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7 Simple Tips to Help You Stop Over-Complicating Exercise

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I don’t think there’s anything on earth that has been more blown out of proportion and over-complicated than exercise.

People obsess over the form, the type, and the amount of exercise they should be doing. They spend all this time reading books on the topic all while procrastinating the actual task of exercising.

And there’s nothing wrong with learning about exercise. You guys know I love research. I research everything. If you want to read up and be informed about fitness, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s not what I’m saying.

The problem is when research keeps you from taking action. When you read books instead of working out. When you over-complicate it so much that you never get out of “learning mode” and into “action mode.”

Imma be real and tell you that I spent a lot of time overcomplicating fitness. Like a lot. It has always been a struggle for me. I spent years overthinking it and staying 40-50 pounds overweight. I was overanalyzing it so much that I just stood still and did nothing. I didn’t take any action.

I always envied women who loved exercise and would make it to the gym every single day no matter what. I’m just not that person. I’ve never loved any form of exercise. And even now I’ve got ones that I do that are my favorites, but I still don’t love them. I don’t look forward to doing any form of exercise.

So, I want you to know that I’ve been there. I understand. But in order to change our lives, we’ve got to be action-taking women. Change isn’t just going to happen because we wish it, or we read it in a book. We’ve got to actually do the thing.

When I finally started taking action, I didn’t do anything major. I didn’t go to the gym. I didn’t start running. I just started to move for 10–30 minutes every day. That’s it.

And guess what? I healed my body. I healed my leaky gut syndrome and my adrenal fatigue.

Exercise is a good thing. It’s not my favorite thing, but it’s a good thing. Exercise decreases stress, improves sex (who doesn’t want that???), improves mood, teaches you to love your body, and so much more. Exercise has too many benefits to not do it. And trust me when I say that it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Need a little motivation to get started? I’ve got some journal prompts for you!

SEND THEM TO ME!

To prove it to you, I’ve put together a little list of ideas to inspire you and to help you stop over-thinking fitness and start moving your body. These are things that have worked for me and I know have worked for other people as well.

#1: Decide to Do It

This may seem basic, but if you don’t decide you’re going to do something, you won’t do it. You know you want.

You’ve got to wake up every single day with no excuses. Just get it done. No excuses. Decide you’re going to do some form of exercise, and then be intentional to make your body move every single day.

#2: Take a Walk

Set a timer and take a 20–minute walk around your neighborhood. Or you can even walk around your house. Pace back and forth or walk up and down your stairs while you listen to some music. Pop in your headphones and listen to one of my podcasts. Here’s one I did with my friend, Robin Long from the The Balanced Life, where we talked about food, exercise and perfectionism.

#3: Have a Dance Party with Your Kid(s)

Turn on some loud music and have a living room dance party with your kid(s) while dinner’s cooking on the stove. Even two songs are almost 10 minutes long and dancing is a great for your whole body.

#4: Throw Out the All or Nothing Mentality

Exercising for just 10 minutes is so powerful. 10 minutes is better than no minutes. You can do anything for 10 minutes.

Do arm dips on bar of the tub while your kids are in the bath. Do squats while you’re loading the dishwasher. Do leg raises while you’re watching Netflix.

If you were to do intentional movement for 10 minutes a day, you would see a difference in your mood, you would feel better and more confident, you’d make better food choices. You would notice the change.

The point is to just keep moving throughout the day (and we moms are pretty good at that already, am I right?) Start thinking, “How can I sit less? How can I change?” And then just do whatever you can to move.

#5: Make Movement a Rhythm

Ask yourself where in your day or week you can fit in a new rhythm. For example, every time you listen to the Purpose Show on Wednesdays, take the kids for a long walk.

Decide that you’re going to take a walk in the morning and make it a rhythm. I’m always talking to you guys about the importance of developing rhythms and exercise is a huge one!

Need help finding the time to exercise? I’ve got you, girl. Start with The Time-Blocking Mom Workbook. You budget your money. Start budgeting your time LIKE A BOSS!

SEND IT TO ME!

#6: Buy Noise-Cancelling Headphones  

If you’re a person who gets frustrated by a lot of noise or sibling bickering in the background while you’re trying to get your workout done, get you some noise-cancelling headphones.

