It’s January 1st.
It’s just before 5pm, and I’m snuggled under a blanket writing this post.
If I’m being honest, today has NOT been the day I thought it was going to be.
Three days ago, Jon tested positive for COVID. Our plans quickly changed as we decided to do the full 11-hour drive home from Indiana the next day, to avoid spreading any more germs to his parents. I was honestly grateful to get home a little bit earlier than planned, and I was optimistic and excited about the next few days of prep and the new year.
But the last few days (and today) have been anything but perfect. I still am testing negative for COVID, but I do have a bit of the sniffles so I’m staying home and isolating from others just to be safe. We’ve been wearing masks in the house and Jon has been sleeping in the guest room to try to avoid infecting me.
That means no New Year’s kiss. (In fact, I entered 2023 laying on the floor of my closet with my firework-terrified-90 pound black lab on my lap).
It means no New Year’s day gym, no fresh start grocery shopping, no sit-down budgeting conversation like I wanted. It means I’m laying in bed wondering if it’s allergies or COVID instead of training for my half marathon. It means instead of boundless energy, tidy spaces, and a perfect first day of the year… I’m fighting my brain over minimums.
My word for this year – the quality I want to embody – is RESILIENT.
I guess the universe took that seriously, huh? I said “I’m working on resilience” and the universe said “Okay great, I’m on board, HERE ARE A BUNCH OF OBSTACLES.”
I guess there’s never been a better day to start the Frequency Project!
For the next 90 days, I’m focusing on four qualities – resilient, tidy, active, and grounded. For me, resilient means finding a way to move forward even in the face of obstacles. Tidy means slowing down and caring for the environment around me. Active means that I’m a real participant in my life – I’m moving, initiating, creating – not just sitting on the couch starting at a screen. Grounded means I spend time with myself, and sense into what I really want.
That last one – being grounded – is something I think I really improved on in 2022. I feel more MYSELF than I’ve been in a long time – more certain of myself, more unafraid to express that certainty.
I’ve also picked four core habits that I’m focusing on. Some of these are repeats from previous frequency projects – something I’m actually proud of, because it means that I’ve really explored and figured out what makes ME work best.
My four habits are: Get up before 8am, go for a walk outside, tidy for 10 minutes, and plan my food for the next day.
The “plan my food” habit is related to my big overarching goal for the year, which is to eat 2,023 servings of veggies. That breaks down to about 6 servings per day, but I’m actually shooting for 7-8 per day this month to front-load a little bit and really nail down the habit of planning to get those veggies in.
Oh yeah, I suppose I should list my yearly goals here too.
I have two this year: 2023 veggies, and tripling the amount of money that I have saved/invested/in retirement accounts.
In terms of that financial goal, my main focus this month is to simply WATCH my transactions, start to budget, and get really clear on where my money is going – then I can make a plan for how to adjust (both what’s coming IN and going OUT). I’m going to REALLY double down on doing a friday review every week this year, and during that weekly review is when I’ll be doing all my budgeting.
Finally, like I mentioned, RESILIENT is the quality that I’m working on.
Resilience is really about obstacles, which some of the time you can’t truly predict. But, as part of developing resilience, I want to put myself in more challenging situations on a monthly basis. Just like I did last year, I’ll be posting a “monthly review” as a blog each and every month, so you can keep up with my progress, if that’s something you’re interested in!
For this month, the obstacle I’ll face is pretty obvious – I’m traveling for about 5 days during the second week of January for a BBA x BOTP collaboration retreat in Sedona. That means it’s going to be EXTRA challenging to stick with my veggie goal, and potentially more challenging to do some of my core four habits. But, I’m up for the challenge, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
So that’s it, y’all. That’s the year.
I did manage to go on a walk today (and stayed far away from everyone else, just in case) and on the walk I was reflecting on how this New Year has felt a little anti-climactic, a little off. But not in a bad way. And I started asking myself… why is that?
And I think it’s because – for the first time in my life – I can honestly say I’ve spent the PAST year doing the work. So doing the work this January… doesn’t feel any different.
I’ve been choosing to respect my minimums for months.
Last year, I spend literally 12 months pursuing THREE resolutions – staying focused and centered on them. One of them I completed in July, but the other two came right down to the wire – I didn’t compete in my powerlifting meet until November. I still thought about being tidy on the 30th when we got home.
So this year doesn’t feel as “fresh” or as “new”… because I was still attached and working towards my 2022 resolution right down to the wire.
And although it’s a shift, and it doesn’t feel quite as “fun” or as “fresh” – the tenacity I developed last year is something that I’ve never had before.
It was the first year I truly stuck with something for 12 months, and it changed me – fundamentally.
And that change is something that I’m really, really proud of.
Cheers to 2023, y’all. I can’t wait to see where this one will take us.
