a prime seat for taking in one of the most beautiful things we’ve seen so far! We passed a ton of spots where people had pulled over into parking lots and propped up a lawn chair, not to mention the MASSIVE amount of spectators awaiting its arrival on the many turnpike rest stops! The grass was filled with families, pets and a whole bunch of solar eclipse sunglasses. It was definitely a sight to see! (Ahem, instead of through feeds on our phones!) On the way out, we were thankful for our sunroof since we haven’t really had much use for it up until then. As the time approached for the sun to start sneaking behind the moon, we got to peek through the shades and witness the orange crescent becoming smaller and smaller. Even though this was the least exciting part of the whole eclipse, it grasped my attention for hours at both the beginning and the end. Once we arrived at our final destination, which was this cute little ice cream shop in town, we grabbed a milkshake and listened to the college kids next to us that were filming the transition and counting down. It felt like we were in our own little New Years Eve moment with the countdown and description of what part of the sun was showing. Very cool. What started as a beautiful blue sky day slowly turned into a darker, almost eerie haze. The skies became darker and the street lights turned on, you could see the bright sky all the way around us (instead of just on one side like normal when it gets dark out)! The shadows started to show on the pavement and before we knew it the total eclipse was upon us. We took off our solar eclipse glasses for the totality part, and were able to witness the incredible white glow around the sun. I kept wishing it would last longer as it was so amazing to view. We decided then that we would travel the globe more often and seek out additional places that we would have the opportunity to ingest this beauty for more than just 3 to 4 minutes. This was one of those experiences that really made me appreciate the work I’ve been doing on becoming present in the moment and really soaking in those important times in life. More From Habitual Balance: Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now Did you know?? “Solar eclipses are fairly numerous, about 2 to 4 per year, but the area on the ground covered by totality is only about 50 miles wide. In any given location on Earth, a total eclipse happens only once every hundred years or so, though for selected locations they can occur as little as a few years apart.” – nasa.gov Don’t Let Stress and Mental Health Barriers Eclipse Your Life So, did you catch that? My friends, if you’re willing to travel a little more, and you’re a total space nerd like myself, you can see a total solar eclipse much more often than just once in a lifetime! Last year we hadn’t traveled much due to work and matters of life hindering us left and right. We’ve all been there. This year however more experiences like the eclipse have shown us just how important it is to take the day off, hang out with your loved ones, jump in and take a road trip, because we have only one life. We may as well enjoy it to the best of our ability, right? Whether those experiences are traveling for you to a solar eclipse, reading more often in the park on a hammock, or maybe just enjoying some more you time in ways like a hot bath, a walk or even just laying down in the grass and staring at the clouds, focusing on mental health and becoming aware of the world around us is something that needs to be addressed more these days. We talk a lot on this blog about stress and how it can cause so many different issues in our lives. “Four of the top five causes of death are stress-related: heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and stroke.” – psycologytoday.com That’s scary peeps. The best thing about it though? We can control these outcomes, better than we have been and better than ever before with the help of new apps and new approaches to understanding mental health and becoming aware of creating more time for self-care routines. Looking for a friend or therapist online? Check out Better Help to talk through some of your most stressful moments and find new roads to travel around them in the future. Need to incorporate some more meditation in your life? My personal faves are Insight Timer and Headspace. I really feel that when I was a beginner meditator, Headspace helped me to get started. Now though, I enjoy Insight Timer much more as there are many different options I feel I can search for that get me to that perfect meditation that I’m searching for. If you’re having trouble sleeping and need help obtaining more of that more often, I recommend investing in the Hatch sunrise alarm clock. It’s exceeded my
Navigating Hardships: Finding Strength in Slowing Down
Hey friends, Last week we talked about how working through personal problems is at best the one of the hardest things we as humans have to do…and we’re often doing that alone. It’s not easy, being you, and I just want you to understand that I’m here for you. I’m here providing an open book on my own struggles and want you to be in the know that we all have our moments of hardship and struggle. The thing is though, we can get through it. We can push past those hard times and come out stronger. I promise. Let me talk about how I’m getting through mine…can you relate? No Pain, No…Well Some Pain Last month, I had some exciting news. I can finally compete in my new favorite sport, BJJ. That took a backburner when I had to take some time off last year due to working too much, struggling with setting myself back on a mentally healthy path, and most recently, a work injury to my right wrist resulting in my first set of stitches ever. It sucked, and I was instantly angry knowing exactly what I’d just cost myself. Let me explain a few things to get you caught up to speed. I’ve been practicing BJJ now for nearly 2 years, several times a week with my best friend (aka the hubs). We’ve loved it since day 1 and he’s got to compete once already. I was super jealous because I, too, wanted to stand by him on that day. Unfortunately at that time, I just wasn’t ready yet. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m ready now. Probably not, but we’ll just roll with it, right? So as you can tell, this has been a want for some time. Once I finally pushed through getting myself back on a good mental track, once I finally stopped participating in the rat race before my personal growth and relationship with myself and my husband and BJJ, I was feeling more ready than ever. Then, I had a relapse. The Road Less Traveled: My Journey To Healthy Part 1 Oh What a Rush Not of alcohol, not of drugs, not of anything crazy…but of rushing. Rushing: aka – going too damn fast, running around without necessity, speeding tasks along where they didn’t need to be. You see, I was especially mad this time because this time, I knew better. I knew there was strength in slowing down. Yet this time, I had experienced the angst that rushing had caused me in the past. But I did it anyway. There I was, working my day job when the most ridiculous thing happened. It was 20 minutes until my shift was over, and 2 short hours before my private one-on-one class with my Coach’s coach. I was so excited to learn from him especially since he only comes to town once a year. Before I knew it, my (dominant) wrist was bleeding heavily. I ran up the hall to my manager’s office and said I needed something to stop the bleeding. I’d broken a plate against a counter and caused the need for 6 stitches within the hour. It was when it felt like I was holding a ton of bricks that I knew I would not be participating in class or much of anything else fun at least for a few weeks. As the super active person that I am, I was in pure dread. Irritation above all else, since again, I knew better. Finding Strength in Slowing Down I used to rush around all the time, until I continued to get bumps and bruises that I didn’t recall happening. Do you ever have that problem? Most people I talk to do. Crazy, right? The fact that we move so fast sometimes without really being present that things like literally hurting ourselves just go by the wayside. We need to do better, friends. How often do you have these moments in life? Are they frequent? Not so much? Maybe not at all? What were you doing when those moments occurred? Were you really present at that moment? Like, 100%?? It’s doubtful. For 4-6 weeks I was in and out of MedExpress, annoyed on walks or hikes because my wrist was out of commission. No strength training, no BJJ, no pushups, pullups, opening of doors the wrong way or pushing myself up from a chair without shooting pain. Talk about frustrating. Sure, there are several of you out there that may have had similar or maybe even worse experiences, and I feel for you, truly. The good part through all of this is that we have a choice. We always have a choice. The Role of Self Reflection in Personal Growth Discovering Power in Embracing a Slower Pace How did it make you feel? How did you or are you dealing with this current struggle? Are you pushing past it and finding new ways to function? Or are you pouting on your couch? (A little of this is of course absolutely okay!) But I strongly suggest you get back out there and get after it. Through my own experience, I learned to improve my ways of doing things. I learned to slow down more like I had in the past, and also how to use my elbow in BJJ instead of relying on my hand. I’ve opened doors now with my forearm (which is technically healthier anyway!), and I’ve worked hard to start strength training again with more oomph than I have ever before. I’ve come to realize that with age comes increasingly more determination, even if you have a harder time physically doing something. Do you feel the same? I run faster, train harder and work more slowly. I pay attention to others talking, listen to stories people tell, and try to spend less time worrying. I’m grateful for my working legs, my healing wrist, and my ability to still compete in something at 32 years
The Road Less Traveled: My Journey To Healthy Part 1
Hey there all of my beautiful interweb friends. I’m sure some of you may be wondering where I’ve been the last few months. Off and on here, that’s for sure! That’s because of several reasons. Both personally and professionally. Some of which we’ve talked about on the blog. But I’d like to talk to you today about one that’s a little more personal. If you’ve struggled with weight loss (of any kind!) throughout your journey in this life (for whatever reason!), this may be just the post for you. Habitually Unbalanced Let’s start from the beginning. January of 2023 held some major setbacks in a lot of manners of my life, but mostly through my own self-growth and self-care routines. I wasn’t spending the much needed time that we all should be on the parts of life that really matter, (as in, taking care of me, myself and I), and my body started showing signs that it needed a well-deserved break. A break physically helped immensely, but as time droned on, I came to the realization that my mental health needed a nice refresher as well. So, I started taking better and better care just a little bit at a time of all these different aspects of this beautiful life. Today, almost 1.5 years later, I’ve crossed a bunch of boundaries, resolved a lot of personal disputes, and crushed multiple goals in both my physical and mental health. However, one agonizing thing has remained a burden, my weight. Health is More Than a Visual Test You see, I would be what they call “in good shape” from the outside. The unfortunate thing is that I am and forever have been one of those persons that consistently felt I: “…could do better.” “…could use some toning.” “…could try harder and just focus.” “…could eat less and move more.” “…could just NOT EVER do what felt good.” This got to be super annoying over time and I came to feeling like nothing I did was going to get to my “dream body.” I have a feeling a lot of people go through this particular journey, but as a woman, I think I can speak for the half of the population that feels it’s much harder going through hormone changes and body changes and all of the wonderful