Obviously don’t use headphones if you have a baby or little toddler who needs you to pay attention. But if your kids are old enough to be okay with you having headphones in and one of them would know to come and get you if something were to happen, then pop those headphones in. Do your workout, put some music on, and just zone out for a few minutes.

#7: Ditch the Excuses

If it’s winter and it’s freezing, bundle up. If it’s raining, have an inside dance party in the living room. If you’re PMSing, follow a yoga video on YouTube.

You can make excuses for anything and before you know it years have passed and nothing’s changed. So just stop. People who meet goals, the doers out there, they don’t have excuses.

For example, when I hurt my ankle, it would have been easy for me to just be like, “Oh, I can’t exercise. Oh well, I don’t really like it that much anyway.” But you know what? I didn’t. I went to yoga classes and I opted out of the positions that hurt my ankle.

No excuses.

The kids can come with you. You can do it while they nap. They can be watched by someone else. You can go to a gym. You can go for a walk.

There people who make stuff happen and are constantly moving forward in their lives, don’t have excuses. Be like those people.  

You can make this happen. You can be fit. You can be healthy. I know, “Make it happen,” is so over-said, but that’s because it’s true. It can be done.

You’re in charge. You’re an action-taking, problem-solving, bad-a** woman and that type of woman knows she has the power to make things happen. So, listen to me, warrior-woman, it’s time to get moving and change your life.  

I Made My Own Plant Wall and You Can, Too! Here’s How…

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You ever just have a stroke of inspiration so good you have to share it? Because it basically changes your life? Well I’m about to share with you the little lightbulb moment I had because it’s too good to keep to myself!

It all started when I went to pick up a rug for my living room from World Market. When I say this is my DREAM RUG, I mean it. And it had just gone on sale for 40% off so I was a little giddy.

Here’s a picture of me and my rug looking happier than I looked after the births of my children because that’s how much I love decorating and this rug! (not really, but really).

I looked for the rug to link for you, but I don’t think they sell it anymore. But check out their website if you want to search for yourself.

While I was there, I was browsing through the office section and I spotted this metal 9-cubby wall organizer and I immediately had this vision that I could use it as a wall shelf for small plants!

I love the look of lots of green house plants but I was just never sure if I could commit to them or if they would work with small kids in the house. But once I had this idea, I knew I could make it work!

So, I bought the metal wall organizer and ordered a second one online because they didn’t any more in stock. Once I had them both, I spray painted them black using this paint.

Side Note: Amazon sells this this 3-cubby wall organizer if you’re interested in another option 😉

Then I went to Armstrong Garden Center and bought terra cotta pots in a couple of different sizes to put in each cubby. And I also picked out and bought the plants to go in the pots.

When we got home, we spray painted the terra cotta pots black, so they’d blend in with the shelves. It’s all personal preference but I thought it might look better to have everything one color so the the green of the plants really pops!  

(We used this paint for the pots. It’s different than what we used for the metal shelves.)

Once the pots dried, it was time to put the whole thing on the wall! Brian suggested we use drywall toggles to keep them sturdy and in place since the shelves weren’t going to be super light with plants in them.  

It worked perfectly! (Cause Brian’s a genius – obviously). And it looks so, so good!

I got a whole variety of plants to go in the pots. Some are cascading, some stringy, some fuller, some smaller. So it really gives it a boho vibe – which I love.

The only things the plants have in common is that they are all OK to live in a little light and they are all low-maintenance! But I did buy a teeny-tiny watering can to help care for them and it works great!

Here’s a photo of my living room before the new rug and wall project…

And here it is after!…

It totally transformed the room! And it’s so different than what you might expect in a living space — which I love! It’s so fresh, so fun, so us!

So if you like greenery and you love the look of it indoors but you’ve been nervous to take on the inconvenience of floor plants, this might be your DIY solution!

P.S. I love that this idea came to me while I was shopping. Don’t ever underestimate the power of some retail therapy!

When your hubby asks why you gotta shop so much, just tell him it’s how you get your best ideas 😉

Looking for other ways to bring peace into your home? I’ve got you, girl. Let me send you a FREE PDF of 13 ideas for you!

