2019 Word of the Year: Simplify

As 2019 is already unfolding I’ve been thinking about my focus for this year. As one of those Type A people who loves to “do it all” I’m no longer 22 and realize that in my 30’s I run out of steam quicker than I did in my younger years. When I was in college I remember working 50 hours, taking 5 classes and commuting an hour away for school. I managed a long term relationship during this period and stayed on top of my grades. Looking back I’m not sure I slept on average more than 5 hours a night. Well, gone are those days!

Last year my focus was getting my health back on track in all areas. I began working on the blog regularly again. I focused towards the latter end of the year on physical health and minimizing stress (yoga, BBG, clean eating, etc). I also stopped drinking alcohol regularly. I mean really stopped even having a glass of wine every week. Regularly taking vitamins and drinking water was a huge daily improvement! I also made sure to get enough rest every night (if possible). While the first half of the year was an uphill battle, by October I made it in the clear and felt like I really improved my overall health.

This year I’ve decided my main focus is to simplify my life. With countless tasks, a household to run and endless to do lists simplifying has become a necessity. I’m tackling this concept in all areas to include my home, routines morning and night, blogging and content creating, meal planning and exercise. Frankly, I am looking to create a manageable life in a tidy environment. Unless you’ve been living under a rock then you’ve heard of Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Yes, it’s all the rage now that she has a TV show out on Netflix, but this book was incredibly inspiring when I read it back in 2017. The idea is to only keep things that spark joy. Well, I started thinking and shouldn’t that include non-material things too?

So here’s how I’m looking to face this year. First of all, reducing clutter. We are allllllll guilty of having too much. I am awful about adding clothing to an already full closet. I own like 10 sets of dishes (I mean full place settings) not to mention I just found an entire box of mismatched socks. An entire box!!! How am I supposed to make life simpler when there’s so much baggage? It’s time to let all things (material an not) go if it doesn’t spark joy or is useful.

Staying Inspired

Back in college I was notorious for finishing projects early. I know most of you probably hate that but I felt so much more inspired by starting an assignment early than waiting until the last minute. I usually had my questions answered well before the due date and it gave me time for finishing touches to projects instead of waiting until the night before to throw something together. I also found I was more inspired when I immediately received an assignment. The longer I waited to work on the assignment the more the excitement dissipated and I started looking at it like a chore. Staying inspired is now a high priority. I’m beginning with a simple Pinterest board and then working on creating a few pieces to hang in my home to remind me of this concept of simplifying. To keep myself on track for the year it helps to surround myself in reminders from setting an alarm every day to organize to just having a few pieces of art around the home - all ways to stay inspired.

Removing Excess

So where to begin you ask? First things first, remove excess belongings. With 20 days left of January I am committing to 20 minutes a day to go through my belongings and remove things I no longer use, need or love (more to come on this subject). I don’t fuction well in a cluttered environment. My brain doesn’t have room to think when there are a million little things to do. Removing excess is the easiest way to create the mental space I need to be more effective in life.

Sticking to Efficient and Effective Routines

I’ve grown to appreciate routines so much over the past year. Now that I no longer work in a typical office, this is my secret to sanity. Routines are vital to having a healthy rhythymn in life. Think about it, a great song has a strong rhythm. It’s the foundation of the melody. So if your life has no rhythm where’s the foundation? Well, you don’t have one. This year I’m not only looking at daily routines, but travel routines, monthly cleaning and weekly reviewing my objectives and goals.

Prioritize Properly

Prioritization is a constant struggle for someone who wants to do it all. This year health still remains a top priority. Getting in my workout first thing or at least daily is important. Reading daily is important. Continuing to develop my spiritual relationship is important. Eating healthy is important. I can’t expect to have energy to do EVERYTHING so at bare minimum if I accomplish nothing else during the day the above mentions are the highest of priorities. I am heading to go planner shopping today and look forward to those crisp clean pages in which I can prioritize. We can’t do everything so planning the most important tasks to accomplish and then executing that plan keeps me on task.

Although I’ve made resolutions in the past having a yearly focus is easier for me to stick to long-term. Many of the companies I worked for in the past had a yearly theme or focus. It gave us as a whole group a way to ban together and achieve the same goal. Applying this concept in my own life last year really helped me finish out strong! I encourage each of you to sit down for a few minutes and ask yourself what are you looking to gain this year? Is it adventure? Is it organization? Is it health? Write it down now and keep that concept in front of you every day! Set it as a screensaver or wallpaper. Set reminders to keep it in on the forefront of your mind. Put it on your bathroom mirror in lipstick if you have to. Whatever it is that inspires you keep your heart and eyes set upon it!

What do you want out of life this year?

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