I’ve shared what my morning and evening healthy habits look like before on the blog. Many are based on what I view as self-care but I was inspired by Kris Carr’s Self Care blog post so here is my latest version of what self-care looks like to me and what it doesn’t.
What self-care looks like for me:
Getting 3 Obstacle Racing (OCR) focused workouts per week
Going to yoga once a week
Getting outside for one run or hike once a week
Journaling
Sharing 3 things I’m grateful for each day with my boyfriend before we go to sleep
Now that I’m back in Ottawa being able to make time for dinners with my family
Listening to Headspace guided meditations before going to sleep
Learning to have a conscious meditation practise to start my day
Making juice & smoothies for snacks throughout my day
Taking time on Sunday evening to meal prep for the week or ordering a meal delivery service if I’m too busy and have a different focus on the weekend
Making appointments for massages or acupuncture to decrease stress
Epsom salt baths with essential oils (my favourites are doTERRA lavender & frankincense)
Bedtime by 9 pm
Wake up at 5 am to get in a workout, or spend time writing or working on my book
What self-care is not:
Looking at my email every time it pings
Saying yes to things just so I don’t upset someone
Forcing myself to the gym to do weight workouts just to have a pretty body
Drinking when stressed. Instead choosing to celebrate events or a great week with a glass of red wine.
Adding something to my plate without taking something away
Feeling bad for putting yourself first so you can have more energy and be there for your family and friends
Homework: Make a list of things you want to start doing for yourself and map out what time of day you think you can fit them in. Start this week with one new self-care practice and try doing it Weds, Thurs & Friday! Let me know how it goes in the blog comments below!
It’s now an annual tradition to post my goals on the 1st of the year!
Here are my 2011, 2012 and 2013 posts, if you’re interested in reading how I’ve evolved in my goal setting over the years.
At the end of 2012 I read “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin and I embarked on my happy finding mission. I started by creating monthly themes for my year so I could slot in long term & short term goals. If you missed yesterday’s post here is my goal recap blog from 2013. Next up!
For 2014 I decided to not do monthly themes this year. Instead I started by opening up my spreadsheet (yes I have a spreadsheet, would you expect anything less?) and looking at my 8 goal categories that I usually slot goals into; marketing career, health & fitness (including yoga, races & fitness competitions), fitness career, reading, writing, travel, spiritual and financial. I have a spreadsheet that I fill out and I started writing out all the goals that came to mind both long term and short term. Then I started mapping out my running races & “potential” fitness competition goals by time of year in a calendar (mac calendar on my computer that mirrors onto my phone). I did this first so I wasn’t overwhelming myself too much during the months of May – Sept and then I started setting goals that are ongoing or will take me all year. I even finished writing this blog post and went back and decided to scarily also add a relationship category and share it “out loud”. I’ll explain below. So without any further ado…
Marketing Career
In April 2013, I landed my dream job at Kobo. I started with the official title of Integrated Marketing Manager. I started my role by executing marketing campaigns in several countries around the world. I was assigned the Americas and our launch in India in October 2013. My role evolved over the year to also include working with our internal creative department to ensure briefs were strategic and synergistic across several internal departments. Our marketing team has re-aligned at the end of 2013 and I will now be mainly working on customer acquisition plans by focusing on our biggest content category; books. I don’t have an official new title but this bookworm is ecstatic. As we finalize our 2014 plans my goal is to work to and achieve the targets we set for the year and continue to grow with an amazing company that allows me to say I have my dream job.
From a continuing educational standpoint I have set a goal to read 2 books a quarter (8 for the year) that will benefit my business career learning. Here’s my list; The 4-Hour Work Week, Tipping Point, Steve Jobs, The One Minute Manager, How To Win Friends & Influence People, Getting to Yes, David & Goliath & maybe Decisive. If you have any other suggestions that are a must read for a business woman in marketing let me know!?