HECK YES! SEND ME THE DEETS!

11 Ways to Easily Speed Clean Your House

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This is a guest post from Kendra Hennessy of Mother Like A Boss.

Kendra and I crossed paths in the business world last year, and since then we have worked on tons of projects together and become close friends.

She is the queen of cleaning, and I am honored to share her with you today!

Kendra is also hosting an online workshop for my audience, which is totally free! Sign up here. 

Daiga Ellaby

Oh, house cleaning. Some people love it, most people are apathetic to the whole thing.

As a mom with littles who are constant mess-makers, it’s a necessary evil.

I have come to find that the reason cleaning is such a proverbial pain in the butt is because it takes far longer than it needs to.

Day to day, moms spend their time on a cleaning hamster wheel. It can be easier. It can be minimal. It can be faster.

For moms, most things are about speed. How fast can I clean this up? How fast can I get dinner on the table? How fast can drink this coffee before it inevitably gets cold? You know, the important things.

Time is of the essence and becoming more efficient AND effective at what we do is the key to gaining more minutes in the day.

The ironic thing about speed cleaning is that it isn’t really about speed: it’s about efficiency. Speed cleaning is a way to utilize the minutes you have, even if it’s only 5, to tidy up and clean as much of an area as possible.

As a former professional house cleaner, I spent years perfecting the art of speed cleaning.

As a mom, I’m constantly trying to improve upon it even more. My minutes are precious and so are yours.

I’ve compiled some of the best tips here for you. House cleaner tested, mom approved.

1. Declutter first.

The only thing worse than a dirty home is a clean home with a bunch of clutter in it. When you really think about it, what is the point of hemming and hawing over cleaning when you’re just going to throw junk back on top of that clean countertop? Decluttering your spaces is always numero uno when it comes to speed cleaning. Set a timer and declutter everything in 5-10 minutes. Put it back where it belongs and if you’re on the fence about keeping it or needing it, there is a good chance it can be chucked in the garbage.

2. Start in one area and work your way out.

When I had my cleaning business, I was a big fan of starting in the top corner of the house and working my way out. This works in a lot of ways, but mostly it just meant I could do it faster. It made no sense to clean the downstairs floor, then walk on it to go upstairs, then have to come back downstairs and re-clean that floor. See what I mean? Make you life easier (and the whole process faster) by “working your way out.”

3. Always clean top to bottom.

Along the same lines as above, always start from the top and work your way to the bottom. Seriously. No exceptions, unless you are a fan of cleaning things twice. Ain’t nobody got time for that. What does this mean? It means dust and wash the areas highest up and work your way down. Ceiling fans, cobwebs and the tops of furniture should be done first, then work your way down to the floor.

4. Have your supplies handy and accessible.

I talk about this all the time, but it is basically professional/speed cleaning 101. When you don’t have your cleaning supplies right at your fingertips, it just takes up more time. Imagine having everything you need in a bag or a caddy, rather than having to search around the house of the spray bottles, cloths and sponges you need. Huge. Time. Saver.

Did you know?!

Kendra is hosting a free online workshop just for my audience!

It’s totally free, and you’ll learn all about cleaning your house in just 30 minutes a day. Heck yes!

Learn More

5. Stick to a routine. I LOVE a good cleaning routine.

In fact, I developed a free cleaning list to get you started. Click here for your free access. Having a solid cleaning routine allows you to not only get more done in the house, but do it speedier. Once you develop a routine, you’ll notice how quick your chores become. Think about how easy it is for you to brush your teeth or tie your shoes. You don’t even think about the steps, you just do it. That’s because it is a habit, created by a routine. Routines create speed.

6. Clean as you go.

This may seem like it goes against the tip above about routines, but hear me out. If you have your kitchen scheduled to be cleaned on Tuesday, but you cooked and baked lot on Sunday, don’t wait until Tuesday to clean. Clean as you go. Wash the dishes while the food cooks, wipe down the stove immediately after it gets dirty, run the self-clean oven setting when you’re done. Cleaning as you go is a speed cleaning tip not many people take advantage of. If you want your house to stay clean, clean it as you go.

