Sup Muses?
My one moment of focus that I captured.
We know about goals, setting them, intentions, falling off, getting back on track…we know about that- right? I feel like it’s everywhere- on blogs, on podcasts, NPR etc. They are talking about being consistent, and the benefits, but let’s be real— It’s hard. It is VERY hard to stay consistent on everything. The things I struggle with the most are 1-completing my entire morning routine, 2- meditating & 3- working on museologie (blogs, social media, networking etc) We all fade in and out of some tasks for whatever reason. What is consistency? For health and wellness, it’s regularity in doing something. There’s not much change to what you’re doing (the activity) even if the details are different, the overarching goal still gets done. This is the definition I’ve crafted and I know it needs work. How does this look? Let’s take being active: Everyday I want to move my body-somedays that means I get to the gym, other days that may mean getting 10,000 steps in, other days I’ll do my morning yoga and get maybe 4,000 steps and another other day it may be gardening for an hour. I am consistently moving (overarching goal) but how I go about it differs (details/activities.)
Why do I struggle? It’s part not doing well with time management, it’s part fear of success and it’s part of lack of prioritizing. It’s been that way for years now and I haven’t set anything in place to break my cycles of inconsistencies. I always thought if I had a mentor or an accountability group/person that would help keep me on track, but the reality is, being consistent is a ME thing. Relying on someone else already shifts the responsibility. You are responsible for you and I am responsible for me. Yes, there is power in community and there’s power in check-ins + holding one another accountable, but that will and want, that has to start with you, and no one else.
So, here I am asking myself (again):
What’s actually manageable with my time and schedule?
What do I want to see happen by this milestone? (and that’s why I don’t do yearly resolutions)
What’s the worst that will happen if I get off track?
WHY am not I being consistent for what I’ve set out to do?
What will happen if I succeed?
How do I get back on track?
My office aka my space JUST for me.
So be real with yourself. You want to eat healthier-what does that mean and look like for you? How much time will you give to meal prep. Can you say no if you get asked to Happy Hour 4 days in a row? You want to establish some firmer work boundaries- Are you able to do a hard stop? Do you need to turn off your work phone? What will be your consequences or rewards ? Will you have these boundaries everyday or do you want to start with 2 days in a week? You want to pray and do your devotional in the morning and not at night because you keep sleeping? How much earlier will you need to get up to add this into your morning? Why are these spiritual practices important? Does midday work sometimes?
I know. Consistency is key. But consistency is hard. If you fall off, it’s totally ok. Get back up and try again. That’s what I am doing and that’s what I’ll keep doing. The goal is to get some of these wellness practices into habits.
XO
-JM