Back to the Basics
A couple of years ago I read a great book called, The Miracle Morning, I heard of it before and it was actually sitting in my Kindle library for about a year before I finally felt it was time to read it. It’s funny how things like that happen– I needed to be fully prepared for this book in order to get what I did from it. I was coming out of one of the toughest seasons of my life. We had just experienced our first miscarriage and I was really raw with grief but needed something to help pull myself out of the pit I was in.
After putting the tools from the book into practice, it was as if I had new life.
I began waking up at 4 AM. I had a strict schedule for my morning consisting of reading, journaling, exercising, and meditating– I was living with intention. I was on my way to creating a life I was proud to live– I was in control.
As the years went on I continued waking up at 4 AM every day but I began to loosen my grip on my schedule. Meditation was a thing of the past although I knew how much it helped, I lost the drive to commit. Then reading fell away and so did exercising. I began to add new things to my life like my husband, Matt, and my goal to get out of debt and the consideration of becoming an entrepreneur. The more I added, the more I began to “let myself go”. My mornings became a stressor once again; doing this and that and feeling like life was controlling me instead of the other way around.
All the while I knew what I was doing didn’t feel good and although I was going after my dreams, I was no longer doing it with intention; I was just grasping at the dream. I was making progress but it was almost by accident considering I had no real control over my schedule.
It took an unfortunate misstep on my part over the weekend that grabbed my attention. I’ve been going about my business constantly thinking about my next moves (blog posts, new products, my art, social media posts, etc.) my business is all I think about! I realized how self-absorbed I’d become when I completely forgot to tell my husband, Matt Happy Father’s Day this Sunday and I hadn’t even ordered his gift. It wasn’t until we were sitting down for dinner that I realized I hadn’t acknowledged how hard this day can be. Mother’s Day has been incredibly tough for me and Matt is not only sensitive to that but also honors me on that day when others may not think to, which is understandable. But I, of all people, know how tough it is and I felt an overwhelming sense of remorse and grief for not taking the time to honor him. In his typical way, he reassured me it was fine but man did I blow it and felt so, so terrible!
It was through this I knew I was due for a wake-up call! I had been neglecting my priorities in exchange for a frazzled life as an entrepreneur and I wasn’t even doing a very good job at it considering all I was giving up in exchange.
So it was back to the basics. I had to go back in time to my most “whole” self and begin again.
I set out to redefine my priorities, goals, and values. I set boundaries to keep myself from blending my work life and home life. I (re)created my morning routine and (re)committed to myself the things I needed to do to 1) live with intention 2) set boundaries 3) hold myself accountable.
Do I wish I could not have taken such a wrong turn and neglected my husband? Yes! (Gosh, I so wish I could go back!) But I know how much I needed this in order to take a step back, to step outside of myself for a minute in order to get clarity and see the full picture. Sometimes it takes serious missteps or tough situations to get our attention but if you are like most people and fall into the same trap I did; these eye-opening moments are necessary to get our attention. Although I hope that’s not the case for you, perhaps my unfortunate regret this weekend might save you from doing the same and you might consider what it would take for you to take stock of your life and see where you might make some changes.
I recommend you start with your morning routine! It really can be a life changer. Here is a glance at my routine, perhaps it can inspire you and also read the book! The Miracle Morning, it really could be the thing that takes you from dreaming to doing!
P.S. I made it up to Matt 😂 and I’ve had to forgive myself (and he would agree– that I took it harder on myself than he took it but STILL I had to really make up for it)– He’s so awesome btw!
Xoxo,
Tera