7. Leave the floors and glass until the very end.

Cleaning can put dust and dirt into the air that will eventually fall onto the floor and usually stick to glass. Leave it for last. Doing it first will just mean you have to do it again, and that is a speed cleaning no-no.

8. Clean the shower in the shower.

I can’t believe how few people take advantage of this super useful tip. When are you closest to the shower and all it’s soap scum glory than when you are in it. No stretching over the sides of the tub or worrying about getting wet, because you’re already there. Keep your cleaning supplies right in the bathroom (or even in the shower itself) and go to town while you’re in there. You’ll be amazed how clean your shower stays.

9. Stop worrying about it getting dirty again.

The one thing I hear over and over again is, “It just seems futile. It’ll just get dirty again.” Well so will your hair, but that doesn’t stop you from washing it. Dirt is inevitable. Dust is inevitable. Kids are messy. People are messy. Stop focusing on the negative aspects of not keeping a spotless home and instead, focus on how it feels to have it clean, even if that’s for 20 minutes. Your mindset plays more of a roll in how you view cleaning than you think.

10. Set a timer.

If you really want to get motivated to be a speedy and efficient cleaner, set a timer. Do as much as you can before the timer goes off. Boom. Speed cleaning at it’s finest.

11. Be like Nike. Just do it.

Don’t worry about not being “good” at cleaning. Stop focusing on what you should do, and how, and when. If you see some dust, grab a rag and go to it. Clutter piling up on the end table? Take care of it now. I can give you tips, tricks and tools for days, but the most important one of all is to just do it.

Remember: it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be done.

Kendra Hennessy is a home management expert and positive motherhood enthusiast. She is a podcast host and founder of Mother like a Boss, where she helps busy modern moms become homemakerish.

Her mission is to redefine homemaking in the 21st century and make the difficult and tedious parts of running your home smoother through systems, routines and mindset shifts. She lives in upstate NY with her husband Adam and their two spunky kiddos, Ava and Everett.

Kendra is a Girl Scout co-leader, a coffee junkie and can usually be found in her off time binge watching The Office. She loves giving support and encouragement to the moms of the world and giving them the confidence they need to enjoy life as a mother.

Enjoy this free access from Kendra!

The Mother Like a Boss Vault:

Your one-stop shop resource library for worksheets, videos, trainings and audio to uncomplicate modern homemaking.

All access, all for free.

www.motherlikeaboss.com/vault

Introducing My New Brand! [+ the story behind it]

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My brand is a direct reflection of who I am. And since I’m human, I’m always changing.

I’ve been walking further down the path of simplifying and intentional living, and lately, I’ve been in a season of pruning.

In my business and in my life, there have been things I felt like I had to do in order to serve and show up for other people – some things were good and worked fine once, but then they stopped working.

Because of the drain on my energy, those things weren’t actually serving anyone – not even the people I was trying to hard to show up for.

They pulled life from me in a way that meant I had none left to give in other areas that matter.

I have been letting go of those things with a confident knowing that I will be better for it, and so will the people I serve.

Did you know that in vineyards, the vines that are not fruit-producing are pruned (cut back, trimmed) in order to give more water and energy to the vines that are producing fruit?

In the past six months alone, I have cut off two branches of The Purpose Group Incorporated (the official entity of my business, which owns this website and The Purpose Show).

Those two branches were The Purpose Society (my monthly membership site) and These Solid Walls (my print shop).

These two things were vines that needed to be pruned in order to reserve water and energy for the more fruit-producing branches. Even though they weren’t bad ideas or rotten vines, they just weren’t my purpose and they were pulling my focus from more important things.

Just because something is a good idea doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for you or for this time in your life, and God set me free by showing me that.

This has been a really impactful, deeply transformative time in my life. Learning what to say “no more” to and what to say “let’s grow more of this” as a business owner and influencer has caused me to really work on my heart and seek God.

When a change like this takes place in you as a person and YOU are your brand, it’s hard to look at your current brand aesthetic the same way. Because, like I said, my brand is a direct reflection of who I am, it starts to feel like you’re producing content on a platform that isn’t yours.

It’s almost like you’re boxed in to the old things you just let go of.

