For 2018, I sat out to Thrive.
And I truly feel like I am making serious progress here. I mentioned in my 2017 recap that I had a pretty rough 2017 with family drama and letting it bring me down and letting others affect how I felt about myself. This year, I knew I had to do a better job at taking care of myself so that I can be a functioning and beneficial member of society.
We are a little over 3 months in and I'm feeling so much more in control of my life and really feeling like I can thrive.
So what am I doing differently?
Working out in the morning.
I've already touched on my why for switching my schedule in this post. I realized that a lot of my frustrations at night were coming from the fact that I wouldn't get home post-workout until 7 pm or later and then I would have to cook dinner, walk the dog, do any home stuff that was needed and next thing I knew, it would be 9 o'clock and I didn't even get to watch my favorite shows or spend any time with my husband!
This year, I committed to an early morning workout routine and though it took a few weeks to get in the groove (and my strep throat knocked me out a bit), I feel SO much better when I do it! I actually have energy and can get right to work when I get into the office vs. being a zombie and not feeling productive until 10 am at work.
Create a nighttime routine.
As you can guess from that last point, I was just falling into bed after 10 o'clock each night, scrolling through my phone forever and then hoping to get a good night's sleep. This was not working for me. I woke up groggy and scrambling to get out the door every morning and I knew the best way to change that was to change my nighttime routine first.
My new nighttime routing (most nights - there are times that it doesn't happen) is as follows:
9:15ish - Get off the phone. I also turn on my blue light blocking for the few times that I do look at my phone. We may be finishing a show but I try to end all electronics around this time. I also do some reading around this time if I've managed to turn off the electronics early enough.
9:30 - Pack up my gym bag for the next day, set out my workout clothes and wash my face.
9:45 - Yoga and stretching. I turn on a meditation/yoga playlist on Spotify and do a quick flow, stretching and foam rolling based on what's the most sore. (As I'm writing this, it's my arms and shoulders - ouch).
10 - Crawling in bed, maybe reading a little bit more before lights out and off to dreamland.
Meal Prep.
This is definitely the one that takes the most diligence and does sometimes get left out of my weekly prep on Sunday based on if I'm travelling or busy on Sunday afternoon. But the weeks that I can knock out some serious meal prep, I'm really able to enjoy my weeknights: from trivia on Monday to evening strolls with Ellie, Netflix binges, blog post writing, etc. For example, the night I'm writing this, I was able to "make" dinner in 10 minutes, write 2 blog posts, watch 3 episodes on Hulu and hang out with Christian - all while being in bed on time!
Spending time with people who lift me up.
This is such a huge one. If you are surrounding yourself with positive people who support and motivate you to be a better person. I am so lucky to have such a good set of friends that are positive people and we all support each other and lift each other up.
Limiting time with people who bring me down.
This idea goes hand in hand with the previous point. You have to cut out people who drag you down or keep you in a state of emotional turmoil. This can be so hard. It's also something I'm still working on. Trying to decide who I want to keep in my life and knowing when its time to cut ties and move forward without some people. But, I find that when I am letting someone else play with and control my emotions, I can't be my best self.
Giving back.
I truly enjoy giving back to those who are sick or less fortunate. I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful home, own two cars and get to enjoy life with minimal financial stress and as a result, I feel that it's my duty to give back. Thankfully, my company agrees with this philosophy and has a Stewardship committee that I am so blessed to be the secretary of this year. We have a different event each month that I take part it and I also try to do some volunteering on my own as well.
Mindset.
Finally, the best thing I've done to "thrive" this year is to just get up every day with that word in my mind and ready to have a good day. It doesn't work every day and I definitely still have days where I don't feel 100% and I still let things affect me that shouldn't, but I try my best to just be positive and thrive.
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