Snow Days & Change & Consistency

If we have chatted for any amount of time in the past year or so- you know I’m on a mission to use “AND” more as opposed to “BUT.”  And allows for an addition to, but stops us right where we are.  

We had a snow ice day week this past week 
and it was beautiful
and it was scary
and it was needed
and heavy
and it put me behind
and it allowed me to catch up. 
And on and on and on. All of those things are true- 

Most importantly (for me) the weather shutting things down gave me room and time and space to pause and reflect on  priorities, aspirations, and three areas of my life that may require some adjustment. 

Am I living my days with purpose and joy?
Am I prioritizing what’s needed for my long term goals? 
Where am I striving for perfection in areas where consistency would work better?

Am I living my days with purpose and joy?
I love collecting positive moments (another post for another day)! 

Am I consistent in doing the collecting, in doing the noticing?  What perspectives need to change in my life to bring the joy more into focus?  In my life, business competes with joyfulness.  I’m a frequent offender of one more thing, one more commitment, one more ‘yes’.  I’ve gotten better over the years of pruning my yeses to things I actually WANT to do… the problem now is that I’m a woman with a lot of wants.  

The ice week became a time of further pruning of my schedule and my spending and- a prioritization of the positives.

Am I prioritizing today what’s needed for my long term goals?  What are the long term goals?  
I am my family’s “Life-long learner”. If at the dinner table with my extended family I announced that I was taking up fencing lessons, no one would be surprised.
And I love this about myself!  
And, left unchecked, all this learning can prevent me from applying all that is learned. 
What am I being consistent in learning?  What results am I aiming towards- do any daily habits need to change in order to make the long term goals attainable? This baby business of mine is such a joy… and I am constantly dreaming of ways I want to grow it. But growth takes time and in just the same ways as I would tell a new mom to not miss the stage of having a newborn or a toddler- I don’t want to miss the early stages of creating a company! Learning a new thing does not outweigh the importance of being present and prioritizing today’s thing.

Where am I striving for perfection in areas where consistency would work better?
Winston Churchill said, “perfection is the enemy of progress.”  The sentiment has become more popular in recent years, and has snuck up on me in different areas of my life over the past year or so.  More words to come on this in a later post…

When I talk with clients about acceptance + change the idea is that you can’t change things until you accept them as they are.  So often, when we haven’t accepted something truly for how it is… we end up changing the wrong thing OR worse, we’re ineffective at the change.  
I think the same can be true with consistency + change. 
Until we take the time to pause and notice, where am I being most consistent… it’s difficult to make meaningful change.  

Until we vulnerably acknowledge that it’s our consistency causing us so much pain we can’t do the work to change our behaviors, emotions, and thoughts required to bring us joy. 

Whether it’s the consistency of overcommitment, the inconsistency of a plan, or the avoidance of responsibility under the guise of ‘rightness’- sweet reader I encourage you to take some time to pause, reflect, and adjust where needed.