It might sound silly, but seeing the colors, fonts, and feel of my old brand had started to feel crippling to my creativity. I needed my brand to change to fit me better.

The thing is, as a brand, you don’t want to do this often, if ever. It can really harm your reach if people don’t recognize your images on social media, and it is part of my job (and my team’s job) to make sure you see what I’m putting out.

The message I am sharing is something I take incredibly seriously.

I know if any mom hears it and takes action on it, God will use it to change her entire motherhood.

Motherhood is what is shaping the future of our world, so this matters greatly.

See? Told you I take this seriously 😉

So, it was important to me not to change too much about the general “feel” of my brand, as I didn’t want to hurt the spreading of the message behind it. 

I weighed it out in my head over a couple of months and finally decided a change was worth a small risk, because the new brand would reflect more of what you get here at Allie Casazza dot com – minimalism, less, simplification tips, encouragement to live well and to live your life on purpose.

This was worth the change to me.

I started opening my eyes to ideas for fresher colors and praying that God would guide the steps of this rebrand.

One day, I was browsing a strip of small local shops and there somes prints of paintings created by a local artist. There was one piece of art that immediately caught my eye and brought up emotion.

Artist credit
Artist credit

It was so simple. It made me think of an open door of opportunity… it made me think of what I do here in this little space on the internet.

I bought it and put it on my mantle, staring at it anytime I sat in my living room for weeks.

I want what I do here to feel like the message in that painting – like an open door of opportunity for mothers all over the globe.

Artist credit
Artist credit

If you make small, positive changes, if you start to look at the things in your home and on your calendar with a little more intentionality, your life is going to rapidly and seriously transform.

That’s a door of opportunity for you if I’ve ever seen one!

The painting I bought, although my new favorite, was a little dark. I like my brand to breathe and feel light and airy, so I knew I wouldn’t be totally borrowing from the artist when I used this piece as my rebrand inspo.

It needed to be a jumping off point, not the end all be all.

After a few more weeks of praying, searching, and just letting inspiration find its way to me, I had put together the new brand in my head.

I had over a month of time off scheduled and it was rapidly approaching. I couldn’t bear to keep this to myself all that time, so I scheduled an evening meeting with my designer in my cozy backyard, and I poured all the stuff in my head into his while he created some mockups of what the brand would look like.

After a little fine tuning and moving things around, we had it.

I told him I wanted a paint brush stroke in the brand somehow. When you see it on an image, know that the brush stroke symbolizes a couple of things…

First, it’s symbolic of my own creative journey as a mother – finding myself outside of being a mom, and developing my love of painting.

But mostly, it symbolizes you, friend. It’s a nod to your part in all this- taking what I give you and making it your own, creating the life you want and making it happen for yourself and for your family.

I wanted the colors to quiet down and reflect minimalism, and the idea of less better than they were. They used to be happy and cute, but just not right for this space – it was a lot, and I’m not about a lot.

I wanted muted greys, my signature dusty blush toned down a notch, and the exact navy from the painting.

Designer Derek nailed it.

Lastly, we freshened up the fonts to reflect less, to be modern and attractive, and to bring more “happy” to the feel of my new brand.

Done and done.

 

 

I feel so invigorated by these new changes, and I hope you do too.

But here’s what I want you to know, branding aside…

You can do this. This motherhood thing – it’s dang hard and it will pull your energy from you in ways you didn’t know was possible before you stepped into it.

But it’s beautiful and humbling and so full of opportunity! I don’t want you to miss that like I did in the beginning of mine.

This can be so good. And if it’s awful – if you’re pulling your hair out, constantly cleaning up and getting your kids out of your way so you can “catch up” even though you never do, hear me… 

It does not have to be that way for one more day! You can make changes that last, that matter.

It doesn’t have to be so chaotic and overwhelming that you’re counting the minutes til your kids go to bed.

I want you to have a few days like that here and there (that’s normal), not live every day in that place. Because when you live there, you’re not able to pause and really enjoy the gift of this short season of raising babies.

 

 

Intentional motherhood starts at home.

Take ownership, get your time + your life back.

Learn More

It’s the blink of an eye and then it’s over and they’re gone.

