Before a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it digests itself.
Yup. That’s right.
According to Scientific American, “If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out.”
That pretty much describes me this month.
Caterpillar soup. A straight up pile of goo.
When I entered 2022, I was in the mood for a little personal reinvention. I was ready to dig deep, go through a personal transformation, and become a different version of myself.
I recently heard someone say this:
“Overwhelm is what happens when you get exactly what you asked for.”
And that has felt so true for me this month. To get a little woo-woo for a second here, I asked the universe for personal reinvention… and damn, she freakin delivered. Big life changes, travel, challenging financial situations – it’s been a month of me raising my hand yelling “HELLO, I WANT TO GET OFF THE RIDE NOW.”
So when it came to reviewing my month, I hit some major resistance.
My brain says...
I really screwed up this month. I was being SO consistent before and I totally lost it. There’s nothing here even worth reviewing. I just need to make it until June 1st and start fresh. I don’t even have the data I need to do this. This is going to be horrible and make me feel guilty and sad.
But if I’ve learned ANYTHING from coaching our Alliance clients, it’s that the weeks that it’s HARDEST to check in are the weeks that it’s most important. These are the skill-building weeks / months – the ones where we put ourselves in a CHALLENGING situation, and we learn extra lessons from our extra “failures.”
So, here we go. I’ll walk you through my monthly review, using the same questions we ask our clients weekly in Alliance Coaching, with real time commentary because I’m reviewing as I write this.
Karin’s Month Of May Review
First, let’s revisit the goal.
My goals this year include competing in a powerlifting meet and hitting a 600+ pound total, becoming tidy, and creating $250k revenue in my business.
My goals this month (which I’m pulling from my last month’s review because I’ve honestly forgotten what they were) included…
- Getting dressed & ready every day
- Drinking 1 gallon of water daily
- Respecting “tech downtime” from 8pm-8am
- Taking a daily walk (ideally with Zoom)
Next, let’s gather data. What data do I have about my yearly & monthly goals?
- We created $22k in revenue this month (so far) and YTD revenue is $160,000.
- I have no new data about PRs in the gym. (NOTE TO SELF – no data does not equal “I lost all my strength and I’m a noodle girl now).
- I have record of 6 gym-based strength workouts this month
- I spent 3 days hiking (Wow, I really did at least 1 workout each week, which makes me feel better because at least that stimulus preserves muscle)
- I completed my “getting ready” habit 21/27 days this month
- I completed my “gallon of water” habit 10/27 days this month
- I completed my “daily walk” habit 19/27 days this month
- I completed my “tech downtime” habit 12/27 days this month
What insight can I gather from that data? Where did I see evidence of personal evolution?
Writing out that data was actually very revealing because the frequency of my behavior was actually much more than I thought. The month FELT chaotic, but for the habit of getting ready and daily walking, I actually completed it more than half of the time DESPITE the stress I went through.
I also noticed that even though I very rarely hit that full gallon of water, I consistently worked towards it – I ended up drinking a lot more water this month than I have, and that reduced the about of headaches that I was getting. I didn’t achieve consistency, but I did achieve ENOUGH frequency to create the ACTUAL RESULT I WANTED (which was the reduced headaches).
Even though I don’t have much data, I did notice personal evolution around my tidiness. For example, I unpacked the day after I got back from my Seattle trip – this is something Karin 1.0 NEVER would have done (that suitcase would have sat there for weeks). In fact, the day I got back from my trip, I unpacked, worked out, got some groceries delivered, etc – I took a LOT of actions that I’m proud of that are a new trend in my life. I am noticing a stronger and stronger DESIRE for the house to be tidy, and find myself moving around after I’m done working and cleaning more without really noticing that.
What were the bright spots this month? What went well?
I think what I’m most proud of is that the midst of all the chaos, I also did a LOT of personal work. I did a lot of sitting outside and journaling. I did a lot of asking myself what I REALLY wanted. I learned to stand up for myself, say what I want and need, and not worry so much about that inconveniencing other people. I did a lot of DEEP thinking about my identity, and what parts I want to keep and what parts I want to let go.
I also pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I traveled across the country for the first time since 2019. I met a bunch of brand new people and had a phenomenal time on the Back Of The Pack retreat I went on. (Y’all, seriously — if you want to spend time outside and make friends, you need to check them out).
I laughed harder than I have in a long time this month, and I also spent a LOT of time crying on our roof deck… and that’s okay. It’s the 50/50 of life.
Basically, I’m learning to accept myself — even in my “pile of goo” state — because I know that deep, hard, caterpillar soup type work is the twisty winding path to the life I really want, and the person I really want to become.
Alright, what’s next?
Excellent question, self.
Because this month has been filled with flexibility and chaos (everything from my schedule to my food choices to my Instagram post have been more “on the fly”), I’m seriously craving some structure and intentionality in my life.
But, I am watching out for myself — Because I know that it’s easy to ping-pong between “hyper-flexible” and “hyper-structured” and never land on a healthy balance of the in-between.
