So thankful I was able to get out for a run on the first day of the year. Running in the colder temps is a new thing I started doing and I never want to look back.
The dreadmill is near and dear to my heart but winter running, snow, bare trees and crisp air has it’s own charm. And 👏🏽 I 👏🏽 am 👏🏽 here 👏🏽 for 👏🏽 it!
You might have heard the popular sayings:
Come back to your why!
What’s your why?
Find your purpose!
I’ve been hearing it for years. But I’ve only recently made the connection. This is the way I see it: Passion is a day dream, but purpose is a S.M.A.R.T goal on your “life’s to-do list”. Passion is about doing something because you have an emotional connection to it. Purpose is direction and the reason for which something is done. Purpose is fuelled by reasoning and usually the reasoning is the answer to a why question.
It’s the answer to your why aka your why statement that gives you motivation to do what you do. Your why statement will be the reminder you need to keep moving in the direction of your purpose. For individuals your why statement is not only your purpose, it’s who you are, your cause, what you stand for or your belief. Of course many companies and organizations identify their why statement as a way to keep employees motivated in their work. So why shouldn’t individuals have a why statement for their lives?
Your individual why statement is evergreen. That means it makes sense and is applicable to any part of your life, whether that’s your career, your hobbies or your life overall. It is simple, actionable and expressed in affirmative language that resonates with you.
Employees who have identified their why statements are clear in their direction and therefore are more inspired to do the work they feel compelled to do.
Organizations who see this as a win will support employees and employees will be more engaged at work. I recently participated in an innovation program at work. The experience was both challenging and awakening.
Part of that awakening was determining my why statement. Here is an EASY exercise to find yours.
Tools: poster board, post its notes (standard size & few different colours), permanent markers, chart paper.
You don’t need any of these tools, but using actual paper products, pens and a wall helps your body and brain align and really get into this activity.
Step 1: Think about your life and brainstorm 5-10 times you felt most successful and then felt most challenged. Once you have these memories are listed (on your post it notes, piece of paper or word doc), review everything and try to notice any patterns. You may start to see some themes pop up like “team work”, “technology”, “lack of control” or “creativity” – the number of themes doesn’t but finding the themes does.
Step 2: Based on your themes, take note of your motivators. This will help you understand what your contribution to others lives will be and the value of those contributions
Step 3: Write your why statement with this format “To ____, so that _____”. The first blank is your contribution and the second blank is the impact of that contribution. This should come easily but also may be an iterative process (ie: write down your statement, then tweak it a bit, write it out again, change a little something and write it again – continue this process until you have something you feel good about).
Step 4: Share your why statement. Share it with your partner, your kids, your friends, your co-workers. Share it on twitter, on blogs, on IG and in whatsapp/teams/webex chats! It will be easy to share your why statement because it’s all you so there will be a level of pride and excitement.
And in the spirit of sharing, this is my why statement:
To create and lead an agile team, so that we build transformative solutions, achieve goals and inspire people.
Also it’s okay if you aren’t ready to share it or if you feel like the wording is a little off. Keep at it, you’ll get it to where it needs to be and be thrilled to share it with the world!
Yesterday, there was a little bit of snow falling in the afternoon so I decided to grab my 50mm and capture some magic.
I was looking through the old posts on the blog and I realized I have three main themes: Style, Inspiration and Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes.
OOTD posts are the easiest way to do self portraits, but also it’s fun to feel confident and put together…so those will continue.
The inspiration theme is the piece that I feel I could go more in depth into because I love the topic…so it definitely gave me some ideas for the coming year.
I also have a new chocolate cookie recipe to share soon (another healthy option of course). And since the pandemic, I’ve been frothing a lot of almond milk so maybe a cookie latte is in my future <3
It was rejuvenating to have my camera in my hand, holding my own and not being nervous to do my thing. I have to be more like that, with my photography and with my life.
Hi Friends – I’ve started my 2020 reflection (on paper) which has been both therapeutic and energizing!
It has provided me the self awareness I need but also strong gravitational pull into areas of my life I want to invigorate and energize.
As I write down my goals, I am also thinking about the reading I want to do.
…So here it is, my reading list for 2021!