I’m here to walk with you as we step into purpose, as we grab onto hope, as we ask ourselves the questions –

Is this necessary?

Is it helping me live a focused life of purpose?

Can I let this go?

I want JOY and less for you, friend. So that you can enjoy MORE of what really matters. That’s what my brand, and everything that falls under it’s umbrella is all about.

A Typical Day in Our House

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Do you ever wonder what someone else does in different areas of your life? Like how other people deal with tough parenting issues or how other moms structure their day?

Me too!

I think it can be really helpful to see how other people do things. Even if the exact system wouldn’t work for you, it can be inspiring and helpful in other ways.

Lately on Instagram (@allie_thatsme) and on the podcast, I’ve been sharing some things about my schedule, such as: 

  • how I run my business
  • homeschool my four littles
  • fit in some self-care
  • and all the other things I’ve got going on

It’s been so fun to hear people’s feedback and comments! Since it’s been asked a bunch, I thought I’d get specific and share a peek into a typical day for our family!

So keep in mind, this is a typical day.

 

It’s not exactly this way all the time – that would be so boring I’d die, cause I love to be spontaneous!

OUR TYPICAL DAY

5:30-6:00

I usually wake up, slip into my workout clothes, and make coffee.

I go through my morning ritual and usually follow it up with some pilates.

7:00

The kids’ alarms go off (they play upstairs if they wake up before this), they make their beds, put their pajamas away, get dressed, and come downstairs. I normally put myself together for the day at this time.

7:30

Bella serves breakfast for herself and her brothers (cereal or toast and hardboiled egg, or something similar), they clean up after themselves, then unload the dishwasher (I always run it the night before).

8:15

I sit with the kids and we talk, pray over our day, and dive into Language Arts. During this time, sometimes Brian is working in the office, sometimes he’s working on a house project.

9:00

I head to my office to get some work done, Brian comes in to do math and science with the kids.

They take breaks as needed. 

When they’re done the older two work on solo work (guitar or reading for Leland, art lesson or reading for Bella) while the younger two play outside.

12:00

We eat lunch as a family.

After we eat, we clean up the kitchen and do a 10-minute pickup around the house. Usually school books need to be put away, the robo vac needs to be run, and things just need to be straightened up.

After lunch, we might go for a walk to the park near our house, run errands, go out to do something fun, or take a family nap if we need it. On busier weeks, Brian and I might have the kids do separate quiet times while we get a little more work done in the office.

Sometimes I’ll take the kids out alone while Brian stays and gets some editing done (he’s the master behind the photos we use for the business and all my videos). Other times we’ll pack up and head to Legoland. It just depends on our workload and what’s going on that day.

5:00

Time to make dinner! Brian and I have assigned nights for who cooks. 

It is always flexible, though! 

Usually he cooks two nights a week and I cook three. The other two nights are date night (which means a frozen pizza for the kids and sitter) and the other night is family takeout/game night!

After we eat dinner and clean up the kitchen, we head into our evening routine – another 10-minute house pickup, Bella wipes the bathrooms down, everyone chips in with what’s needed so we can go to bed with a clean house. Plus bath/showers for all the kids.

8:00

The younger kids (ages 5 and 3) go to bed.

The older kids will normally hang out together or read separately. Sometimes they play on the iPad together, watch Blue Planet on Netflix or color and chat. At this time Brian and I are either relaxing on the couch or wrapping up anything that needs us (maybe work or a house project or just talking to each other).

9:00

The older kids (ages 9 and 7) go to bed.

I normally go to bed around 10:00, but it changes depending on the night.

THAT’S IT!

I feel like this is super boring but I know I like reading things like this from other people and so many of you were asking me for this, haha! There you have it! 🙂

Whenever I share something like this, I get a bunch of emails asking why there’s not more time spent on housework and how is my house always so clean on my InstaStory if I don’t spend a chunk of time each day maintaining it.

Mamas always write me saying how overwhelmed they feel and their day is so full of chaos and putting out fires. It breaks my heart! I know how that feels because it absolutely used to be my life!

Scroll down for info about “Unburdened”, The overwhelmed beginner’s guide to a simpler motherhood 

But this is what I’m always telling you beauties – minimalism and simplifying your home and schedule will set you free from that!