things that come with becoming a woman in your thirties. I basically gave up after hitting extreme burnout and put on even more weight for another period of time, which was super upsetting given that I have always been a highly active and energetic person that’s played sports all year round and ate healthy most of my twenties….”healthy.” Or so I thought. What pushed me onto this new road that I’m currently on was because of a few factors, but mainly being concerned about my health. Something I never thought would be an issue for an “active” person such as myself. Related: What Are Your Pillars? Mental, Physical, Emotional Health Foundations Finding Out What Was “Wrong” Throughout the time since last January, I talked about several new journeys and how this blog got its start. What I didn’t talk about however was how I had chronic side pain that would just NOT go away. It would be there randomly during a work shift so stabbing that I would go to the bathroom just to sit on the floor and wait it out. It would come and go on walks with my dog, runs with my husband, and slow me down in BJJ since I was concerned “something had to be wrong with me” that it wasn’t going away. I think a lot of things in life make us feel as if we have things “wrong with us,” when in fact, it’s simply a more common problem that most of us just never heard about. This is what happened. I went through countless abdominal scans with ultrasounds and MRIs, including this one that vibrated on my liver. It was super weird. And my arms went numb from holding them above my head for an hour. But I digress, it was more mentally challenging than anything as I waited months and months to find ANYTHING about what the issue may or may not be. After another appointment early this spring, I found that it was nothing too serious, but that I have a few things to be aware of now that these scans were done. I have multiple small cysts on my liver, (mostly benign hemangiomas)…THAT ARE LIKELY CAUSED BY BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AND “NOT A BIG DEAL” BECAUSE THEY’RE FOUND MOST COMMONLY AMONG YOUNG WOMEN….like, what?? I have one benign larger cyst that is considered safe but needs checked in the future just to be certain. I have “Stage 2” or “Grade 2” NAFLD: aka, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. “A condition in which excess fat builds up in your liver. This buildup of fat is not caused by heavy alcohol use.” So, that’s annoying, right? Learn More: NAFLD If You Are Ever Concerned, See Your Doctor When I received this information, I was super frustrated for one thing. Not just because cysts from birth control are so damn common that it’s considered “normal,”. But also because I was certain there was just no way I had extra fat stored in my liver. I was “active” and “healthy!” After this, I did some research and realized that it is a pretty common thing to find out. Which frankly, is kind of sad. It also is really not cool that if for some reason you don’t find this out in an earlier stage, that it can go on to turn into cirrhosis of the liver, which is irreversible. IRREVERSIBLE, my friends! Luckily, mine is still in the reversible stage, which I highly intend to report to you along the way on how this journey is and has been going. If you’re going through anything similar, we’ve got this! I’m asking you to be my accountability partner and to stay
What Are Your Pillars? Mental, Physical, Emotional Health Foundations
Hey you. How are you doing? Mentally, physically, emotionally? Is all well or is one of these three pillars of your foundation on the brink of collapse? Let’s chat today about life in 2024 and how we’re handling it thus far. As well as how we can approach situations differently and come out on top from here on out. Three Pillars of Your Life – Mental Wellness Pillar The three pillars of your life come in many shapes and sizes, but these three are what the majority of us probably focus on most of the time. Should we focus on one more than another? Should we even care about all of them as much as some? These are the questions that linger in my psyche and most likely in some of yours as well. First let’s talk about our mental wellness. Have you done any taking care of that lately? Do you have plans to do so in the near future? If so, how? Here are a few options to check in with yourself if you’re lacking ideas as of late. Call up a friend, laugh a little, enjoy your time without looking at the clock. Go for a walk with your dog(s), or cat…or ferret. No judgements here! Get you some nature, friend. Take a nap. It’s okay, really. 10-20 minutes will do the trick. Get off your phone and get in your head. Our mental health tends to take the back burner when life is throwing all kinds of crap our way. There’s no time to think about ourselves when we have to take care of everything and everyone else, right? Unfortunately that’s not the case at all. Taking care of yours truly first and foremost will more than definitely have a positive effect on the world around you. Related: Road to Success: Embracing Perseverance in Life in the Face of Adversity in 2024 Don’t Forget About You – 3 Physical Pillar Tips Have you checked in lately with that good old flesh and bones of yours? Bodies are weird, they come in all shapes and sizes too, but alas the one you call home needs some TLC now and then. So, my advice? Give it some! More often than not. Here’s some to-do’s for you. Run. Run for a minute, an hour, whatever you’re feeling. Running fuels the body and mind so much differently than walking. Give it a try. Move some weight. Whether this be your own bodyweight or dumbbells at the gym, push yourself and really freaking mean it. Go ahead, grimace, the world isn’t watching. Stretch yo self before you wreck yo self. No but seriously, it’s one of the most commonly looked over natural healers of chronic pain. Promise yourself 2.5 minutes each morning and night and then feel the difference as you increase your time. Every time I’m tense from work, family, or my own internal issues, I try to implement at least one of these things. Of course we have lives and taking even 