A check-in
It’s quarantine day 16 in my house. It’s a little hard to believe we’ve been in this for over two weeks now. The circumstances we are in are strange, they’re scary, vulnerable, isolating. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime, I imagine that’s true for most of us.
I have gone through some serious personal trials in recent years-- things that challenged me on a daily basis. The circumstance tested my strength, tested my capacity to move forward, tested resilience, tenacity and mindset. I’m through the worst of all of that, thank goodness. I got through it better and stronger, but not without work. While there were so many things I did to cope with a very hard season there was one consistent way of looking at life that really helped.
Oscillating between the concepts of “take it one day at a time” and “focus on the long game” helped me maintain gratitude and presence in the current moment and hope for the future. I find myself going back to this mindset again during the COVID-19 outbreak and can apply it to both my personal and professional life.
One day at a time.
Every day is a new one. A new opportunity to start fresh, to behave differently, to improve, to be kinder to ourselves, to be kinder to others. It’s been said before, it’s been written about in all kinds of places, and it’s true. When we focus on the present, we focus on the now, we are more able to fully enjoy, to have gratitude and to live our fullest lives. This is easier said than done, especially in hard times. Our minds tend to go to the next thing, the next day, the next deadline, the next challenge. We can catastrophize and come up with worst-case scenarios stemming from fear, causing anxiety.
A practice I’ve adopted to help me center myself is writing in a gratitude journal. Each morning I write down 5 things I am grateful for that happened within the past 24 hours. Small things like a kind text message or a hug from my daughter, a great cup of coffee or a 10 minute fresh air break. I learned this practice from Rachel Hollis’ books. She says that when we are in the practice of writing our gratitude down everyday we go through our day looking for things to be grateful for. When we look for things to be grateful for we are more present in the moments that are happening as they are happening.
The long game.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”- Audrey Hepburn
While being in the moment is something to always strive for, there is also a need to look towards the future. In hard times, having the ability to see that there is a new reality at the end of it all helps us get through. I like to call it the long game. Looking at the long game, we start to believe in the beauty of what is to come. We see beyond the fear of what’s going on in crisis and envision where we will be. When we see a destination, we can take the proper steps to get there, we can make more mindful decisions based on where we want to go vs. the uncertainty of the now. We act on vision not impulse.
A practice I do to help me focus on the long game is writing down my goals everyday-- the same 10 big-picture goals. As I write them I try to envision my life and the feelings I will have when they have been accomplished. This brings in all the positive energy of that vision and allows the law of attraction to come into play.
Last 90 Days
Writing down my 10 goals also comes from Rachel Hollis. In October 2019 I joined a challenge she and her company put together called the #last90daychallenge in which her entire community focused on her “five to thrive” (5 things to do each day towards self improvement) and did them for 90 days. Practicing this was life changing for me. It molded my habits and changed my perspective. I successfully made it through the last 90 day challenge (with an imperfect record on doing all 5 every day) but overall being a better version of myself.
They have started a new challenge called #next90days and I’ll be participating in it starting April 1st. Many friends have asked about the challenge I did last year and what it was about.
I invite you to join me in these now in an action and effort of hope. We don’t know where we’ll be 90 days from now in terms of our current crisis and challenging times but each day we can do these 5 things to help us be our best selves in the present and in the long game.
For Q2 I’ll be doing these 5 things each day.
Drink a minimum of ½ my body weight in oz of water each day
Wake up 1 hour earlier than I normally would (5am for me)
Move my body 30 minutes each day (workout, walk, etc.)
Practice gratitude (journal)
Give up one food item or category of food for 30 days (I’ll be giving up sugary treats like chocolate)
Let me know if you have any questions on how to get started. I’ll be sharing my journey on social media and blog posts. I wish everyone health and peace right now.