Take action on that ish for yourself, mama by clicking right here and choosing what will help you the most right now…

Is it time management?

Decluttering?

Doing a surface sweep of your entire life?

 

Get straightforward help with what YOU need right now.

Whatever you need, I got you and I want you to know there is so much hope!

 

Love sharing with you all and I hope this is a fun read!

“Hey mama!

Do you feel like a simplified day is totally undoable for you?

I’ve been there!

LET ME HELP YOU GET UNBURDENED AND START THRIVING!

This small, straightforward course is everything for the mom who feels like she needs a total overhaul, but is too overwhelmed to start. 

SIMPLIFY THE THINGS THAT HAVE YOU STUCK

AND LEAVE SURVIVAL MODE BEHIND. 

Learn More

How I Set My Intent & Plan For A New Year

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This morning, I was sharing a bit of my end-of-year planning process on my Instagram Story, and I received so many questions that it got overwhelming to share there! I love IG Stories for the simplicity and ease of sharing there, but some things need more space for sharing, and I think planning a new year is one of them. 

I don’t normally feel compelled to share how I do every little thing, but so many of you were struggling and needing ideas for how to go about this, I really want to share. I think getting above an overwhelming task (like setting your intent for a new year), and sort of gaining an aerial perspective is something that comes naturally to me, so I love to plan things like this. However, if that’s not your strong suit, I can imagine it being very difficult, frustrating, and feeling insurmountable. 

I’m actually setting my intent for the year right now, as I type – it makes sense to actually do this and write a blog post about it at the same time 😉

My hope is that seeing me do it will give you some clarity on how to go about it for yourself, or at least inspire you a little. Ready? Let’s do it. 

I just use the Notes App in my iPhone. I’m normally a pen and paper girl, but when I do this in my journal is ends up taking up pages and pages, and I want it all on one page, in one place nice and neat. Lucky for you, that makes it easy to take screen shots and share what I am planning 🙂

The first thing I do is reflect.

What didn’t work for me last year? What made me feel disconnected from my core values? What have Brian and I been talking about doing a lot lately – is this a good year to do those things? What needs to be a higher priority than it’s been?

Here are some things I have realized in the end of this year, and today as I was reflecting…

1. I am not connected to my core values as a mother right now with my children in school. I miss homeschooling, and the best choice for us is to pull the older two out and begin our homeschool year after winter break. 

Note: this was not how I felt in August when I was completely overwhelmed with my business. Things change, seasons come and go, people change their minds. Flexibility is a wonderful trait to possess. It’s okay to go against the grain!
 

2. We really love traveling with our kids and want to take a lot of trips this year. 
 

3. I have slid back into old habits, and my health has not been a priority lately. I don’t feel good, Im sluggish and cranky, and my sugar/junk food addiction is in full swing. I need to make healthy choices a higher priority this year. 
 

4. I am tired from last year’s whirlwind success in our business. I hired new people, delegated everything I can, and need to remain consistent with my new work schedule of two days per week. 

The next thing I do is write out what matters most to me this year. 

This list is based off what came from my time of reflection, and it’s basically a list of priority focus. For example, I noticed that several of the problems I faced (or am currently facing) stem from not spending much time on my walk with the Lord. I have felt disconnected and busy – that’s not how I want to live! So one thing that has made its way to the top of my What Matters Most list is building a closer relationship with Jesus.

See what I mean and how this works?

This is a really helpful soul check that I do every year and it keeps me intentionally focused. Last year, my list looked very different, with a focus on my marriage and learning to manage the business well. Make sure your list is what you need to focus on, not what you wish you needed to focus on. 

Next, I write down what each of these focuses will require from me in terms of time spent.

This is where I see a lot of well-intentioned people fail – they don’t realize that meeting these goals, making these changes in their lives… it requires time from you every week, sometimes every day. If you don’t plan for that, it’s not likely to happen. 

I make bullet points underneath each goal/focus, so there is a list of what it will require from me right next to it. 

Next, I establish what rhythms will make my life easier. 

Time leaks through the cracks without rhythms. Simple things like rhythmically putting a load of laundry in every night, then switching it every morning make my life so much simpler! 

