#34 April 1st, 2022

As we start a new month, here’s a friendly reminder you do not have to be the same person you’ve been in the past. You do not have to think the same thoughts, have the same habits, or do the same actions that you’ve been doing. Whether it’s been years or a day, you can change things. Today is a great day to start something new. What if one day you look back at today as the day it all started to change for you? You got this!

Self-Care vs. Self-Work. . . And why knowing the difference is so important ? NourishNestBreathe

Have you ever considered what the difference is between self-care and self work? Self work is trying to improve some aspect of yourself whether that be physical or mental or related to your work or relationships. Self-care’s purpose is to rejuvenate and restore you. It is something you are doing simply for the pleasure and joy of it, as?opposed to having a goal. It’s important to have both in our lives, not just one or the other. Which we need more of will depend on what is going on during that season of our lives. It’s very possible for some activities to be self care at times but then self work at other times. What matters is the attitude and intention that we bring to the activity.?

Show up Real and Afraid and Honest and Vulnerable -

I think one of the reasons we struggle with fear and vulnerability is we think we can avoid them, so then when we do feel them we feel bad about feeling them. Feeling bad about feeling bad just makes us suffer needlessly. Fear and vulnerability ability are a natural part of human life because we are always going to be trying new things and figuring it out as we go. We need to learn to embrace them as a normal thing rather than trying to avoid them. This article does a good job describing some of the common occurrences in the authors life where she has to embrace fear and vulnerability. It can pop up at work or in relationships in many different ways. I think we all will be able to relate to the experience she describes. We gain so much power when we stop trying to avoid these feelings and instead embrace them and show up anyway. In the moments where these feelings are present is when we have the capability for the most growth and change.

https://medium.com/thrive-global/this-10-minute-morning-routine-ensures-consistently-productive-days-9fd58031bee3

It is a reality that if you are not intentional about prioritizing what is important to you than life will crowd those things out with what is urgent. Often what appears urgent is not what really matters. This article advocates for taking just a few minutes each morning to pause and reflect on what you really need to get done today. This could be in the realm of your business, your relationships, or something personal. Often what we spend a lot of time and effort on really does not matter in the long run. What is truly the most important thing? Where we direct our attention and how effective it is is so much more important than just the number of hours logged doing something. It can be a game changer for your productivity to take some alone time and figure out what matters most today. Then if you can get that thing actually done or make progress on it the day will still be a win regardless of how everything else goes. Those small wins on the things that really matter can transform your life when stacked up over time.

Shut Up and Be Grateful

I won’t tell the reader to shut up but I do think being grateful is a great practice. Yes we all have pain, suffering, and difficulties in our lives but there are so many reasons why today is probably the best time to ever be alive. There are so many things to be grateful for if we look around for them. There are so many people in the world who would give anything to have some of the things that we have. Yes you have problems and I’m not belittling those, but there are probably many people that have it much worse off. If we look for things to be grateful for we will always find them, and gratitude and happiness are?a positive feedback cycle that feed off each other. Being grateful during difficult times is a skill that you can develop, it is not some innate trait that we either have or do not have. Practice trying to get better at this over a period of time and see how it transforms your life.?