I’m lying in savasana when, on an inhale, Adriene Mishler of “Yoga With Adriene” asks the class to meditate on the question:
“Where do I want to create a meaningful shift in my life?”
It’s a question I’ve posed to myself many times in the weeks leading up to the holidays, as 2022 tick-tocked, tick-tocked away, dwindling into oblivion, becoming a memory.
Now, a week and change into 2023, the answer comes on the mat.
I’m well aware that if I want to make a change, I don’t have to wait until January 1st to do so, but there’s just something about a blank slate, a starting point, that ignites something in me. I get excited. I feel hopeful. I see 365 days in front of me and view each and every one of them as an opportunity to do more and be better.
So, I made a list of New Year’s intentions (I always make a list of New Year’s intentions).
I created a vision board on Pinterest (a new-to-me activity I would highly recommend).
The words and images all added up to one overarching goal: To be happy. To get reacquainted with my bubbly, creative, adventurous self, and to live life, not just exist in it.
Step one to achieving this goal: Adopt a more positive mindset.
I’m starting by assigning a word to each month that will set the overall tone for the days ahead. I’ll choose them as the year goes on, based on where I’m at and where I want to be.
January’s word is “ease.”
Now, listen. I’ve made, broken, and just plain old forgotten many a New Year’s intention in the past. My error was trying to do too many things at once. Take it from me: If you take off at full speed, you’ll lose steam quickly.
So, this year, I’m easing into things.
I’m giving myself more time to consider what it is I really want, but also to practice being present in each moment and slow the heck down.
Granted, this is easier said than done, and, of course, “ease” means different things to different people. Here’s what I’m doing to, as Rory Gilmore so eloquently puts it, “ease up just a tad.”
Habit-Stacking
Specifically, in the mornings. I start every day with a cup of hot lemon water. Normally, I’d sip while scrolling social media or getting an early start on work. But not this month (and, hopefully, for the remainder of the year). This month, I’ve started drinking my first beverage of the day while reading or writing for myself.
I set a timer for 30 minutes, and that time is completely mine. I don’t answer texts or calls. I don’t open Instagram and I stay away from my email. This has set a more positive tone for the day, and it’s given me a sense of power over my time that I didn’t feel I had before.
Participating in a 30-day yoga journey
Even though I still made a point to exercise a few times a week in 2022, I felt a shift in my relationship with movement. I wasn’t finding the physical activity I truly loved, other than yoga. So rather than force myself into a weight lifting program to get “back on track,” I’m doing what feels good while I figure out what else feels good: I joined Yoga With Adriene’s 30-Day Yoga Journey, for the seventh (!) year in a row.
Classes, so far, have been between 20-30 minutes a day, and taking that time to get centered and just flow has been so rewarding. I look forward to that time when it’s just me, Adriene, and my mat, when I can let go and trust my body to do both what it’s told, but also what feels right.
Getting ready for the day, every day, and at my pace
If there’s anything I miss about working in an office (and there aren’t many things…), it’s the incentive to get dressed up for the day. I used to love putting outfits together and doing my hair and makeup before heading into the city. So, now I’m putting outfits together and doing my hair and makeup to go into my home office.
Some days, I get ready before work. On other days, I start work and then get ready for the day around noon. I make sure that, whenever it’s time to get dressed, I’m allotted at least half an hour to enjoy the process. Going through my skincare and makeup routine feels like pampering, so it’s important to me that I don’t feel rushed in those moments.
Viewing each day as its own entity
Today is not yesterday and tomorrow is a clean slate. I’ve gotten into the habit of thinking about Monday through Friday like a sentence. In my mind, they were strung together, connected, one bleeding into the next.
That way of thinking, I’ve come to find, is not productive. Not even a little bit.
Every day is it’s own unique experience. So while every day I’ll do some kind of work, I don’t have to follow the same rigid schedule. I don’t have to be as social from one day to the next. I don’t have to be as focused from one day to the next. I am human, and I cannot function at 100% every day — it’s just not realistic, and I am tired of putting that kind of pressure on myself.
Embracing a more flexible schedule
This might sound a little strange, but I’ve felt guilty about my schedule for a while. I can make it what I want it to be - anything I want it to be. As long as I have my articles in by their deadlines, I can write when I want to write, and stop when I don’t. I have the flexibility to give myself a break, and to do any other tasks that I need/want to get done. But I haven’t, because I felt like it wasn’t fair when my husband had to work from 9 am to 5 pm, with only one break in his day to eat lunch.
I want to make something very clear: I have the best, most supportive husband on the planet. He encourages me to slow down. He asks me to take breaks and relax because I don’t. And the reason I don’t stems from a lot of things. It’s my own insecurities, but also the nature of this industry. Freelancing can be fickle. One minute, you’re steadily writing for a publication. The next minute, you’re let go and searching for new gigs. There are a lot of turnarounds. So, I’ve hustled, and I’ve hustled hard. I write for at least five publications at a time. Most days I work 9 am to 5 pm or longer.
But I don’t want to do that anymore.
I’ve hustled for years and I am tired.
My body is tired.
My mind is so tired.
I’ve made a name for myself. Now, it’s time to make a new one. To be the person who works smarter, not harder. To earn what I deserve, not kill myself for it. I’m being pickier about the work I accept, and I view my days as more than work days. They’re just days. Days I get to live! After all, we’re supposed to work to live, not the other way around, right?
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What are some of your New Year’s resolutions/intentions? Do you choose a word for the month/year? Drop them in the comment section below!