3 Surprising Ways To Edit Your Life For Results That Don’t Suck in 2022
As we start looking towards 2022, are you feeling stuck in your current situation? Are you working hard but not seeing the results you want? Since my hubby and I are goal- setters, we're looking forward to growing and getting some really cool results in 2022! In this post, I'll share three surprising ways that I edit my life for better results in 2022. Whether you're a mom, a professional , or just someone who wants to feel more fulfilled, these tips will help. So read on and get ready to make some changes!
I named this podcast The Life Edit, because I'm sold on the idea that everyone can transform their lives when they make small edits. I know there are a lot of personalities that are the "go big or go home" or the "all or nothing", but what I found personally was when I tried those, I became overwhelmed, overplanned, and over tired.
So, I owned the idea that if I make small edits to my life and focus on a simple process, the results would eventually follow. There's several ways this has helped me achieve big results in life. For one, by studying a little bit each day instead of cramming the night before, I was able to graduate top of my class in high school, college, and grad school. I'm not smarter than anyone else, I just know how to work hard.
When I made small edits to my diet, like choosing to eat more protein and fats, I lost weight. Although I don't suggest everyone do the Keto diet, it helped me lose 30lbs after I had my second daughter!
I also found when I trained for my marathon, it was small edits, of running a few miles consistently and then working up to bigger mileage that allowed me to finish the marathon strong.
Please know that my small edits may sound super large to some and for others way too basic. We all have different capacities and it's up to us to know ourselves well enough, to make edits in life that work for us.
I didn't start out doing well in school, losing weight, or being able to run a marathon. I had to start somewhere and with small steps, I worked up to get great results, but they came from the hard work I put in years before.
Okay, but here's the real deal, and something I find super crazy, when I've been excited about making edits in my life, I have found that after a few days I can literally forget that I was even working on that area...because the good ole' saying "out of sight, out of mind" is TRUE! So, that brings me to the first surprising way to edit your life for results that don't suck ... ARE YOU READY FOR IT?
1. Remind yourself about your goal daily
Some practical ways I've reminded myself and kept my eye on the goal, was getting a dry erase marker and writing out the goal on my bathroom mirror. I've also created alarms in my phone- not reminders, actual alarms to go off during the day with something specific written in it. For example, this past year I was trying to be more gentle and lighthearted, so I had an alarm go off at 8:55 every morning to remind me to have a gentle spirit and to remain lighthearted! Some days I needed that alarm to go off way more often.
Another way I keep my goals at the front of my mind, is by getting my family involved in my goal. This was a huge factor in my success of running a marathon! They cheered me on! They went for little runs with me. THEY became invested in my desires and that made it so much more fun!
The second surprising way to edit your life is going to seem elementary.
2. Have a regular bedtime
Like literally what you do for your kids...but it's a biggey. It's going to bed when you plan to. It doesn't matter if you plan for 9pm or 1am. It's the act of planning and doing what you tell yourself you're going to do. This helps you get the results you want because you start building self-trust and self-trust is the way you get results. Yes, sometimes you can get results by pure luck and winging it, but most of the time, it requires preparation and planning!
Here's another reason why this simple edit helps you get results, it decreases decision fatigue. How often do you spend your energy going back and forth making a decision and then feeling guilty about how much time you wasted obsessing and then didn't even like the decision? I certainly have done that, so I've found the least amount of decisions I make, helps me maintain my energy for whatever opportunities life throws at me. This means not going back and forth each night if you should or shouldn't go to bed.
Should you watch the next episode of Selling Sunset?
Should you read the next chapter of Atomic Habits?
Should you keep your kids up another hour?
If you decide on a regular bedtime, all those decisions are made for you.
If you really want to up your game. Decide on a time to wake up in the morning and do it! I promise you'll have more mental energy because you haven't laid in bed feeling guilty about whether you should get up or not. You can trust your PAST self that you made that decision to get up at that time for a reason and then trust yourself to actually get up. I mean, have you ever gotten up early and was like, "oh man, getting up early and having time to myself and getting so much done was horrible".
It's a small edit that has massive results. Think about all the successful people you know that have a healthy and balanced life. Do they go to bed whenever they "feel" like it or wake up whenever they "feel" like it? Or do they have set times they go to bed and wakeup. If you don't know, ASK! It would be interesting to learn more about them. I love asking people I admire how they live their life, because i want the results they have.
Having this structure of a bed time, may initially feel restrictive, but I promise you, it actually provides more freedom because you know exactly what hours you're operating within and won't put things off.
The third surprising edit, is actually the hardest for me.
3. Make joy a priority
I can write reminders and go to bed when I plan, but the third has always seemed like something I need to earn. It's something that I've always thought you had to get everything done first before you could do this.
Curious what it is? It's adding intentional joy into your life. Sounds weird right? As a Type A, perfectionist, achiever, I've operated for a long time with the mindset that joy/play/rest must be earned and is only acceptable after you've completed your list. In fact, I believed for a long time it was irresponsible to have fun and do cool things that brought me joy just for the heck of it!
What I found though, is that we all only have a certain amount of energy, and when you do things that bring you joy, your energy is more sustainable! So, oddly enough my brain liked the idea that doing things that brings me joy is okay because it is efficient. And I love efficiency, so I guess whatever works, right? Having kids has really helped me with this, because they are constantly seeking out fun, laughing at the most random things, and playing whenever they can. Their joy is infectious. Their imaginations are inspiring and since I know the world isn't always filled with joy, I want my kids to experience as much joy as they can and learn to incorporate it into their life.
So, now you may be like, Tabatha, it's been awhile since I actually thought about what brings me joy. You are not alone! I've been there and many of my clients have been in the same situation. Many of us push our own desires aside to serve our families and work, and then eventually push it so far away you forget completely what relaxes you, inspires you, and brings you joy. My encouragement is to do a self-check on yourself. Take a few minutes to really think about what makes you smile. What makes you laugh? What makes you relax? What energizes you? And then, here's my practical step...Create a list! Yep, I'm all about lists. Put this list in your phone so you can access it when you find you have an hour to yourself and you're like, what the heck am I supposed to do with myself now? You can even go on Pinterest and look up things that bring joy and get ideas from there!
I hope that one of the three ways to edit your life for better results has been helpful. Whether you choose to remind yourself about your goal daily, go to bed when you plan on it, or add intentional joy into your day-to-day routine, there's a way in which these ideas can help make a difference. One idea is not going to work every time and what might be successful for me may not be right for you but I encourage everyone reading this blog post to take one idea from today’s article that jumped out at them and apply it in their own lives.