Happy New Year peeps (she says 3 weeks later, lol)! I still can’t believe that we are actually in 2023 now-the last quarter of 2022 flew by in a flash!
I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve been feeling burnt out for a few months. I’ve been super busy with client work, and just life in general, so blogging kind of took a back seat. In addition to burnout, I was also uninspired with content creation. I’m SO over a lot of what I see, so for a while, I didn’t want to add to the noise. I had a lot of things to share, but sometimes, you second guess if you should share it because it doesn’t fall in line with what everyone else is doing. And while I’ve never been a person that’s felt like they need to follow the crowd and do what everyone else is doing, consuming so much of the same type of content made me feel very blah towards it all. So, unless I shared in my IG stories or it was a paid campaign, I stopped.
Thankfully, I’m coming out of that mindset.
I love blogging and storytelling, and life is really good, so I decided to get back to my WHY. I also am in a season of personal growth, so with it being a new year as well, I knew it was time to look at how I want to approach this season, what I want to change, keep the same, etc. I stopped making traditional “resolutions” years ago, but I do like to set flexible goals for myself and adjust as needed as time goes by. So while you won’t ever see me proclaiming things like “I will write 5 blog posts a week!”, what you WILL see is a more consistent posting schedule.
Everything I’m working on isn’t tied to my blog, but when I sat back to think about why I wasn’t posting or interested in creating myself, I realized it was because I was creatively drained. My day-to-day work revolves around helping my clients capture THEIR content for social media and marketing, and doing that in addition to consuming so much across platforms to pass time when I was mentally exhausted caused me to get burned out. I always say that you are your niche and life is content, but when most of your days are dedicated to helping others to create and consumption, you have no mental space to do anything else.
Which leads me to the WHY of this blog post. In order to spur creativity again, I must do things outside of my client work and blog. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very content, but I need more than what my day-to-day has become. In order for me to change that, I have to shift, and in order to shift, I have to purposefully make a few changes (aka resolutions), in order to move the needle and get to where I want to be.
With that being said, here are a few (realistic) resolutions I will be focused on in the new year.
Less social media consumption.
We’re all addicted to our phones, and while I don’t know if that will ever change, what I DO know is that I can reduce HOW addicted I am. If I’m so bored of seeing the same thing, why am I still looking at it?? This was something I had to say to myself, so that moving forward, if I find myself mindlessly scrolling, I can snap myself out of it and fill that time up with something more productive and/or fulfilling.
Find new hobbies.
My blog has given me access to SO many things, and while I am truly grateful, I need to do things that aren’t connected to my blog. If I’d like to share them, that’s fine, but I have to make a concerted effort to do more activities that aren’t tied to a social media deliverable. This isn’t to say that I ” live for the Gram”. Quite the opposite. I just enjoyed sharing my activities, and am DAMN good at it, which afforded me invites and opportunities to do so. But there’s still more out there to do just for me. My friend Andrea and I had a conversation a few weeks ago about what it means to be a Renaissance woman, and I want to do more things that encompass that. I plan to take a pottery making class, a cooking class, visit more art museums, read more books NOT related to business/marketing/personal development plus other things.
Make slow travel a priority.
Going to Paris changed my life, but I also didn’t do a few things I wanted to do while there because we didn’t have enough time. Moving forward, I want to make sure that I have time to indulge in simple things that mean a lot and inspire me whenever I travel somewhere. I love visiting museums, trying local cuisine, and simply walking around people watching while I immerse myself in that city’s culture, so now, I will make sure I have the option to do that built in. It doesn’t matter if I’m traveling with friends, family, or alone, I must allow my curiosity to lead me, even if only for a few hours.
Make movement and overall wellness my top priority.
Whenever I work out regularly and eat well, I feel amazing. The last quarter of the year, I slacked across the board. I didn’t feel terrible, but I didn’t feel my best, either. I also had a weird allergic reaction to a medication in November that I am still dealing with, so I’ll be using Q1 to get back on track. I’m currently experimenting with eating less meat and a little more plant-based and reducing my sugar intake (although lord knows I love sweets, lol). I took an allergy test and I’m literally allergic to NOTHING, but I know that food is healing, so I’m making adjustments daily. Thankfully, I actually like to eat really healthy food, so my goal is to truly follow the 80-20 rule and reduce overall meat + sugar consumption. Meat will be easy because I enjoy vegan and vegetarian meals. But sugar? Lord help me.
Improve how my days flow.
I love the way that my days go when they’re more structured, and a lot of that boils down to how much sleep I get, if movement and healthy eating is a focus, and my work (and play) schedule is planned. I’m naturally a night owl, but that doesn’t mean that I WANT to stay up until 3am every night. I’m tired of being tired lol. Thankfully, I make my own schedule for the most part and don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn, BUT, I would like to not feel like death when I rise early and to add a little more structure to most of my days. I do not want anything rigid, because the Sag in me will repel and rebel, but structure is great for creatives and help to keep our days purposeful. I’m still defining what I want my daily routines to be, but I’m happy with where it’s going.
I’m smart enough to know that change is inevitable and takes work to see real results, but I’m up for the challenge.
I’d love to know any resolutions or goals you’ve set for yourself. Sharing it out loud makes it real!