Health & Fitness
I have two nagging health problems I need to figure out. The first is to keep my cortisol levels low throughout the year despite my training. I discovered that the increase in running in my fitness repertoire has raised my cortisol levels so I need to find an optimal level of training, nutrition, rest and stress relief to keep the levels low. The other body woe is knee/hip problems caused by tight IT bands due to weak side glutes due to my increase in running. I need to keep an arsenal of secondary muscle strengthening exercises in my workouts. I need to ensure I’m practicing yoga, get regular treatments with my RMT, foam roll religiously and visit my acupuncturist / chiropractor to manage this fitness woe.
In terms of fitness goals this year I’m going to focus on my mobility & secondary muscle strength to get stronger. I’d like to increase my squatting strength through hip & ankle mobility and overhead work through shoulder mobility. I also need to get my grip strength rocking so I can power through the monkey bars at Tough Mudder and even just with deadlifts. Along with these I need to push myself to finally get that unaided pullup. I’m getting stronger but I have this weird gym fear about doing them that I need to push through.
Health & Fitness – Yoga
I’ve already done a post announcing that I’ll be taking on a 30 day yoga challenge. For me this will be about discipline, focus and finding out something new about myself I may not know. I start January 15th. Wish me luck!
Photographer: Mike Byerly
Health & Fitness – Running Races
Ok so the plan this year is to rock 2 10Ks, 6 trail races, 3 obstacle races and another half marathon! I’m an overachiever and I love it.
April 13 Toronto Yonge Street 10K: Heather from Tribe Fitness convinced me to add another 10K to my race card for the year. Who could resist a souvenir tech shirt, a cool-max runner’s cap and a goodie bag? I need to put together my training plan and set a goal time for this and the Sporting Life race.
May 11 Sporting Life 10K: I’ve heard this course is great for getting a PB because it’s mainly downhill and it benefits camp Ooch for kid’s diagnosed with cancer.
May 31, June 21, July 12, Aug 9, Sept 6 and Sept 20 – 5 Peaks Trail Races: I really am happiest in nature. Being on trails is just an amazing happy place so I’m excited to add these to my goal list. I’ve registered for the Enduro course which can range from 10km to 17km.
June 7 Spartan Sprint: This will be my first time running Spartan. I’m excited to see what they have in store.
July 19 Warrior Dash: This will be my third year running WD. I’ll be running it with 2 girls from last year but the core group who have done it annually have chosen not to this year due to fear of injury. This is such a fun and easy race for me now so I’m excited to set a time goal this year for it.
Aug 16 Tough Mudder: I have something to prove. For me the goal isn’t a timed race but will be an obstacle completion challenge since I wasn’t able to do 6 obstacles last year. However, I would like to finish ahead of the 3 hour 20 minutes mark that I completed it in, in 2013.
Aug 23 SeaWheeze: For me this will be a tough race. I’ll have run a 5 Peaks Trail Race, then Tough Mudder and then will fly to Vancouver to beast this half marathon all in back to back weekends. But I’m ready for this challenge! I will need a ton of massages in August. This will make my RMT very happy. I’m thinking I’d like to set a goal of 2:10 but I’m scared to say that with how my body will feel that month!
Health & FItness – Fitness Competitions
I’m on the fence about competing in 2014 to be honest. I’m not in love with the “sport” as much as I used to be. I’m also not loving aspects of the competition community. But that is another blog post of it’s own that I need to delve into. If I compete it will be on my own terms, I’ll have to be very excited about doing it and will want for it to make a positive impact in the lives of others vs. just myself. In my goal spreadsheet are two options of either OPA Ottawa or London on November 1st or 22nd. I’m definitely fence sitting with this goal.
