Happy new year, and welcome to episode three of the Creative, Happy Life Podcast! I am so excited to be jumping into 2020 with this episode. The transition into this year and the new decade has felt so different, and this episode is all about how I am doing a very quick morning ritual that has transformed my days to feel calmer, happier, and more focused on what matters.
Join me on Instagram after you’ve listened to keep the conversation going, make new friends, and celebrate living a happier, more creative life!
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Show Notes
Episode 03
Hello, my beautiful friends! Welcome to the first episode of the new year! I hope 2020 is off to a great start for you. I have been feeling some really incredible energy as we’ve transitioned into a new decade, and today I want to tell you about a new practice I started, a five minute morning ritual that has helped me to feel happier and more centered, more ME, than I’ve felt in a looong time.
But first, I have to ask you something. Have you ever gone on a vacation, and maybe while sitting on a beach or near a lake or overlooking some mountains or the ocean, you’ve just felt present and peaceful? It’s kind of a weird feeling, where you lose track of time, because you don’t have anywhere you need to go, or anything you need to do. You just kind of sit, and stare, taking in the scenery, the sounds of waves or trees, breezes or birds...and then...you get an idea. You’re feeling inspired, excited, and refreshed. And you come home with a renewed energy.
Or how about this... You step into a hot shower, and assuming you’re not being interrupted by kids every 30 seconds, you have a few minutes, just to yourself, and suddenly like the water pouring out the showerhead, thoughts are pouring into your brain. An idea, a solution. Things you’ve been wanting to figure out, or something completely fresh and new. After a couple minutes you’re scrambling to dry off and write down everything you can remember. Maybe your Notes app on your phone has a note specifically called “Shower Thoughts”.
Or you’re on a long car ride, or maybe your daily commute on the train. A long stretch of time where you can just sit and kind of zone out. Your kids are asleep in the backseat, your partner is asleep next to you, or you have the whole car to yourself to listen to whatever music or podcast or audiobook you want. Suddenly you realize that your thoughts are swirling with ideas, phrases, and you go deeper and wilder into an exciting brainspace.
Lastly, you’re on a walk. In the woods, or in the city, you are just moving along, and you see or hear something that makes you think of something else, which makes you think of something else...and so on, and so forth…
Why am I bringing up these situations? Well, if you find yourself in one of these situations, you might realize that you have your best, most creative breakthroughs. You might have a really big idea. You might find the words you’ve been searching for. You might feel more mentally strong, clear and feel a surge of inspiration and creative energy.
Why does this happen? It’s all about having time to quiet your brain and allowing your mind to wander. When we allow our minds to wander, we imagine, we daydream, and we make space for creativity to flow through us. Instead of keeping all those little, random tabs open, cluttering our thoughts with things that aren’t important or inspiring, we find these moments in our days where we can give our own thoughts and desires some much needed freedom and attention.
Our minds are pretty incredible. When given the time and space to wander freely, the possibilities of our imaginations are endless.
So why is it so damn hard to find this time, this space, to let our minds work their magic?
Because we set up so many mental roadblocks in our days. We overschedule, overwork, and don’t allow ourselves to slow down and rest.
The beginning of every year is so interesting. We’re bombarded by messages of making changes, to ourselves, our habits, our routines, and it’s usually all centered around doing more. Eat healthier, exercise more, schedule your day to optimize your time and productivity, make more time for friends and reading and...it’s just too much. No one ever talks about doing less. No one ever talks about taking it slow. As soon as the clock strikes midnight, we go from zero to sixty into the new year, expecting to transform into this new, better person.
So let me be the person to tell you that I think that’s all a load of garbage. It’s too much. It’s setting yourself up to hit a wall, hard and fast, right around the end of January.
We’re not built to make these extreme fast changes all at once. We’re not made for doing it all, all at once, at a high energy pace. Our bodies and our lives require ups and downs, and that includes a big need for slowing down and doing less.
Think about the holiday season, the weeks leading up to Christmas and the end of the year. It’s a slow build of preparations and excitement, and by the time we hit the end of December, we have maxed out our energy on all the baking and visiting and joy and cheer. And we just need a break. But instead of resting, we get smacked upside the head with New Years. We are catapulted forward before we’ve had a chance to restore ourselves.
