5 Simple Life Lessons That Will Improve Your Well Being
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Each year, I reflect on my overall life goals and have an internal discussion on how I can improve. As I stand mulling over the year of 2018, I learned some important lessons about myself, relationships, life and health.
Self care is not just something I choose to do for fun but is necessary for me. My perspective on what self-care means constantly shifts and becomes more meaningful.
I don’t see self care as mani-pedis, I see it as an opportunity to assess how to live a sustainable lifestyle and improve your well-being.
Self care involves intentional evaluation leading to action. It is more about taking care of your mental health than indulging in feel good activities. I do believe you should indulge, but self care is more about overall wellness.
I’ve learned that budgeting is self care.
Confronting a hidden emotion is self care.
Choosing to make the hard decision is self care.
Here are 5 simple life lessons that will improve your overall well-being.
1. Don’t fight for relationships if the other party invests nothing
I’m all for fighting for your relationships with family and friends, but if someone in your life consistently averts investing time in your relationship, it’s time to step back.
I don’t mean cutting people off. In the event that they do put effort in, let them in.
Being the only one fighting will pull too much of your energy and cause unnecessary stress.
Invest in truly meaningful and lasting relationships. The people who are always there even in hard times are for a lifetime.
READ: 6 TERRIFIC REASONS TO NEVER BE SORRY FOR SAYING NO
2. Don’t keep things around that you don’t like.
That seems like a simple lesson however, we often keep things around that we don’t enjoy.
As an advocate for self-care, I believe that your space is a huge part of your mental health. Since clutter can cause anxiety and stress, removing it will help bring clarity and relaxation.
How many of you have clothes in your closet that don’t fit you well, or are never touched because you don’t like them? How many times have you hung on to something or purchased an “in the meantime” item while you wait for what you really want?
This brings me to my next lesson:
3. Be more conscious about consumerism.
I am an aggressive consumer with a fast fashion mentality. I am embarking on my annual closet purge and it is a big one. I realized this year that I hate certain fabrics, and my closet is full of them. I purchase things just because they are cute, trendy or on sale, instead of purchasing out of need. I am working on building a sustainable and ethical wardrobe full of natural fibers that are thrifted and/or fair trade.
Not only is it irresponsible, it isn’t healthy. The more I buy the more clutter I have and the more stress I feel in my environment.
After watching The True Cost, on Netflix, I heard a voice inside of me urging a change in the way I shop.
I knew I needed to adopt a slow fashion mentality.
In addition to building an ethical wardrobe and shopping much less, I want to reduce my paper waste, and use many more reusable and or fully biodegradable/compostable items in my beauty routine and home.
Reducing my waste and being more conscious about my footprint is an important part of who I am becoming. This means I will make more meaningful and lasting purchases over time, supporting ethical companies and small business owners.
4. Build Consistency
When I consistently follow my self-care routine and have mindful practices, I am more productive and efficient.
Develop consistency in certain aspects of your life in order to keep moving forward.
5.Always Be A Constant Improver
Striving to elevate yourself is the best way to achieve growth.
Growth can be defined in many different categories of your life, but you aren’t required to grow in all areas simultaneously. The trick is to learn how to be a constant improver without becoming overly critical and judgmental of yourself.
I’ve learned that setting specific and small goals for myself is much more effective than setting general large goals.
It works like this:
General Goal: “I want to live more sustainably”
Specific Small Goal: “I will reduce my paper waste by eliminating paper towels from my kitchen.”
Once you make progress you set another goal.
Specific Small Goal #2: “I will reduce my waste by eliminating disposable cotton balls and finding reusable options”
Instead of grasping at a large goal, break it down into actionable steps. This will encourage you to keep improving because you are more likely to accomplish the smaller steps.
These lessons are my driving force for living a healthy, and sustainable lifestyle.
What Does This All Mean?
Every year, I choose a word that will define my overall goals. Last year I set out to “inspire”
Everything I wrote and sent into the world had the goal of inspiring others.
Over the course of the year my story was featured in Women’s Health Magazine, and Stupid Easy Paleo Podcast. Both of these blew my mind! I was ecstatic people thought my story was inspiring enough to be heard.
Most importantly, you all sent me messages telling me you were encouraged and inspired. The
more messages I received from you, the more I was encouraged to provide motivation.
With that said, my word of 2019 is…
Elevate.
I am choosing to consistently elevate all that I do by taking steps to improve.
More important, my goal is to elevate other people through teaching self care and fitness. I am excited to see what this year brings and how my new word will drive this years content.
What word will drive your year?