Fitness Career – Fitness Modelling & Freelance Writing
I prepped for three photo shoots at the end of 2013 so I need to take the time to sort through shots and submit! I did not focus on my freelance writing (+ modeling for my own articles) enough in 2013 so here’s to refocusing in 2014 on goals that also make me an income 🙂
Writing
This is going to become a big focus for me in 2014. I have started putting words to paper for several ideas but don’t spend enough time committed to writing my story down. In 2014 I will write a full length self help book. To break it down into smaller goals I will work on 1-2 chapters a month for the year. As I write this part of my blog I’m listening to the Spotlight course by Kris Carr and the Do It Yourself Branding section with Gabrielle Bernstein. They are talking about vision boards and how they both put becoming New York Best Sellers as a goal to achieve. I’ll be Canadian and say I would like for my first full length book to become a Globe & Mail best seller. If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.
As a smaller publishing goal I want to publish a curation of sorts that I’ve been compiling over the past year. I have been brainstorming in what format to publish as this is something that could be multimedia. I’ll share more once I get it sorted out a bit more outside of my brain. Right now it’s a jumble of thoughts.
And of course I love where my blog is going and the journey it’s taken me on. The goal will be to continue to post 3-5 times a week! More fitness posts, what I’m getting up to, bucket list checking off, book reviews, food prep ideas and more.
Reading
I loved what the 50 book challenge did for me in 2013. I read voraciously. I did however feel a bit stressed in December when I only hit the 40 mark a week before the end of the month (even though I managed to get to 41!) This year I will keep reading like my life depends on it but I’ll be sure to balance out the escapist novels with the teach me something books as I did in 2013. Here is what’s on my reading list that I didn’t get to in 2013 and I can’t wait to dive into in 2014.
I’ll be heading off to brilliant, warm and sunny Mexico again with Eva on her third annual BCBD transformation retreat. Last year we went to Los Cabos, this year I’ll get to experience the other side of the country on the Mayan Riviera. There are 12 of us going this year so I couldn’t be more excited to spend time with girls I bonded with last year and meet the new ladies joining our family.
My friend, sister soulmate, Kyla and I were thinking about going to Costa Rica or Nicaragua for a surf & yoga retreat in 2014. Then she told me about wanting to volunteer at the Mother Teresa Home for the Destitute and Dying in India. No plans yet but the seed is planted. Here’s to being spontaneous and choosing a trip that could move us beyond a yoga practice or time on a surfboard.
Spiritual
I would like to spend more time immersed in my faith. I have an alarm set for 4:45am where I would get up 15mins earlier than my normal time to spend 10 mins reading a daily devotional and praying. I need to commit to this time and really make it a morning habit to start my day off right. Along the same lines I have never found a home church in Toronto. I want to explore online sermons this year. Something I can watch during my weekly Sunday meal prep. LifeChurch.tv has a 5pm and a 6:30pm on Sunday night so I may give that a shot in January. Another way to start my week off grounded and inspired.
As a part of my spiritual wellbeing I started a gratitude journal in 2013. Although I don’t always find time it’s been amazing to sit down and write at least one sentence about each day that I’m grateful and thankful for. Sometimes I’ll go back and update a whole bunch of dates at once. I want to continue this tradition into 2014. If you’re thinking about taking this goal on you must read this blog post by my friend Chivon about what to know before you start.
Financial
Nothing exciting here but to pay down my credit card debt again by the end of May 2014. I did a good job in 2013 when I made a spreadsheet of payments and stuck to it. Here’s to spreadsheets, sticking to budgets and being money unstressed.
Relationships
I have never put relationships into a goal setting exercise because you can’t control other people. However, I can control my actions and my perceptions so here goes nothing. I choose to follow the advice from the “30 Day Love Detox” (will post a review in January) no matter how difficult it may seem. This book by Wendy Walsh & “It’s Just a F***ing Date” have been great dating reads for me this year. I may be an Alpha Female but I am a single Alpha Female who is relationship challenged. I know that my past actions will not determine my future but I need to fully believe it and embrace it. I choose to always be open to love but will stop pretending the world is a Disney movie full of Prince Charming’s waiting to be everything I need. I choose to continue to love my life so much that I will remain open to the right people coming into my life in 2014 whether it be friendship or romantic. It’s a scary statement to say out loud that I want to be in a loving romantic relationship with someone who I can see starting a family with who will say “I choose you ’til you’re old and grey”. I want to be a mother deep down in my soul and I am proud of this fact. So I’m putting it out into the universe because I believe in miracles. I will need to undo certain habits that do nothing to serve me in this aspect of my life. So in 2014 may my journey of self love and openness and honesty continue.
