This week was a great reminder as to why I need self care rituals. On the days that I am pushed to my breaking point, by situations, by people, by context – it is my self care rituals that give me peace.
My rituals are the the part of my day that make sure when I am out there taking care of everyone and everything else – that I also make time for myself and my wellness.
Self care rituals are THE FORMULA to support your mental wellbeing.
It’s a built in way that you do something for your mind, your body and your soul everyday.
Another reminder: Get enough sleep, have gratitude and always be present (aka put your phone down and you head up)
Have you ever noticed how you feel at certain times of the day compared to other times of the day.
Or maybe you have times of the day where you are more productive or have more clarity.
You may not have realized but how you feel, how productive you are, or when you are thinking most clearly – is directly related to your energy levels.
Considering this, you might know exactly when your high energy time of the day is. I’m definitely a morning person – and love to get things done in the morning.
But not all days are the same. On occasion, I may wake up feeling like my energy is off. But even on those days I still want to be productive or have ideas that I want to execute on – I just can’t get to it (like there is a disconnect between my willpower and my ambition!)
When this happens, it’s important to acknowledge that energy, instead of attempting to force yourself to work through it. So creating routines to help you work efficiently during different energy levels can make a world of a difference.
What I love about this idea, is that you can still feel accomplished at the times when you don’t want to accomplish anything. This is a great system to put in place for yourself so you can get out of your head and execute.
I’ve created an AM routine list based on energy levels (and will definitely develop another for PM routines).
Hopefully this will inspire you to take a look at how you can optimize how you work through your energy levels.
If you can’t get to the entire post, I’d like to highlight the following
Vision boards are great tools to help you conceptualize and work towards your goals
Even though I’m posting this on the last day of the year, #VisionBoards can be created ANYTIME (of the year) you need an extra boost of motivation
Scroll to the bottom for the FREE download!
I’ve been a big proponent of vision boards for a long time – and still am!
I’ve created them yearly (sometimes several times in a year) and find them to be a great way to focus and hone in on my goals.
I believe in them so much that I’ve got my girls in on it. I want them to know what it feels like to both be strategic and reflective when it comes to goal setting. I want them to know what it feels like to reach milestones and accomplishments they set for themselves. I also want them to know that getting to those goals, doesn’t happen overnight – and what progress feels like.
Also want them to know what it feels like to be internally driven. Not told to do something because the school system, an adult, society or their friends etc have told them to do something. And although yes, I do give them some guidance – I really ask that they think of the specifics around the goals. The journey throughout the year is really amazing. They consistently view their board, talk about it with me or between themselves and find ways to make their dreams a reality.
I’m so glad I introduced them to vision boards early. I only learned about them as an adult so I’m still learning and right now, I’m pivoting as well. So two things of note:
I’m currently perusing the book #FutureBoards for more inspiration and knowledge
I’m taking on a different approach where instead of doing a vision board for the entire year, I create a vision board for a month or a quarter
Creating a vision board doesn’t need to only happen at the start of the year
Some tips I’ve started to use when creating my vision boards are:
Come up with a goal statement and write it as if you’ve already achieved it! (very empowering) Remember you can also have several goals in different buckets (Personal, Professional, Fitness, Family etc)
Next write out a detailed story of each goal – be as specific as you can. You really want to help your brain see in your minds eye and your heart feel emotions attached to achieving the goal. If you have a why statement you may find yourself leaning on or tweaking that as part of this exercise.
Break down that vision into milestones, 4 works really well because that can fit nicely into quarters of the year or weeks of a month.
Now with each milestone, figure out activities that will help you get there. As an example if you want to change careers you might have a milestone to apply to your dream job. Activities for that milestone could be to research companies that align to your values, update your resume and then apply to jobs. Milestones can have many activities, so try to keep it to three activities so as to not overwhelm yourself.
Now here is the best part! You can create a vision board based on the goal statement, goal story OR on the milestone activity! Like I mentioned above, I’ve always created the vision board based on the goal story (macro level based on what you want to accomplish in the year), but this time I’m creating it on the milestone activity (micro level based on what I want to achieve in each quarter of the year).
I don’t think there is any right or wrong way – I do think you have to try it out and see what works for you.
If you are planning on creating a vision board or set intentions/goals for the new year – enjoy! I wanted to share two motivational wall papers (for your phone and desktop wallpaper).
It’s around this time of year that we see a lot of gift guides online. And as important and lovely giving the perfect present to someone can be – it can also be crazy stressful (hence said gift guides appear all over the interwebs).
