This time of year always starts off with the best of intentions. This year, I have decided to focus on new priorities rather than making "resolutions". After all, resolution implies that there is a problem to be fixed. Instead of having the mindset that something is broken, I am choosing to focus on the present and the road ahead with what I want to accomplish and achieve from where I stand today! The past is not broken, instead, I am grateful for everything it has taught be to bring me to this exact point in my life. Now, the real question is, where do we go from here?
Over the holidays, I took a solid 2 week break from social media and I learned a few important lessons:
1) I became much more conscious of how much TIME can get sucked into my phone. My average daily screen time (I'm embarrassed to share) was 3+ hours prior to this break. After, it had been cut down to just about 1 hr 15 mins. Isn't that amazing? Almost 2 hours of my day, EVERYDAY, was being sucked into social media without me being very conscious about it.
2) The best part of this break? I didn't miss social media one bit. I was so happy to be present with my family over the holidays and have REAL conversations and create real memories, that I could care less about what was or wasn't going on over on Facebook and Instagram. I didn't feel the need to check in or the pressure to post something daily and see if I was getting any likes or reactions. I realized that over the past year, this constant feeling of "needing" to get validation from my posts was a real downer. Not having that kind of pressure on myself felt very freeing and light.
So what has this taught me? Although I will be back on social media for purposes of keeping in touch and talking about upcoming events and programs, I am not going to focus on this as the main means of building relationships. Instead, I will focus much more of my time being in person and present with people and at events that are important. With all the demands on our time everyday, it's too precious to waste being sucked into social media.
Another new priority I have for this year is education. That's right, I'm going back to school (again)! I recently enrolled at The School of Applied Functional Medicine and will be spending the majority of this year learning about ways to understand and heal the body through the use of food, supplements and lifestyle change. Functional Medicine focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. I'm very excited about this new knowledge that will help me to elevate my health coaching to a whole new level! Stay tuned for more on how this will change and enhance the services I can offer to clients!
Finally, for the month of January, my husband and I have a few specific health priorities. We have decided to go both gluten and dairy free, as well as give up alcohol for the month. We strongly believe that these lifestyle changes can promote a higher level of well-being for us, so we are going to give it a try for the month and see how we feel. I'll report back on what we learn when the month has ended.
What about you? What are your new priorities for this new year? I would love to hear in the comments below!