Maybe the reason resolutions seem to always fail is because winter is nature’s way of trying to get us to slow down, to hibernate, and take it easy. It’s cold, it’s icy, it’s dark, our bodies are craving warmth and comfort and rest, yet we set ourselves on a steep uphill battle, as if resolving to do it all on January first is a now or never, pass or fail situation.
It’s all wrong. It’s unnatural. And it’s the reason we feel so damn sad and bleak. Our overtired bodies and minds are being stretched thin.
I did a lot of thinking in the week between Christmas and New Years. I felt a different energy in myself, to say screw it to resolutions, and just treat January first like another day. To go with the flow into the new year, enjoy time with my family, and start listening to myself. I had been thinking for years about how great it feels when I go on long car rides and have these creative breakthroughs, or those moments in the shower where the ideas flow, and how nice it feels to have that quiet space to let my mind wander.
As a creative business owner, a mom, a woman, my brain is always running in different directions, always tired, but how often do I make time for it to just slow down and wander? That feeling when you’re walking in the woods and you lose track of time, or when you’re driving and don’t seem to notice how long you’ve been driving for, or how far you’ve gone?
We’ve gotten so used to scheduling our days to the hour and to the minute, adding more activities, more appointments, more tasks on the neverending to do list.
What happens if we decide, and set an intention each day, to do less?
As this year started, I decided to make a change to how I go about my days. I was tired of making to do lists full of tasks that weren’t important. I was tired of thinking every day had to be fun and exciting for my kids to have a good childhood. I decided to start a daily practice, nothing that required much effort, but a small part of my routine that has given me that time to rest my brain and start my day feeling more grounded and focused on what matters, instead of hitting the ground running aimlessly at an unrealistic pace. Each day is a fresh start, with it’s own energy, it’s own things to focus on.
It’s a bit like meditation, I suppose, in the way that this repeated exercise has helped me to find clarity, to breathe, and be more aware of my thoughts, my body and my capacity on a given day. And I have felt more creative, and at peace with saying no to more, because of it.
So are you curious? Do you want to know what I’ve been doing? It’s super simple, and here it is:
Each morning, as I pour my first cup of coffee, I sit down at my dining room table with my little notebook. I don’t sit at my desk or in front of the tv. I leave my phone in the kitchen or out of reach, and spend a few minutes with myself, drinking my coffee and writing. I answer the same six prompts, in the same order, every day. This gives me the minimal structure I know I need to focus this short amount of time each day. If I sat down with an empty notebook to write something open-ended, I’d sit all morning! I have a blog and podcast scripts that fulfill my creativity in that way. This daily practice is a personal check in, kind of like having coffee with your best friend or a quick chat with a coworker before you sit down to start your day.
Here are the six things I write each morning.
First, I start with gratitude. I write one sentence, and it can be anything, whatever I am grateful for in the moment. It has taught me not to overthink everything, and to find gratitude in small things. By intentionally starting my day with thoughts of gratitude, I have seen a significant difference in my mindset for the rest of the day. There is nothing feels terrible or insurmountable when I have centered my mind and my heart on the good things I have in life.
And if you really can’t think of anything, you can always acknowledge your basic needs being met. You have air to breathe, food to eat, clothes on your body and a roof over your head.
There is always something to be grateful for.
The second thing I check on is how I am feeling. I write 1 to 3 sentences about how I’m feeling physically, mentally, and spiritually. It’s important to make sure it’s not how I hope to feel, but how I actually feel. Some mornings I’m tired, grumpy, foggy or or overwhelmed. My energy has peaks and valleys. Some days I’m surprised to feel focused and motivated.
By doing this, I am practicing self-awareness, which will affect how I go about my day. I might feel ready and creative and motivated to get a lot done, or I might intentionally give myself an easier day so I can rest and allow myself to feel tired. I’m learning more and more that our bodies signal us when they need to slow down or rest, and I have started giving myself a big serving of grace on the days I know I’m not feeling great.
This also helps me to think about what I can do to feel better, which might be a midday nap, or opening the curtains and letting the sun in. Some mornings call for putting on some soothing music.