Here’s what I ask myself when setting a new goal… (and it’s way more simple than you’d think).
What do I want? What’s most important this month?
My #1 priority this month is getting back into a rhythm with workouts. I am re-committed to my powerlifting meet at the end of this year (because yes, in the chaos of last month, there was part of me that doubted / wanted to abandon that goal). I have looked at my schedule and found 4 days per week that I’ll be working out and communicated those workout days to my coach.
As I told my coach, I’m ready to be dialed in. Focusing on my nutrition typically HELPS my workout adherence, because it helps tap into that “athlete” identity I want to embody. So, I’ll prioritize nutrition as well this month, and focus on protein because that’s the largest contributor to what I want (musclesszz).
Mini-goal #1: Workout 4 days / week this month. (17 total workouts).
Habit #1: Drink a protein shake w/creatine daily
Because I am going through this personal reinvention period, I have found it extremely cathartic this month to do WAY more mindset work / thought downloads than I have been. I also know that part of working out on a regular basis for me is having a more regular schedule, which starts with having a solid morning routine. I feel better when I wake up earlier, too. Since I did really well with getting ready every day last month, that feels like a habit I can let go of tracking – but I do want something else that supports or helps that to happen, soo….
Habit #2: Start every day with a thought download that is complete before 7am
Things are going well with BBA and we’re definitely on track to hit our revenue goal. I’m ready to fall back into batching & more structured social media posts, which is one of the things I have on my calendar for Monday & Tuesday before June starts (batching the posts for the month).
However, one thing I have noticed is that on the days that I DID respect my technology boundaries, I had a much healthier & happier relationship with social media. I also noticed that since I don’t have any meetings on Wednesdays, and I reserve them for “deep work”, I really don’t want social media distracting me on Wednesdays. So, I’ll adjust my habit from last month slightly and keep going with it:
Habit #3: “Sign off” social media at 6pm daily, take Wednesdays & Saturdays off IG completely
Finally, one of the bright spots I noticed last month was how much peace it brought me to get my daily dose of nature or at the very least being OUTSIDE. I sleep better, I am much more relaxed, and I feel calmer when I spend time outside, even if it’s just sitting on our patio. The walks with Zoom (the dog) are helping that, but to be honest — Zoom is going through a weird fear period right now with motorcycle noises and has been pretty anti-walk, so as we work through that, I’m going to shift the focus from WALKING to simply getting movement or time outside, roof deck included.
Habit #4: 30 minutes of outside time. RAIN ALTERNATIVE: 30 minutes of Zoom play/training.
So, there ya have it.
All of our Alliance Clients track their “core four” habits and get coached on those.
My “core four” habits this month are: Daily protein shake, 7am self-coaching, 6pm social sign-off, and my 30 minutes outside (#dailydaylight).
I’ll also be tracking my workouts, with a goal of hitting 4 per week.
Finally, all of our Alliance Clients track their “core four” qualities they want to embody (and I also use our daily tracker, which I’ll be posting this month).
My “core four” qualities are: Tidy, Peaceful, Athletic, Playful
Note that even though my goals for the year include becoming tidy and 250,000 in biz revenue, I don’t have a “specific” habit or mini-goal for those this month – and that’s totally okay. I am making progress in those areas, and I know that the strategic byproduct of ME being the best version of myself IS the business revenue and the time & mental space to tidy.
That’s what I’ve realized – Tidyness is a byproduct of my mental headspace. When I’m calm and intentional, I’m much tidier. The best way to control my environment is, indeed, to support my brain.
That’s all for now, friends. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.
Oh, and by the way…
The growth, change, consistency, awareness, and personal transformation you read in these monthly reviews? All of that is available to YOU. I literally built Alliance Coaching to be a place where you can get the SUPPORT and ACCOUNTABILITY you need to actually review your behavior, actually CHANGE your actions, and actually BECOME the real-life version of that fantasy-you that has existed in your brain for so long.
If you’re reading this the day it’s posted, you could apply NOW and be accepted & ready to get started by June 1st.
Here’s what our clients have to say about the program:
“I very much recommend Alliance Coaching to anyone looking to make true changes in their life and stick to them. Having an expert by your side to hear you out, hold you accountable, coach and challenge you to be better is incredibly valuable. I’ve had a great experience with coaching and this community!”
“Having the feedback and support of a coach is so powerful to help point out progress I’m making that I have a blind spot for and the curriculum is amazing. I have increased my awareness of my thoughts, getting better at noticing areas of fixed mindset and cognitive distortions, and feeling more progress than I ever have with self help books.”
“I absolutely would recommend Alliance Coaching to others because of the care that Karin and the Alliance Coaches take to make sure that you’re becoming your best self. They challenge you to think outside of the box and look at the DATA first before making any judgements about things. All of the activities are compassionate and evidence based and honestly the most helpful thing has been learning how to time block in a way that works for ME. Alliance Coaching is NOT a quick fix, cookie-cutter self help group, but instead a coaching team that challenges you to come up with your own systems that are unique to you and your needs.”
