Remember Those New Year's Resolutions?

We are officially one week into February!

So let’s address the elephant in the room…

How are ya doin’ on your New Year’s resolutions?

Already forgot about them? You’re not alone, so no need to cower away in guilt and shame. Check out this post on how to actually achieve your New Year’s goals, and this post on how to re-ignite passion for your old resolutions!

In the spirit of accountability (the main reason I started this blog and community), here is my honest reflection of where I'm at with my New Year's intentions. To be real, I'm pretty proud, even if I have not completely "succeeded". Here's why:

As I’ve shared before here, I have a gradual approach to lifestyle change. I know that if I try to do everything all at once in a burst of over zealous motivation, I’ll crash and burn fast. Instead, I try to get rid of one bad habit and add one good habit at a time.

In January, I focused on two things: discipline in exercising, and switching my regular skincare products over to handmade/ethically sourced alternatives. I began a daily Ashtanga practice, started Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide, and you can read more on the blog about skincare products I’ve made and bought this month.

No, I was not without failure. While I’ve loved my morning yoga routine, my current attention span seems to stop at about 30 minutes. And there were definitely days I had to drag myself to the gym, and days I didn’t go at all. And yes, I still have products in my bathroom that aren’t up to my personal standards. But that’s not the point.

The point is that I have laid the foundation. I have set a standard for myself and built a new norm for my daily living. Without forgetting the work I started in January, I’m moving my attention to two new focuses this February: the water challenge and a plastic purge.

You’ve all heard of the water challenge, and I’ll be posting more on that next week (I think I have a new perspective you may have never thought about before)! You can follow me on Instagram to stay updated on it and on my plastic purge… In short, I’ll be working to refuse, reduce, and repurpose all the plastic in my life, from food storage to garbage to hygiene products.

All of these little monthly focuses may be seemingly unrelated, but they are really helping me to make tangible progress towards my bigger New Year’s resolutions. This year, I resolved to invest in myself, without guilt— to spend time, energy, and money on myself. My goals are to invest in my own health and opportunities for adventure, in my work and in my own ideal lifestyle. These ideas seem rather abstract, but they are able to become a reality one month at time when I focus on some specific aspect of them.

For example, I was able to break down my goal of living my “ideal lifestyle” by reflecting on what that means to me and then chasing ethical living one month at a time (ie “go conscious in your skincare” in January and “conduct a plastic purge” in February).

Take care of yourself, and take care of your goals. You DESERVE to reach them! What are you going to do this month to move yourself closer to the life you want to live? Whatever it is, I encourage you to give yourself freedom to bloom, without limitations.

Action steps:

1. Follow the links in this post to dive deeper into your own dreams and goals!

2. Save this post to Pinterest so you can keep coming back to it all year long.

3. Join the Rainmaking tribe by subscribing to my monthly newsletter and following me on Instagram xx

#goalsetting #personaldevelopment #lifestylechange