If there are no rhythms, then the day-to-day stuff will end up filling all my time blocks and I will stay still; and I want to be moving forward, accomplishing things, reaching goals. 

There are two types of rhythms in my life: 

1. Calendar

2. Household

Sometimes our rhythms need a reboot, sometimes they stay the same, sometimes new ones are added. It’s all about where you’re at in your life and how happy you are with how things are currently going. 

I have noticed that not getting dressed in the morning (and my “dressed” I just mean under-eye concealer and a bra) I don’t feel very good during the day, even though I work from home and don’t really have to get dressed. 

I’ve also noticed that not having the kids’ outfits laid out makes for a really hectic morning. I haven’t had the head space to make this small change, so by sitting down and planning how things will change this year, I was able to set an intent to lay everyone’s clothes out the night before. It’s a small change that will have us all feeling better and our mornings running more smoothly. 

I will implement new rhythms by writing them in my weekly planner (here’s the one I use) for the first month, and after that they become habits. 

Then, I write down any problems that need to be solved or questions that need to be answered. 

Sometimes, there are decisions that need to be made that I’ve been avoiding or feel really big and overwhelming, so I just do nothing about them. This is a time to sit with Brian and actually make the decisions. 

This year, as we get back to homeschooling, it’s the first year we’ve had a very open-ended schedule. We work from home, we’ll be doing school at home, we can have whatever schedule we want, and that freedom is great but it also stresses me out to an extent. We have to create our own barriers and boundaries. 

One thing we’ve been talking about but hadn’t decided before today was regarding our weekends. There are lots of pros to having “week day weekends”, meaning we can pick two week days to make into our days “off” from school and have a weekend. Less crowds, cheaper prices when you’re out doing stuff, less traffic. 

There are also pros to having a traditional weekend. Everyone else is “off” and ready to do stuff, more places are open, etc. 

Brian and I have been talking about what to do with this issue for weeks and just going in circles. Today we sat down, talked it out, and actually made a decision. You know what happened? It wasn’t as big a deal as we were making it. 

Homeschooling takes about two hours a day, and my new work schedule is only Mondays and Fridays. We came to realize we can kind of have both kinds of weekends! We ultimately decided to make Sundays and Thursdays our days totally “off” of homeschooling (we enjoy not having two days totally off in a row, but spacing them out a bit), but to also enjoy Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays with no work. 

So with this decision, our homeschool week looks like this: 

Monday: school

Tuesday: school

Wednesday: school

Thursday: NO SCHOOL

Friday: school

Saturday: school

Sunday: NO SCHOOL

We really like this because it’s broken up, and we know that the “school days” are only a couple of hours 😉

Do you see how making that one decision gave me so much clarity and I can now see what a typical week will look like for us this year? Such a burden lifted!

Finally, I get detailed. 

The last step is to pick up all the little pieces and put them in place. 

Examples: 

How am I going to get my health in order? (make a list of healthy groceries, pin recipes to pull from on meal-planning Sundays, download a hydration app to remind me to drink water, set workout days, etc)

If the goal is to enjoy homeschooling and not have it feel like a point of stress, what curriculum am I going to choose? (I already went through this step with homeschooling last week, but do you see the breakdown of following through with the goals and intents you set?)

When are we going to have breaks and take trips to ensure we are enjoying this year? (Brian and I sat down and actually penciled in one major vacation, an adults-only getaway, and three small trips to take as a family)

You can do this with any goal or focus, and I encourage you to! Follow-through is something that rarely happens, and I really think this is why! People don’t write out how and when they’re going to do things they’d like to see happen in their lives. This is the difference between a sayer and a doer. 

This is a lot of planning. One thing I want to say here is that flexibility is KEY! 

The heart of man plans his way, but God directs his steps. 

Proverbs 16:9

The goal with this process (for me) is to be intentional, and to use the past year to reflect and learn and grow. I do not want to be stagnant; I want to leave a legacy of purpose behind me when I’m gone. That doesn’t mean being a control freak or unadaptable. In fact, it means just the opposite. 

I hope this helps you guys! Share your planning session with me on Instagram by tagging me! @allie_thatsme

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