2.5 minutes for something trivial like stretching can pause your day for what seems like eons. Just think, you can help your body heal in the same amount of time as watching 5 TikTok videos. All the Feels – Emotional Pillars Ahh, emotions. Those will get the better of us more often than not. They suck and they’re beautiful all at the same time. Help yourself grow into more emotional maturity. How do you do that? I’m glad you asked. Talk to a therapist. No, not a friend or family member, you’re not paying them to hear your problems, and they probably get bored of listening anyway. Check out BetterHelp online, it’s a cost-effective and incredibly convenient option to get your mind right. Read! It’s like our generations embraced the growing online community and forgot all about those smelly old hardbacks sitting on the shelves. There’s something nostalgic and comforting about brushing the dust off a good self-help book and flipping through the pages without needing blue light glasses. Change your mindset. Including the words you speak and the things you choose (or choose not) to say. Listen more and understand people and yourself just a little deeper. Becoming emotionally mature is something I’m forever working on. It’s hard to grow up in some ways and understand that life is short and we are so tiny in this universe. Stop rushing and begin working on ways to level up in your own best interest. Related: Lost and Found: Finding Yourself and Gaining Clarity In Life There’s Still Time This Year If you have had a rough start to the first quarter, don’t back down. Push through and know that you’re only 1/4 of the way through 2024. Lean into what successes you did have and don’t shy away from new challenges at work or in life. Try to adapt to new ways of thinking and sit back and relax just a little more. Have you read a good book recently? Do you prefer Audible instead of paperback? Drop a comment below, let’s talk about the key differences and why both options are healthy choices for us individually. If you’re still looking, here are a few options in the meantime. Can’t Hurt Me, by David Goggins The Universe Has Your Back, by Gabrielle Bernstein Grit, by Angela Duckworth Let me know your thoughts! Take care friend. Thank You For Reading “What Are Your Pillars? Mental, Physical, Emotional Health Foundations” Thank you for reading today’s post all about discovering what are your Mental, Physical, Emotional Pillars. What has your path looked like? What will it look like tomorrow? Let me know what resonates with you. If you have a suggestion for our next post, let us know. Don’t forget to check out our sister site Rooted in Reselling.
Road to Success: Embracing Perseverance in Life in the Face of Adversity in 2024
In the last post we talked about trusting the process and how it means different things to all of us as humans. Today something similar has been floating around in my mind and that my friends is the word, perseverance. To trust the process of life, we need to persevere through the ups and downs. Perseverance in life is not easy. We need to shove past the sneaky negative thoughts floating in as well and tune into our more intelligent selves! Perseverance is Finding the Right Path and Forging Ahead Because it’s crucial to keep forging ahead, we must recognize that each problem faced is a path forward in some way, shape or form. Even though this path is not always easy or obvious, it’s often those paths that end up leading us to exactly where we need to be. I won’t lie, persevering is hard work, especially when you start to become doubtful of the process. It can look all wrong when it’s supposed to be all right. These are the times that opportunity lies in front of us with new beginnings and new challenges. How is your perseverance different in 2024 as opposed to 5, 10, or even 20 years ago? Do you look to new outlets to find inspiration? For myself and my husband, it’s YouTube videos on hiking difficult trails or traveling to interesting places. Watching these create new emotions that push us to book new trips that we never would have dreamed up before. What are your outlets for you and for your family? Ask around to see what you have in common with your loved ones or what you can learn from them. Related: What Does Trust the Process Mean in 2024? Three Tips to Help You on Your Path to Perseverance in Life Every now and then we face boulders in the road that stop us in our tracks. They’ll need strategy, force and determination to push past or punch through…which will in turn show us new ways around future obstacles by presenting us with new experiences to take along with us on this journey. The journey of perseverance is long and grueling but trust me, you’ve got this. No matter what is necessary to make moves on your future road, I believe in you! Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and creating new steps along your dreams. In the meantime, here are some easy to carry with you tips that may help during that process… (print them out or summarize them to keep with you if you want!) It’s okay to look back, but don’t live there. A lot of times you may hear “Don’t look back,” but I encourage you to do just that. Self-reflection is so important to realizing our growth, and oftentimes goes unnoticed if we don’t start tracking it. I just downloaded “Setgraph” (I’ll let you know how it goes!), which is a log to track your workouts which I plan to do more often now that I’ve begun my training for our upcoming Grand Canyon camping trip! 5 Steps To Achieving Your 2024 Goals and How I’m Planning Mine Track your progress! Just as mentioned in Tip #1, tracking your progress and growth is something that may be difficult to get going, but is super worth it once you get the ball rolling. Try out one of the many apps available to start tracking your daily goals or just use your notepad on your phone to create a reflection journal. I’m loving that my iPhone just updated to include a new Journal app that reminds me of recent events to journal on! Try out a checklist. Checklists have helped me immensely to stay on track during days that I’m feeling off, and