And I know there are people like me that need to “get warmed up” for holiday shopping by treating themselves to something nice first ;)
A few weeks ago I shared some thoughts about systems. All the items below help me create routines (or systems). Having systems in place can be helpful when coping with change, creating healthy habits, being more mindful and knowing yourself better.
So here is the treat yo-self/start your (new) year RIGHT gift list for YOU! Sharing a list of items to help you create systems! (Of course, you can start doing these things without these items – but a visual ALWAYS helps!).
Skin care: The first step to self care is about develop and maintain a healthy relationship with yourself. Honestly sometimes, you must demand that time of yourself. Putting yourself first is important so you can find balance with the other priorities of your life. Either an AM or PM skin care routing (or both) can be both soothing for your skin and for your mood. It just feels good to pamper yourself and having a consistent routine for your face (even if it’s just wash/moisturize daily and a weekly face mask) can make that happen for you.
Dress to impress (for yourself): Don’t do it for anyone but you. Dressing up (even for WFH or on a lazy Sunday) helps you build consistency and confidence. Whether it’s a fresh pair leggings and a tunic style sweater, a beachy waves hair do or hoops and a red lip – get dressed for yourself. I always feel more organized when I’m not sitting in two day old gym clothes or when I have all my rings, layered necklaces and bracelets on (haha, don’t ask).
Manifest: Which also includes meditation, journaling, affirmations, vision boarding and just being mindful overall. These activities are considered enduring systems, because they can help one reap long term benefits with permanent effects. What helps me is having a variety of journals (blanked, lined and prompts) and pretty pens – and I naturally gravitate towards this system.
Water & Smoothies: I recently got back on smoothies. I love them because they are easy to eat, help with digestion and it’s a quick way to eat a variety of fruits/veggies. Even better when it’s is a smoothie bowl. Having a smoothie for breakfast or dinner has become a comfort now. I rather mindless sip a smoothie then a bag of chips.
Wake up & Plan your day: Planning has become essential to me. I’ve gotten really good at weekly and daily planning but I’m working on going macro to micro (2-3yrs – today). I have my direction which guides me, but I really want to get more strategic.
Feed your mind: Read, listen to podcasts/ted talks, take micro learnings. This is something that I do when I feel in a funk. Reading and learning is essential for building self esteem, improving memory and reducing stress. It’s also great for when you are feeling stuck, because it can light up your imagination and help get those innovation juices flowing.
Focus on you, and you grow. Focus on sh!t, and sh!t grows – read that again // anonymous
I’ve always known that good routines, habits and the ability to re-focus are important to me.
And I also know I’m a visual person so consistently practicing and seeing my goals in front me does wonders (it’s all about tricking the mind to believe what the heart and soul want are real).
aka #manifest
With all that said, recently stumbled upon the hashtag #thatgirl
If you haven’t heard or seen it, this hashtag has been trending on instagram, youtube & tiktok by that girl as a way to manifest wellness.
The best way to describe it is as a highlight real (like everything else online lol) – but these highlight reels combine artfully crafted wellness video snippets focused on habits that show the person eating healthy, partaking in fitness activities and making progress towards their goals (ie: school, work etc).
There is a lot of talk about how #thatgirl perpetuates a toxic unattainable lifestyle. But I don’t if I see it entirely like that..
Being a visual person and someone who can peel themselves away from the internet – I actually find this trend both aesthetically pleasing and inspiring. I also know that sometimes the day can get away from you and life is full of peaks and valleys.
So how do you focus on your own development while navigating everyday life? Hint the #ThatGirl trend hits it right on the head!
Re-aligning to your goals at certain times during the year (months or quarters) helps to keep you connected to your yearly goals. OR (like in my situation) help your get back on track. Systems are activities that focus on the journey as opposed to the end destination.
Systems ensure you find joy in the little things.
Systems ensure that those daily habits become the little steps that will turn into a giant leap.
Systems keep us inspired.
Systems help us stay disciplined, especially on the days, we don’t want to do anything.
Systems can inspire us mentally/spiritually/physically.
Last week I celebrated my 39th birthday! I took the day for myself and did all the important things that matter to me to me most. Outside of regular adulting/mom duties – here is how I spent the day…
I woke up, meditated & journaled.
Ran 15.6km (exactly 39 laps around a highschool race track*)
Went grocery shopping and donated it all to the food bank.
Picked up my birthday freebies at Sephora and Starbucks
Came home read a little then watch SATC
After school, the fambam sang happy birthday and the girls ate cupcakes
