Reflections - January 15, 2021

What I’m Saying No to This Year

lulu align leggings, oversized sweatshirt, sneakers
Outfit Details: Align leggings in space dye (wearing size 4 in 25″ length, did not size up for bump) // oversized sweatshirt (wearing size 4) // Sneakers // On the Beat Belt Bag (also have the Everywhere Belt Bag and love it!)

When I was brainstorming New Year’s content, this topic is something that came to mind and I was intrigued by it but didn’t know if I wanted to write it. Sometimes putting this kind of stuff out there is cathartic but also can add pressure because what if I do something I said I didn’t want to on IG Stories for all of y’all to see?? This mindset definitely goes back to me being a perfectionist but I thought, ya know what? Maybe putting it out there will help hold me accountable! And I already know I’m not perfect LOL, so I guess there won’t be any real letdowns there.

Anyway, I obviously decided to write the post but mainly because I think it’s important to reflect on your behaviors, and if you see things you wish you could change about yourself, address them! So that’s my goal here for myself and to hopefully inspire you to do the same! :)

Wishing Time to Pass

I think it’s human nature to do this to a certain extent. We can all fall into the trap of living in the future a little no matter what stage of life you’re in. And sometimes I think we don’t even realize we’re doing it! Maybe it’s a trip you’re looking forward to, your wedding, a promotion at your job, or you’re really focused on saving, and in order for your bank account to grow, time has to pass, etc.

I want to fight against this way of thinking when our baby boy gets here. I can already see myself thinking – oh I can’t wait until he starts making noises or can walk or whatever the next milestone is. When what I really want is to enjoy every single stage and be present in the moment.

To be completely honest, I did this for a lot of my pregnancy too. Instead of embracing where I was, I would dream about the next stage or month, thinking it would be better or more comfortable.

Going Against My Gut

Making decisions is such a struggle for me. I’m one of those people that will put it off for *way* too long. And the funny thing is, I usually end up just choosing what I had originally leaned towards in the beginning. I waste a lot of time seeking other people’s approval or looking for affirmation in what I’m thinking when I really should just trust myself more! I think this will be especially important for me as I become a mom. So many women I’ve talked to say “just trust your gut” and I know I need to embrace that because I definitely don’t want to fall down a Google search rabbit hole for every single little thing.

Feeling Like I Have To Do Everything

I struggle with this a lot and in so many areas of life. I’ll get it in my head that I need to do “this” or cover a certain topic on my blog or answer every single question I get on Instagram. And the reality is that nobody is creating that pressure or setting that expectation except for me. I sometimes forget how easy (and important!) it is to set a boundary. I lose sight of the fact that I *can* draw a line in the sand and determine what I will and won’t do – especially when it comes to work. If this doesn’t make sense, what I mean is that sometimes I feel like just because a couple people ask me a question, it means I need to cover it on the blog or on Stories, when that’s not the case at all!

And what’s more, I’ll feel as if I need to have every area of my life and business organized and on track, but to be frank, this simply isn’t possible, realistic or healthy. Some weeks I might be on my A-game as a wife and keeping my house organized and then others I might be excelling at work – it’s all a game of give and take. This is where priorities really help. I actually wrote a post about prioritizing your priorities a while back and should probably revisit it, ha!

Falling Into a Deep Comparison Trap

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, then you know that I really struggle with this. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to actually avoid it given what my job is and just the nature of being online in today’s world, but I do want to try and be more proactive this year. Over time, I have learned little things I can do when I start to fall into a trap that might help prevent the negative thoughts and feelings of comparison from getting out of control, but again, it goes back to being proactive about it and taking action when I feel it coming on. I can be *really* hard on myself sometimes and often lose sight of the good things I’m doing or what makes me special. I want to try and celebrate and embrace these things more – especially when it comes to work since that is where I struggle with it the most.

Putting off quick tasks

I have developed such a bad habit of putting things off that will literally take me under two minutes to do – both personally and professionally. For example, putting a dirty dish in the dishwasher or responding to a text/email. There are plenty of small things that turn into BIGGER things simply because I decide to put off dealing with them. Like if I would just put all my dishes in the dishwasher, I wouldn’t have to set aside 30 minutes to deal with the pile in the sink. And the same applies to things with work too! I really, really want to get better at this and call myself out when I do it to encourage action right at that moment.

OK, that’s what I could think of off the top of my head! I’m sure there are a million other things I could work on/say no to this year but I guess we’ll start here for now. What are y’all working on, on this front? Anything you feel super strongly about? Let me know so we can help hold each other accountable!