have encouraged me to continue on in my day’s duties when I feel like the world is caving in. My favorite checklist currently is oddly enough the “Tasks” option on my Google Calendar. No need to spend extra to engage in some more self-care! Keep Going, One Step is One Step Closer As you can see, you don’t need to spend extra to focus on living your best life. Persevering is trusting the process and recognizing that you have it in you to keep going. Try out the tips above in the days and weeks ahead to prove to yourself that you can stay on track and keep hitting back when things don’t go according to plan. For the first time in my life recently, a co-worker told me how I gave off “relaxed vibes.” I honestly didn’t know how to react, so I just replied with “Thank you!!” As someone that has endured different bouts of anxiety over the years, this was the highest compliment I could have gotten. It was such a relief to hear that someone else had recognized the work I’ve been putting in, and I want you to shoot for that feeling as well! Every day is a challenge, big or small. Just keep in mind that each day you only need to make small changes. They’ll add up, and your confidence, ambition, and strength will too. Thank You For Reading “Road to Success: Embracing Perseverance in Life in the Face of Adversity in 2024” Thank you for reading today’s post all about how to find your perseverance in life. What has your path looked like? What will it look like tomorrow? Let me know what resonates with you. If you have a suggestion for our next post, let us know. Don’t forget to check out our sister site Rooted in Reselling.
5 Steps To Achieving Your 2024 Goals and How I’m Planning Mine
Hello again, friend! As the first month of 2024 quickly comes to a close, there are many things that still need accomplished in the remaining 11. Come along with me today and chat with me about what my goals and plans are and learn how I’m realizing what works best to get those goals actually accomplished. Here are 5 steps to achieving your 2024 goals. Step 1: Set Your Goals for 2024 Do you have goals for this year? Do they have deadlines or due dates? If you’re like most of the world, (myself included!), that’s most likely going to be a big YES! Goals help us stay focused on the end point of our planning. They help us to realize that there is in fact a finish line. That sometimes we just have to stay the course to get to the main prize. During the year of 2024, I have several goals I’ll be setting out to accomplish. What are your 2024 goals? 2023 was a long year for me. It was a year of odd jobs, new beginnings, a few endings and a lot of lessons learned. Which means in 2024, I’m more than ready to start living my best life at the young age of 32, and I’d like for you to join me on that journey. What do you say? Let’s start achieving those 2024 goals. Related: Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now Step 2: Determine Your Top 3 Goals for 2024 If I could describe last year in one phrase or word, it would be “scatter-brained.” Do you have a word that comes to mind when considering the past 12 months? If you’re unhappy with last year’s accomplishments, I’m here to tell you that we have a fresh start. And maybe, find yourself a new word to live this year by! (I’ll list a few suggestions) Growth Flow Patience Now, jot down your 3 most important goals. Let’s do this together, shall we? I’ll start. Grow a full indoor garden by revamping my empty office space Become eligible to compete in a BJJ competition Travel at least 3 times to another state with my husband These are all giant goals. They take a lot of planning, plus hefty investments of both time and money. Which also takes into account a savings goal, to ensure they can all actually pan out. If you’re into fitness and self-care, here’s something that may surprise you about self-growth. Discovering that importance (on your own) is harder than you may think. Once I took a hiatus from my trainer at the end of last year, I gave myself a 3 month goal post to hit to return back to their expertise. Changing Habits Requires Accountability However, I realized as the days and weeks passed on, that my personal habits are much harder to change that I’d originally considered. I felt the pull of needing to do things on my own accord, by not having someone holding me accountable each week for new routines. I’m nearing the 3 month mark now. But at about month 2, I came to realize that this was going to be more like a 6 month or longer journey instead. You see, as we obtain workout partners, or trainers, or nutrition experts (I did this as well), we start to let go of the control we have over own our actions. We start to rely on these external sources for committing to a goal and for praise after having done a good job. It was only after gaining more time back in my life after quitting these external commitments that I realized I was hardly spending any time on myself at all. I got up, did what I was supposed to do, and went to bed. Whether that be professionally or personally. Once the hours started becoming open again, I found that I can be much more focused to improving my lifestyle all by myself. Are you ready to do the same? Step 3: Determine What’s Important for You By finally committing to myself and creating an actual self-care routine, I’m starting to have more and more success day after day on eating better for my mind and body, choosing a good book over YouTube shorts, and gaining steps towards my 3 main goals. This all required mental clarity which is something I’d have never realized if it wasn’t for taking a step back and actually opening up some much needed brain space. Do you actually need all of those fitness classes? Or the social apps on your phone? How about shopping at the premium stores when a local market could get you the same items for half the cost? Are you still concerned about your status or how others around perceive you? My plan this year is to focus less on others and more on myself. So far, I’d say I’m doing okay. How are you doing? I’m not one to keep a journal nearby, unless it’s to dump my thoughts in the early mornings or during dreams at night. So therefore, calendars and notebook planners just don’t work for me, and I’m starting to realize that I’m not the only one struggling with setting a core schedule or sticking to my plan. Related: To Conquer Your Goals in 2024, You’ll Need To Become Your Own Teacher Step 4: It’s Okay to be Scared, Keep Going Recently, a plan formed all on its own though. Which has forced me into recognizing these goals more and really shooting for success before this plan is upon us. Quick side note: We traveled a few years ago to Arizona and Utah and absolutely fell in love. We’ve (the hubs and I), have been pining to go back ever since. Which is why I’m so excited to announce these new plans that are in our near future. An email came through last week regarding two permits obtained. One, to tent camp at the base of the Grand Canyon, and Two,