The third check in is writing down one specific thing I want to do for myself that day. I try to make sure it is something creative or self care, like spending time painting, trying a new dinner recipe, doing a facial before bed, or simply going for a walk and breathing some fresh air. Most days my schedule revolves around caring for everyone else in the house, and devoting my energy to things that need to get done. So this one is really important. I ask myself what I want out of the day. How do I want to feel? What can I do for myself to feel good?
The fourth is a Top Three list. I write down my top three productivity priorities for the day, the things I need to really get done to move the needle forward. This can be work or personal. Instead of running around and getting overwhelmed by all the small distractions, and a trivial list of to-dos, I practice focusing on three super specific things I need to do that day. Everything else can maybe get done later, or saved for another day.
The fifth thing is a Brain Dump. I give myself a minute or so to jot down any and all random thoughts that are cluttering my brain each morning. Remember that saying about our brains having too many tabs open? The goal here is to close some of those tabs by writing down reminders, ideas, things I want to get done at some point but aren’t really pressing. Anything that’s possibly distracting me by keeping it in my brain, I write it down. When I take a minute to do this, I feel more mentally calm and clear, more focused and ready for the day ahead.
And last, but certainly not least, I write down an affirmation for myself. If you are a fan of Parks and Recreation, you’re probably familiar with the quirky, but uplifting things Leslie Knope says to her best friend, Ann Perkins. Things like, “You are a poetic and noble land-mermaid.” and “You are a beautiful, talented, brilliant, powerful musk ox.” Or my personal favorite, which she says to Ann, who just gave birth, “You are the most beautiful, glowing, sun goddess ever.”
So I channel my inner Leslie, put on my proverbial positive pants and write down something, just for me, to give myself a boost as I start the day. It can be motivational, empowering, or silly. But it’s just for me.
And then I close my little notebook and start my day.
By making this part of my daily routine, just like I shower and brush my teeth and eat and breathe, I have prioritized myself and my own needs. It’s not enough to just go through the motions each day, and for a long time, I have put my family first, which is certainly not a bad thing, but we have to take care of ourselves, right? As a creative person, heck just as a person, I need and deserve to focus more on my own needs. We give, and give, and give some more to our friends, our families, strangers on the internet.
So imagine the change we could make by turning our time, our energy, our positivity, more inward? To make sure our cup is not only full, but also not being dumped out over and over and over again.
Do you have five minutes a day to give yourself? Do you have five minutes to let your mind wander, to check in with yourself, and give yourself a pep talk? Use this episode as your guide for each of the six prompts. Here’s a quick recap for you:
What are you grateful for, right here and now?
How are you feeling today, in this moment? How is your energy? Your body? Your mind?
What do you want to do for yourself today? What will make you feel good, or creative, or accomplished, or rested?
What are your real top priorities today? Not tomorrow, or for the whole week or month ahead. Just today.
Write down all those random thoughts and ideas. Do a brain dump, close out some of those tabs that are cluttering your brain.
And give yourself a positive affirmation. Speak encouraging, empowering words to yourself.
And then go have a beautiful day, you bright, warm ray of sparkling sunlight.
Creative Happy Homework: Start a 5-minute daily check-in.
With each episode, I hope to nurture a community of creative minds and hearts who want to continue the conversation. If this episode got your creative wheels turning, join me over on Instagram. Share a story, tag #creativehappylifepodcast, and let me know what you’d like to hear in future episodes!
Are you going to give this daily five minute personal check-in a try? I’d love to hear from you so I can send you some encouragement!
Chatbooks
Mama, it’s time to get those photos off of your phone and into the hands of your family!
Chatbooks makes designing and printing photobooks so ridiculously easy. Whether you want to upload from your computer or straight from your phone (which I prefer), their one-image-per-page layout takes the guesswork out of designing a whole book, so you can simply select your favorite photos, pick your cover and book size, press order, and wait with excitement for your book to arrive!
Chatbooks are square, customizable and come in a variety of soft or hardcovers with designs for all years, seasons, holidays, special occasions and milestones. I love them for our yearly family photobooks, although, confession time: I do two books per year because I have the hardest time narrowing down my favorite pictures!
I love flipping through our Chatbooks with Lily and Roo, reminiscing over our favorite everyday moments from over the years. There’s just something so special about holding a physical book of personal photos in your hands - a feeling that scrolling through your phone just can’t capture.
Save $10 on your first Chatbooks order.
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