Overall Goal
Last year I talked about finding my inner purpose in my 2013 goals blog & I recapped here my progress and year long discovery. This year, two blog posts by my favourite online spiritual Guru’s Kris Carr & Gabby Bernstein inspired my overall 2014 goal.
Expand my inner awareness through ease, patience and and being blissfully present.
I really liked her number 12 point: Expand your inner awareness.
All of my books and lectures have one common theme: When we strengthen our inner awareness our outer experience becomes miraculous. This New Year accept this truth: as you slow down and tune into your own inner guidance system you’ll receive all the power and resources you need to flourish. Stop looking outside yourself for answers. Begin a meditation practice and expand your inner awareness.
For me embarking on my 2013 happiness project taught me a lot about myself and what I love and how I love myself. As I move in 2014 I need to relax, be calm and patient and continue to listen to what makes my heart happy as I manifest my goals. Which leads me to the blog post I read by Kriss Carr on Ease.
For me, ease at work and at home equals joy, health, creativity and contentment.
Ease connects me to my internal life. The more ease I feel, the more grounded my decisions become. I welcome those things into my life in 2014 and I invite you to join me.
The dictionary definition of ease that appeals to me is “move carefully, gradually, or gently.” So along those lines if I embrace ease, ensure I’m not running at full speed through 2014 and connect to my internal awareness of who I am, 2014 is just going to rock my socks off.
At the end of 2012 I sat and wrote down 13 goals for 2013. On Dec 31 I’ll post a recap on how I did but I wanted to specifically focus on the 13th goal I set for myself. The category goal was about finding my internal purpose.
I re-read the blog post called “The Myth of Finding Your Purpose” by Kris Carr last weekend that inspired the category goal. Then I re-read what I wrote. I stated that I was going to learn to teach myself that I will never be perfect. I was going to embrace my imperfections and accept them as I am. I was going to embrace self compassion. I was also going to be proud of my ambition, truly proud. I was going to understand that my ambition is good. That chasing my ambitions with integrity is good. I made a statement that I would ensure that my ambition would never take precedence over the good I already have in my life. I also said I will invite love into my life. I won’t look for it, I won’t chase it. I will just allow it to come in.
What I see in my statements is that what I was really looking for was the need to learn to love myself again. I needed to fall in love with myself and not a man. I needed to learn to forgive myself for leaving a relationship that was not healthy or good. I needed to learn that I did not fail but I learned. I needed to learn last year to speak kindly to myself, to be patient with myself and find the positive energy I have within. I also needed to learn that my ambition with my two careers has nothing to do with my purpose. I did not know that a year ago. Despite reading Kris Carr’s blog I was still linking the two together. I truly didn’t get that when I was writing out my blog post last year. I have always connected purpose with ambition and they are linked but not one and the same. Once I learned to love myself and all I have to offer the world I became more myself this year. What I put out into the world is more authentic and more me vs a carefully crafted brand and person which is what I’ve been developing over the past 5 years. As I share myself; a broken, self cherished and healing woman I flourish in my career and goals.
I had stated that I will invite love into my life. I was specifically hoping romantically but I know now that I was actually allowing love to happen through many different relationships. Through friends, family and through the many joys of dating this year. I love deeply and passionately. I love that about myself and will not allow that to change. As relationships with friends & family evolved and changed over the year I invited the right love into my life or found out yet again what was not right for me. I should not have tried to link inner purpose with finding a love in another person (man or woman). That I recognize and know. I needed to discover that over this year. It’s funny how sometimes we feel so smart yet really know nothing and are constantly in a state of discovery.
Here’s to 2014 and loving me. Here’s to exploring more of my self love and feeling abundant in all I have to offer myself. I urge you to examine and find your inner purpose.