To Conquer Your Goals in 2024, You’ll Need To Become Your Own Teacher
Goals. That’s what this month is all about, right? Goals to do better in the physical health world mostly, goals to excel in your studies or career, and goals to just be an all around better person in life. This isn’t something that was hard-wired in my brain growing up, it was there, buried way in the back, just waiting to be unleashed. What do your goals look like for the new year? Did you make a list and check it twice? Let’s take a look at why you’ll need to become your own teacher to conquer your goals in 2024. Goals, Goals, Goals in 2024 Once upon a time goals were nonexistent. As a child, you live a lot of your life day to day and look forward only to what’s for dinner and at who’s house your next sleepover will be. I’m looking forward to setting more goals in my life these days, and here’s why you should consider it, too. Have you ever thought that a goal was unreachable, only to succeed far past yours and others expectations? I can’t say this has happened all the time, but it is something that I’ve known others to do and myself from time to time, as well. Many years have gone by with goals achieved and goals missed, but this year hits differently. This year is going to be for you, for me, and for all the other souls out there striving for a better mindset. Today, there are more than enough articles, podcasts, channels and blog posts filled to the brim with helpful information showing us the best and most certain ways to achieve said goals, however…most of us simply just watch them. Once you watch and listen, do you implement them? Do you set out to conquer those new goals or do you just push past them and schedule them once more for the next January to come? Reality check friends, that January is here once again. Related: Habitual Growth: Looking Back And Moving Forward How to Create a Goals List I’ve gathered my thoughts and a few notes on the matter of today’s post, so that we can glue these pieces together and find out what parts are worth lingering on and which can be tossed away. Let me know what your thoughts are about them in the comment section, and feel free to share any tips of your own! How to Create a Goals List: Write them all down. Yes, all of them. Find your top three and move the others to another section or another piece of paper to remind yourself of them later. (Only add them to your original piece when you feel it’s the right time). Take the top choice of your top three and begin challenging yourself to achieve it. Bonus tip! Write down beside each goal how much time you think each should take to conquer, goal posts are necessary in achieving larger goals. How to Conquer Your First Goal: Vanquish any doubt that you won’t achieve said goal. Vanquish those doubts again…trust me, they’ll return. Take the first steps in achieving that goal, and write out each step completed on a third piece of paper. (Invest in a pretty notepad if you get motivated by those things…speaking from experience of course). Finally, How to Achieve Your Remaining Goals: Take one step at a time. Rome wasn’t conquered in a day and girl, we’ve got bigger problems than Rome. Check those boxes. Release those endorphins and get excited. You’re doing this. Keep that paper with you at all times. Check back when you feel down and reinvent yourself when necessary to accomplish them. Keep it simple, sweet, and easy to remember. Related: Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now Goals Remind Us of Who We Want to Be These goals may take minutes or maybe years, but all the while, I urge you to keep them with you. If you don’t have a pocket then carry them in a purse or a bag. Find a safe space for them and make several copies if you choose. Laminate them, embrace them, believe in them. When we have goals that stare back at us, we are faced with a constant reminder of what it is that we’re searching for. Is it love? Money? Is it a little bit of both? Perhaps it traveling more often or adopting all the pets. It could even be as big as saving up to afford the house of your dreams or marry the love of your life. Or, it could be as simple as getting out of bed today. (This is a hard one for heavy sleepers like myself). Replace your goals as you cross them off. But! Keep your same sheet. Continue to write #4, #5, and so on, so that you are consistently reminded of how far you’ve come each time you look at that notepad and how many goals you’ve already crushed. I’ve tried several different approaches at figuring out why I would get stuck in completing my own goals throughout the years. Whether it be procrastination, annoyance, or impatience, one thing stuck. Even though goals of ours may change, completing them shouldn’t. If you feel as though you need to alter a goal in time, then do it. It’s your list and your very own master class. Now it’s up to you to be the best teacher. Thank You For Reading “To Conquer Your Goals in 2024, You’ll Need to Become Your Own Teacher” Thank you for reading today’s post about how to conquer your goals in 2024. What has your path looked like? Let me know what resonates with you. If you have a suggestion for our next post, let us know. Don’t forget to check out our sister site Rooted Drawers.
