Word of the Year Check-in | #yearofme
Welp. August is here. Which basically means Christmas is around the corner. Happy New Year, 2019! (Am I right, or am I right?) I know we’re already well past the 1/2 year mark of 2018, but I wanted to sit down and do a check-in on my word of the year, and hopefully encourage you to do the same.
Why?
Because, for me, it’s around this time of year that I’ve thrown the towel in and given up on whatever goals I’ve set for myself this year. The bright and shininess of a new year have worn off completely and I’m usually drowning in the motions of every-day life. Get up late. Go to work. Come home. Make dinner. Try to do some work on my blog. Go to bed too late. Repeat. No focusing on my word of the year - just trying to survive long enough to get to the next year and the next fresh start.
I found myself in this state of serious overwhelm a couple weeks ago. Overwhelm and disappointment, because I wasn’t as far along in achieving my goals or “living” my word of the year as I thought I should be by now. I had all of these milestones in my personal life and business that I thought I would have hit by the beginning of July and I had barely hit two of them. I was consumed with guilt and anger that 6 months had passed me by and that I had been wasting time not working on the goals I set for myself. I wasn’t the “me” I thought I’d be. My frustration and grief were so consuming that it paralyzed me to the point of barely being able to get out of bed in the morning for two days straight. I was on a guilt trip ship and I was the captain.
After about two days, I decided to turn that ship around.
So, if you’ve been finding yourself in the same mid-year slump, here’s the pep talk I gave myself to turn my sinking ship around and get myself back on track to living my word of the year:
- Stop focusing on the things you haven’t accomplished and focus on the things you HAVE achieved. Make a list. Literally, write it out and hang it up someplace where you can see it on a daily basis so you can remind yourself how SUCCESSFUL you have been this year. Put it in the bathroom or your office or heck, make it your phone background. You have done hard things this year and you have achieved some big goals, even if it doesn’t feel like it anymore. Remember that time you made that awesome dinner AND had all the laundry done by 9:00 PM? Yeah, THAT was an accomplishment and you should feel good about it.
- Celebrate yourself. Girl, you made it through 7 months of 2018 and you are still alive and kicking. Yeah, there might have been some rough times and yeah, you might be facing some unforeseen bumps in the road, but hey - you have gotten out of bed (almost) every day for the last 7 months and that! That is a feat in and of itself. Additionally, you’ve made it out of the door with pants on every time you had to leave your house, so you best treat yo’self. You know what I mean? Take yourself out for some fancy schmancy dinner and put that slightly short dress on that makes you feel super sassy and CELEBRATE everything you’ve done so far in 2018.
- Okay, the party’s over. Time to get back to business and finish the year strong. You have FIVE MONTHS left in 2018 and we’re going to make it the best freaking 5 months of your life. You are going to hit those goals, you are going to make progress on those changes that you’ve been working on, and you are going to end 2018 feeling confident that you left no table unturned (or however that saying goes.) Let’s get down to business and prove everyone who has doubted you or hurt your feelings or made you feel worthless. Let’s review that word you chose at the beginning of the year, the goals you set to help you live that word, adjust them as needed, and focus in on LIVING them.
My #yearofme Goals (updates and adjustments)
I declared 2018 the #yearofme - a year where I did everything I could to focus on ME and MY goals and MY health and MY journey. I started 2018 off really, really well and felt like I excelled in almost all aspects of my goals and my intentions to live a year focused on ME! However, once April came and went, things started going downhill and it’s been a bit of a struggle over the summer to keep my word of the year in focus. I had set some specific goals/parameters to help me keep my word as my guiding force and I’m going to revisit them and adjust them as needed.
I will say NO! (2/5 rating) - Like I said, I started off the year really sticking to this goal and I said NO a lot. I said no to anything that didn’t excite me, that gave me anxiety or that felt like it was going to take away from the things I truly wanted to accomplish. Over the summer, a lot of events and travel came up that I couldn’t say no to and it’s kind of spiraled out of control. I feel like I have forgotten what it’s like to say NO and I’ve found myself feeling super drained by everything in my life and feeling overwhelmed at not being able to say no.
What I’ll do for the rest of the year - I’m going to make it a goal to say no to one thing a week that comes up that doesn’t excite me or feels draining. I’m not going to worry about pleasing everyone (because you just can’t please everyone) and focus on only saying yes to the things that set my soul on fire.
I will put my dreams and goals ahead of everything else - (3/5 rating) I’ve really excelled in some aspects of this (like investing in my dreams and goals and attending Alison’s Build an Awesome Brand workshop) and I’ve also really fallen behind in other aspects (like finding time to produce consistent content.) The biggest issue I’m struggling with is juggling my full-time job with blogging. We’re in hyper-growth mode at work, so the recruiting department is working overtime and pulling some super long days. By the time I get home from work, I’m so tired and spent that it’s hard for me to find my creativity to sit down and create content. I just want to veg out and watch Top Chef reruns because that doesn’t require a lot of brain power.
What I’ll do for the rest of the year - Honestly, I need to work on saying no so that I can spend more time creating content when I have energy. Once I get ahead, I need to stay ahead! But also, I’ve got some plans to hopefully free up my time by the end of the year so I can work on my blog and business going into 2019.
Outfit Details
Dress: My Sister’s Closet | Shirt: DownEast Basics | Sneakers: Puma from Burlington | Bag: Target | Headband: Amazon
I will take care of my body (4/5 rating) - This is something I feel like I’m REALLY doing well on. I’ve been consistently going to the gym all year, I’ve been learning how to make healthier choices and have control over food (instead of letting food control me.) I feel more confident in my skin and more in love with my body then ever before and it’s becoming a joy to take care of it.
What I’ll do for the rest of the year - I’m going to stick to my plan, continue to make good healthy choices, and try to get to the gym more. I want to get STRONGER, so I want to incorporate some weight lifting into my routines for the rest of the year. Strong Chelsie, here we come.
I will improve myself (4/5 rating) - This is something else I feel like I’ve been doing relatively well yet. I’ve taken my personal development super seriously this year and have focused on consuming as much self-improvement content as possible. I’ve been listening to Podcasts at the gym and in the car (What the Eff Podcast and Awesome with Alison are my two favorites) and I’ve been practicing a lot of the thought processes that Rachel teaches from Girl, Wash Your Face. I’m working hard on identifying and changing my self-limiting beliefs and proving to myself that I can continue to grow and be a better version of myself.
Okay, I’m going to be honest - I’m doing a better then I thought I was. I’m really proud of everything I’ve done so far to make this the #yearofme and I’m ready to recommit to myself and to finish 2018 strong. There are FIVE months left in this year and they are going to be the best five months of 2018.
Give it to me below - what goals are you recommitting yourself to for the rest of the year?
