February: How to Make 2023 Your Best Year

It’s already February, and it’s time for our first update on how our 2023 goals are going. If you’re new to La.Rue, or you missed my blogs from January; let me update you. Once a month over the next year, I’ll update you on how I’m making progress on my goals after New Year’s. In the post, How to Make 2023 Your Best Year, I made a promise to you and myself. In this post, I discuss how narrowing the scope and timeframe of your goals and tracking them month-to-month rather than over 365 days sets you up for success. And to honor that belief, I said I would update you on my monthly progress throughout 2023. So here we are, month two, and I’m very excited to share where I’m at with you.

The New Year Energy we all get only lasts for so long. Suddenly, we blink, it’s July, and we haven’t thought about our goals since January. Which is why in this post, I made a promise to you that each month, we would revisit the topic of our New Year’s goals. I’ll update you on my progress and places where I need to improve. It’s not about sharing the actual goal with you and telling you how close I am to achieving it. It’s about updating you on my mindset and where I may be feeling resistance to progress. These posts (and all posts) are an open forum to discuss your progress and mindset around your goals. So, without further delay, I’m thrilled to update you on my 2023 goals and how I can improve over February.

February Progress

Mindset

I think this is the section I’m most excited to update you on monthly. I’m hoping it will challenge me to be more honest with myself about how I’m feeling and why I may be feeling resistance to accomplishing or even making progress on my goals. Our minds and their physical chemistry are constantly changing. Our mindset and emotions ebb and flow naturally to the circumstances of our life. So, where’s my mindset after one month of challenging myself to achieve my goals? I’ll tell you that I’ve never been more vigilant of progress. The difference has been that I’m not focused on long-term progress but more on being intentional daily. I’ve been very conscious about having compassion for the days I’m not feeling mentally 100%.

Although I didn’t share my list of goals with you, I mentioned that my main goal for this year is to find an intentional balance between building my business and living an intentional life. In January, I was really focused on easing into my habits. As I mentioned in the first blog, you can’t create habits or achieve goals if you have resentment toward the action of them. I was hyper-aware of making sure when I completed a habit; I had a mini celebration for myself. And when I missed a habit, I made sure I wasn’t mentally tearing myself down. I told myself tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities.

Resistance

It’s normal to feel resistance to actions or circumstances you know will change your life. Although that change might not be immediate, you know that with each success, you’re going to show up a little differently. In the case of habits, I’ve been feeling resistance to two in particular. Over the last year of living in my new place (WOW! I can’t believe it’s been a year), I’ve gotten really comfortable in my space. In the beginning, I went out to dinners and events a lot. That started to slow down and then slowed even further, being in a relationship and getting a puppy. One of the habits I’ve been wanting to work on has been going for daily walks. Even if it’s just around the block, I want to make sure I’m getting out of my apartment at least once a day.

On the days I’m just working and don’t have plans for the night, I at least go downstairs in my building to go to the gym. But I’m not going out for my walks. My resistance hasn’t been in the conscious decision to go because I know it will feel good to get outside, even for just 10 minutes. I think the resistance is more about the act of stopping work, getting dressed for a walk, and going. I’ve mentioned before the anxiety I have about not working during “working hours,” whatever that even means. But I feel guilty about leaving my desk and pausing work when I know I have a lot to do and expectations to meet. I think the internal battle I’m facing is about time versus return. I need to remind myself of the return I’ll get over the small amount of time I “give up.”

How I’m Growing in February

This section is where proper accountability becomes a factor. Whether one person or a million people read this, I want to hold myself accountable to the words I’m writing, and I hope this inspires you to do the same. My mindset growth over the next month will focus on getting more strict in my habits. In January, I let myself be lenient about my habits. But it’s been a month, and it’s time to buckle down. What won’t change about my mindset is having compassion for myself when I don’t follow through with a habit. Nothing about calling myself “lazy” serves how I’ll show up tomorrow.

When we’re working on changing our lives, living intentionally, and achieving goals, we must practice conscious thinking. This means actively having an internal discussion on your emotions, where/ why you’re feeling resistance, and how you can address it. I encourage you to comment on how your January goal-setting has gone and how you plan on improving your growth in February. I’m so excited about this series. To actively follow along, make sure you’re subscribed to the La.Rue Thrive Hive, I’ll see you next month for our next update. Also, a very exciting reminder— the podcast has started once again! Join me every Wednesday to talk more about what we discuss on La.Rue and all things Intentional Living!