Working From Home And How It Has Molded Me
Once in a while we get blessed with an “Aha” moment. Those moments can be big or small, mind-blowing or just a newly discovered thought. Working from home off and on the last few years has been a journey to say the least. It’s pushed me to new levels of being, helped me to understand more issues about myself that I didn’t even know existed, and showed me that sometimes, you just have to fail a bunch to understand that you are staying true to your individual course. My Journey To Today Nearly 11 years ago I met my husband. I was waiting tables on the late shift when the man of my dreams walked in and sent chills and butterflies throughout me all at once. It was a feeling I never knew before, and if you’ve had them, you totally understand. At that point, I had no goals, no real ambitions, and no feelings on how I would be spending my next years let alone my next days. I was living for the moment, enjoying the spontaneous, and not caring much at all about my health, let alone my life ahead. This month at Habitual Balance, we’re looking back. After looking back a lot at this year in the last few posts, I’d like to go way back and travel with you on my journey to becoming a full-time reseller and blogger writing to you today snuggled on my couch with my two poofballs curled up next to me. Life has changed a lot since then, but alas, so have I. Related: How Self Reflection Helps You Grow as a Person A Little Bit About Me When I say that I’m not an emotional person, I have to explain it a little more. Death doesn’t phase me much anymore, and sadness comes in many different forms. However, when I sit back and think about where I was in my life during our initial meet, and where I am now, tears pool in my eyes…I should probably invest in some teeny tiny umbrellas. They’re not tears of sadness, but not all of happiness either. They’re more of a disbelief that life has led me to this point in such a weird and winding way, and I’m just overwhelmingly grateful for that. Once I met my partner in this life, I realized a few things. I’d need to focus more on my well-being, understand who he was, and learn how to become better together as the years flew by. Working from home was never on my to-do list, I didn’t even know at that point that it was a thing, let alone going to be what I did primarily in my future years, and mainly because of the fact that I wanted to do all I could to find something that would allow me to continue providing as a part of my family during and after my childbearing years. I longed to stay home with my pets, and in the future, our kids. So, after a bunch trial and error, I finally figured out something that I could make work. It felt incredibly refreshing. Reselling And Blogging – Working From Home I grew up selling things. Anything and everything that I could get my tiny entrepreneurial hands on. I wanted to make ends meet before I knew what it meant. Give me a plastic cash register and I’ll give you my business plan. Once sailing through 20-30 dead end jobs, it struck me that one thing remained obvious throughout them all. I was bored. I’d start every job, every career, (including my career as a 2x college dropout), elated and prepared af. Then, a few weeks would turn into months, and before the years end I’d always make a run for the next opportunity ahead of me. This got old after awhile, causing me to grow more bored, and in turn, burnout from misunderstanding what was staring me in the face. I would be respectful to my employers, but would grow irritable on the way home knowing that I could offer so much more than I was. The “Aha” moments started to come one after another, far spread throughout years but finally after several ideas failed, one ultimately stuck. Reselling became my thing, and blogging was where I grew fond of writing once again, just as I did as a child. Once I had dealt with family members passing, a sick pup and heartbreak of many forms, there was one consistent thing that remained at the top of my thoughts each one of those nights as I lay awake staring at the ceiling. “Thank God I work from home.” Related: Path To Productivity: My Struggle With Planning And The Perfect Hot Cocoa Recipe Working From Home Benefits If I never had the opportunity of doing so, with the help of my husband working alongside me to build my dreams, I may not have gotten to be with my loved ones in their last days, or take care of my dog when he needed me most. I may not have been able to grind all day and all night on my business, so that my dreams that are still unfolding could ultimately be fulfilled. I also may not have began to understand mental health and how important it is to us all. How our physical and mental strength play off of one another, and I may not have had time to read about, listen to, and learn of the ways that I can improve all of these things before becoming ready to welcome another life into the world. Working from home has many ups and downs, although many think there are solely ups. I’m here to confirm that I’ve been through a lot of both, and although there are days where I still get frustrated at my employer (lol), I bring myself back to reality by reminding myself that through this all remains the fact that I get to work for myself. What
Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now
