This year was crazy busy! We wrapped the year with 984 members enrolled in our online courses helping them to align their life with their purpose through goal-setting (Booo-yah!) and I got to speak at a few incredible summits, was featured on some really cool podcasts while taking care of 3 little people at home. It was AWESOME!
I learned a lot and shared many of those lessons with you on part 1 and 2 of the Surprising Life & Business Lessons Learned Over The Last 12 Months and along with all of this growth came a lot of responsibility that I was aware of but didn’t actually prepare for which led to me feeling overwhelmed and overworked at times.
So to prevent this from happening again in 2022 here are a few things I’ll be changing in my life and schedule to make sure that my health and well-being are my top priority in real life and not just on paper! Hit play for the full scoop
I’m going back to my gratitude journey
For the first year of my business every day I was filling pages in my journal with 20 things (plus bonuses) that I was feeling extremely grateful for! It included the things you would guess like my husband and kids and the fact that I had even started a business! But I also made sure to include small wins like getting my first coaching client and being able to work for myself, or completing a major project! If you read my gratitude journey from those early days you might think I was desperate to find any good thing to write about (lol!) but the truth is I was genuinely excited about the simple things! The small progress! The baby steps! Over time as life got busier, my time spent being grateful got moved to the side until eventually, I stopped doing it altogether, but in 2022 I wanna bring it back!
Studies show that there is a connection between gratitude and a sense of overall well-being. There was a study conducted with almost 300 adults looking for mental health counseling at a university and they found that after engaging in a simple gratitude exercise the participants reported having significantly better mental health 4-12 weeks after! Research gathered from over the past decade confirms that people who consciously count their blessings tend to be happier and less depressed. Considering all of these benefits who wouldn’t want to add more gratitude into their life?! I know I will!
You’ll Find Me Leaning Into Truth Centered Affirmations
Listen, I know there is a lot of self-empowerment, feel-good, mumbo jumbo, fluff out there and that’s not what I’m talking about. Affirmations are something we are constantly doing whether we’re intentional about it or not. And when we’re not intentional about it our affirmations by default are usually negative.
This is why most of us have a hard time stepping out on faith, pursuing our goals, leaning into our vision, and being all that God says we are. Because we’re stuck in a loop of lies listening to our own negative self-talk while trying to figure out what people think about us so we can make a good impression! In fact, this voice takes up so much space in our mind we call it our inner critic! I just straight up call it the voice of lies because everything the critic says is just an interpretation of the event and can be interpreted another way. So instead of allowing the inner critic to decrease my motivation or cause me to feel helpless I choose to find or create an interpretation that allows me to embrace the full picture.
So if you’re with me and this is something you wanna embrace in the new year you’re probably wondering. Where can we find truth-centered affirmations? Well I’m glad you asked because I created a full list of affirmations I’ve found so far which I will be updating throughout the year. And it includes truths like… and I’ve also popped in some reflection questions to help you stay grounded in 2022 including…
So if you want in, it’s 100% free. You can grab it at theresaforever.com/Affirmations. And don’t worry about being put on an email list only to get emails you don’ want. There is no sign up required.
My Schedule Includes Intentional Down Time
In 2022 I plan on taking 4 weeks for myself to do and go anywhere I choose! Now I’m not a big traveler and I have no desire to hop on a plane anytime soon. I was this way before covid and nothing has changed! Lol, I just wanna tweak the amount of “off work and mommy time” I have to ensure that I am giving myself to love and attention I need. And you might be thinking, “isn’t that what your family and husband are there for?” and that’s a good question. My answer is absolutely not! Lol.
My happiness, well being, and sanity is my responsibility. No one can make me feel (or help me to be) happy if I choose to feel unhappy and no one can make me feel unhappy if I choose to feel happy! Just like no one can convince me that I’m not a rock star if I’ve already decided that I am. This is why we can watch documentaries with people struggling with anorexia and clearly see they are beautiful and extremely under weight but often when they look at themselves they see someone who is fat and hideous. It’s their own perception that distorts their reality. Now this is extreme but we do the same thing with our perceptions and interpretations.
So to make sure my cup is overflowing and I am vibrant, in my zone, present, and enjoying the life and opportunities I have instead of feeling weighed down by them every quarter for one whole week I’ll be off social media, out of office, and hiding away somewhere at a nice Air BnB spot…or my sister house!
Setting Up More Automation
Which means I’ll have more upfront prep, but less back end stress! I’ll take it! Automation has been game changing in my business and personal life! Hit play to hear more about how I plan on using this with my IG account and my money! You’ll also hear about my plans to spend more time in solitude outside of my house and how I’ll continue using my “human being” journal to help me achieve bigger goals! Hit play for the full scoop!