It’s got a little bit of self help, a little bit of sci-fi, productivity, some random fiction and a biography.
What are you reading next year?
I recently came across this easy calming technique using only your 5 senses!
Sensory activities have proven benefits for children such as increased self esteem and improved emotional well being. So why wouldn’t this also work for adults (with a few tweaks of course!)
For me I usually do one activity that combines all at least 3 of the 5 senses (like going for an outdoor run or setting up and taking pretty photos). But the perspective of doing only 1 thing really speaks to the mindfulness and being present when doing a single calming activity.
So the next time you are looking for some calming activities or need to reduce anxiety after a stressful event consider these 5 techniques to awaken your senses and relax…
Smell: Light a scented candle
Sound: listen to songs that make you nostalgic
Taste: drink a mint or lavender tea
Touch: Hold hands or cuddle a pet
Sight: Look up at the sky
I truly feel alignment is the spice of life. Aligning to my goals, hobbies, dreams, passions, career and community – as much as I can EVERYDAY. Of course there are days where what I want do is “align” to comfort (aka binge watch a series on Netflix!!) But by choosing alignment, I make a conscious decisions when it comes to to re-aligning or readjusting my day to handle priorities or new needs.
I recently did the daily habit score cards as outlined in Atomic Habits. What you need to do is write down every thing you do most days. Things like brush your teeth, drop your kids at school, read on the train, scroll IG while making a coffee, take a walk over lunch, meditate before bed are some of the habits that I would need to record. Even the habits you don’t think are important like snooze the alarm or set the alarm for the next day are recorded in this list of habits. Then I used a +, – or = to denote positive/beneficial habits, negative habits and neutral habits.
What this exercise did was help me visually see and recognize habits that weren’t helping me get to where I see myself in the future or on path to attain certain goals. It’s a helpful way to honestly look at and become more aware of your behaviour.
What it got me thinking about was, what my ideal day would consist of (ie: turn my habits into goals). It made me aware of what activities make me feel energized, bring me joy and what things I want to do to improve my everyday. What I saw was those activities were grouped into the following categories:
So here is a snapshot of what I see as my ideal day:
Wake up (without an alarm!), meditate and journal (optimal journalling practice for me would be either a brain dump/artists way writing, combined with gratitude, goal setting and a to do list). Drink a bottle of water and then get dressed in my workout clothes and spend 15 minutes reading before the rest of the house wakes up. If it’s a Wednesday or a Weekend, I’d probably wear a facemark. When the kids wake up, I’d help them get ready for the day and we all head downstairs. The kids would have breakfast and after dropping them off at school I’d do my outdoor workout (tempo run through a forest, HIIT or heavy weight training). Getting back home, I’d drink water and have a healthy breakfast that I prepped the night before. I’d make tea and refill my water bottle and get to work where I contribute to and add value to peoples life with both a tech and human centric approach. I would schedule meetings for the afternoons because my most productive time is between 9am-2:30pm, I’d want to use that time to work, write, photograph, create, ideate, research, work on projects, strategize or consult. I would break for lunch (to eat something I prepped the night before with lots of veggies/fibre, fish or eggs and a complex carb with more water) and definitely take a leisurely stroll to energize and also digest the meal. I’d spend the remainder of my afternoon drinking more water and either in meetings, training or creating. Before picking up the kids, I would love to have a tea break or coffee chat with a colleague or business partner. After, picking the kids up from school, we’d have an afternoon snack and do homework or get to after school extra curricular activities. Dinner would be prepped or at least planned and we’d eat as a family. Before bed we’d hang out (go for a walk, bike ride or play a game or watch the WNBA game). After the kids are in bed, I’d prep for the next day before taking some me time to either study, stretch/foam roll, shower, netflix or blog. I’d end the date with a peppermint tea with a few pieces of dark chocolate or home-made cookies. Definitely would want to be in bed by 10:30 after brushing/flossing my teeth and taking time to spiritually self reflect.
Wow just writing that out was so relaxing. And of course things may come up where I’d have to adjust my attention to handle a priority but the hope is keeping my day as closely aligned to my main goal categories. Every small step would create a ripple effect towards my goals.