We talked a little so far in December about how to stay more present within the tasks you’re focusing on and why that gratitude should be taken a little less for granted. Today I’d like to chat with you about moving ahead in the new year and how I’ve been focusing more on “appreciating the now” lately. Understanding Stressors And How To Avoid Them It’s hard sometimes to understand where to draw the line. When do you start putting play first and work second? I feel like this is something we likely all struggle with, so let’s talk about that a little bit today. This month I’ve been doing exactly the opposite of last year. This quarter, actually. From Fall on, I’ve been focusing more on my mental and physical setbacks that are holding me up, why they are (or were) happening, and how I can conquer them just a smidge better in the first quarter of 2024. The last quarter of the year always starts a hustle and bustle of family get togethers, birthdays, anniversaries, events, games, vacations (or the lack of), and work…a LOT of it. You could say that last year I held about one ounce of what I do this year for personal time or time with my significant other. It really sucked to say the least, and in January I felt all of the effects of burnout at once. This year I’ve been taking more time to understand stressors, how to navigate them more appropriately, and what I can do to avoid them or move through them instead of letting them control me and/or my behaviors. Have you ever felt like this? That you were basically in the passengers seat just struggling to stay on the ride? Related: How Self Reflection Helps You Grow as a Person Find Your Spot Today I’m writing to you from an old refinished whiskey distillery. It’s located in the bottom half section of a now-usable horse barn, where the horses and foals are sitting right outside the window waiting for pets. (Yes, of course I petted them! Don’t worry, this was 100% allowed by the Airbnb owners!) It sits on a beautiful piece of land that has immaculate sunsets and sunrises. The cooler air means one thing, more comfy clothes, space heaters, dark wine and hot cocoa. It’s like roughing it in luxury. There’s the original barn doors, the same beams on the bed that the barn was built with in the 1800s, but also, a towel warmer. (Yes, really!) My favorite spot has to be the cute little wooden nook in the corner behind the bed. It’s the perfect setting for when I’m inspired to write, being that I get distracted easily and there is nothing but wooden walls around me. It even has a kitchenette, but we chose to make this a driving foodie type trip instead! Almost 10 years ago to the day, we spent many months here for my husbands work. It was so cute and quaint but it’s something we never really appreciated until we were no longer around. Recently, I was looking back at an old album, and noticed a picture from a place we used to frequent. It was at that moment I brought up Airbnb, (after having an exceptional experience in October! In case you missed that post, check it out here!), searching for the perfect place that wouldn’t be too far away to revisit our old stomping grounds. I found this one pretty quickly and immediately booked it. I’m so glad I did. Nostalgia And Appreciating The Now During this trip, we drove around to the old sites we went to a decade ago, enjoyed some of the same meals, and stopped by our old place. We chatted a bunch, enjoyed each others company, and listened to old country music on the radio, (it’s all that was available!) However, there were some times as well when I wasn’t my best self. It’s always the times where I set my expectations too high and feel guilty about not being able to just “go with the flow,” something I’m trying to work a lot on these days. Instead of misunderstanding one another like we used to though, the hubs and I figured out what the issue was, talked through it, and moved on with our day. It made me even more grateful to be able to be with someone so understanding and patient. If you’re thinking this sounds too good to be true, don’t get me wrong. I think every relationship takes work, and that includes working on yourself…which is why it’s so important to me to understand myself better instead of solely focusing on external sources as I did in the past. Moving forward will always be harder than looking back. And I realized exactly that this was part of my problem this time. I had held on so tightly to our past, that I forgot about allowing time in for new memories and creating additional sparks on our timeline together. We’ve changed, individually and as a partnership. My advice to you this month is to allow that change. Let it in and absorb it all. Embrace and appreciate the now. Breathe new air into your lungs even if it’s from the same place you went to 10 years ago. Stop chasing what has been and start embracing what you’ve become. When you start living with less expectations, you can continue to create the next step in your journey. Related: Acknowledging Burnout & Learning Where To Find The Lightbulbs Thank You For Reading “Moving Ahead And Appreciating The Now” Thank you for reading today’s post about how I try to keep appreciating the now. What has your path to productivity looked like? Let me know what resonates with you. If you have a suggestion for what our next post should be let us know. Don’t forget to check out our sister site Rooted Drawers.