As we watch the world wake up in the spring, it brings to mind new beginnings, new life, and a fresh start. January 1 is usually credited for all the “new” ideas, plans, and goals in our life, but who says you can create new goals any time of year? Or that your priorities can’t change mid-year? Shoot, sometimes your priorities change mid-week, or even before noon some days. While that is just the nature of life sometimes, it can also show a lack of commitment or an unfounded goal. 

Looking back at the last time you made a goal or a resolution, have you been able to honor it? Are you making choices every day that get you closer to reaching it? If not, why is that? 

Maybe the last time you set a goal, your priorities were very focused on physical wellness, but an injury has forced you to change what that looks like for you. Maybe your goal was all about getting your home organized, and then you found out that you were unexpectedly going...

The start of a new year, a new month, a new job, a new adventure creates an energy of new goals, dreams, and motivations. Have you ever noticed how the luster and excitement of starting something new wears off and all of a sudden you’re not interested anymore? Maybe you have a pile of yarn from that new crocheting hobby you were going to take up. Maybe you have an online course you bought to learn a new skill or some self-development. Maybe you bought a membership for a gym that you used 4 times and have never been back. Not because you didn’t enjoy any of it, but because the new wore off. Don’t judge yourself for this, it happens to the best of us—92% of us according to inc.com. So, what on earth are you supposed to do to stay motivated?

Step one: Stop shoulding on yourself.

So often we do things because we “should.” I should be going to the gym, so I’ll buy a membership. I should have a hobby to relax, so I’ll take up...

Sometimes it’s refreshing to not have any plans. To have a whole day open for whatever comes your way! However… it’s very hard to live every day like that. Most of us are driven by deadlines, points of necessity, and feelings of accomplishment. That is why we make to-do lists and schedules. Most of us get more done if we know what we are doing. As a general rule of thumb we do well with listing tasks for work, or getting the kids ready for the day, and maybe even our own daily routines as far as normal housework goes. But how are you doing on the road to your own wellness? Do you have a plan and goals for feeling better, more at peace, or less exhausted? Do you have any direction for having more positive relationships or a deeper connection with your partner? 

Here’s the funny thing about life. We get so caught up in helping everyone else achieve their goals that we forget about achieving our own. We forget to even set our own personal goals. I...

What is enough?

We have all set goals for ourselves throughout our life. Some people set them every January, sometimes it is at your annual review at work, sometimes, it is before starting the next academic year, you may even set a goal for your day every morning. These things are all wonderful. It is important to have something to strive for and something to help keep you motivated. What happens when you reach that goal though? Do you set another one? Do you check it off your list, never to think of it again?

It depends on the goal you’re setting. Let’s use weight loss as an example. Many people set a weight loss goal at some time in their lives. Goal: Lose 20 pounds. So, you work at it. You decrease your caloric intake, maybe you take the stairs more often, maybe you even join a gym. And with a few changes in your life and a lot of work, you’ve lost the 20 pounds. But then what? What comes next? Do you go back to your old routines and put the weight back on? Do...

It is so easy to be feeling overwhelmed these days. Nothing is as it was, everything is changing quickly, and the added stress of those changes adds more difficulty to every facet of our lives. That added stress makes it harder to stay productive too. When you look at your to-do list and it is a mile long, it’s hard to know where to even start. Most people do one of two things when they reach a place of overwhelm, they either shut-down, or they go into overdrive. When you shut down, you’ll find that it is all of a sudden “normal” to spend 6 hours of your day on social media. Or maybe snoozing your alarm so much you end up showing up late for work. Or maybe it’s binging your favorite old show. On the other hand, when you go into overdrive you find yourself taking on more and more tasks. Maybe you need to go to the post office to mail out a bill today, but when you sit to write the check and grab a pen, you decide to organize the junk drawer. After...

We’re three months into the year now and I’m willing to bet most of you have lost the passion for your New Year’s Resolution. You set a goal on January 1, 2020, to do something different. A majority of people set resolutions around their health; to either eat better, move more, get more sleep, quit smoking, etc. These are all great resolutions and great intentions to set for the year. The reality is that change is hard and old habits don’t go down easy. You must offer yourself some grace in this process, you are human and it’s okay to miss a day at the gym. It’s okay to sleep in one morning after a particularly long week. It’s okay to eat that piece of birthday cake with your grandpa. The important part is to start again the next day.

Here’s how I see it. A resolution is like a brand new relationship with someone. You make plans to go on a date and if it goes well you arrange a second date. It’s a new relationship, you...