My ONLY New Year's Resolution-Be SHAMELESS
Anyone else hate lengthy New Year's resolutions as much as I do?
Social media has made me loathe it even more than usual. People going on and on about all the major changes that will make for the new year and by Febuary it's business as usual. No progress and no real effort to truly make their lives better.
I've been there and done that year after year. Lose 10 lbs. Work out every day. No more sugar. Read 80 books.
Blah. blah. Blah
I want to do things a bit differently for the new year...better yet, starting today.
I want to face my fears, insecurities, and everything else head on. How will I truly grow and learn if I don't?
What exactly do I mean? I want to be the person that I am without censorship or fear of rejection.
I want to be my authentic self.
This is something that I've struggled with for so long. Not feeling or being good enough. Wondering why anyone would take me seriously. etc. etc. etc.
The bottom line is, I'm not meant for everyone to like or love me. None of us are and that's okay.
I have a vlog channel that I "hide" because I'm afraid of judgement and that people won't like me if they see those videos.
I'm not perfect and that's ok.
Hopefully this newfound being free to be myself strategy leads to positive results in other parts of my life.
My resolution is to be FEARLESS. No more sugarcoating and other BS.
If you're into New Year's resolutions, what's yours?
P.S. I changed all the videos on my vlog channel from unlisted to "public"
If you want to, subscribe to that channel.
I hope you're having a great day. I say that and mean it. :-)
Shameless Maya inspired me to be SHAMELESS in the video below.
Just Another Day Ep#7 Goofing Off With Fam in DC
Hanging out in DC with my sister, her best friend, and 2 of our cousins.
Please excuse the choppy footage in the second half of the video. I wanted to keep the music scenes short to avoid issues with Youtube.
Dog PooTrap? I Can't!
I saw this interesting invention while watching a clip of Anderson Cooper's talk show. By the way, I love his show. We don't have cable but his Youtube channel pretty much show all the episodes.
Who thought of this? I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
So basically you put a plastic bag on your dog's bottom to catch the feces. It looks messy and time consuming to me. #lesigh
Their slogan is, "The magic poo collector." lol
Dealing with Overwhelm and Insecurity
I love Marie Forleo!
Christa told me about her Youtube channel last year and I've been hooked ever since. Marie is fearless, super down-to-earth, and offers business and life advice that is practical and actionable. I think she's a vegan (or vegetarian), too! Woohoo!
Anyhoo..
While sitting in bed reading my timeline, Marie posted a link to one of her older blog posts.
The post/video was right on time!
For the last few days I've been dealing with paralyzing overwhelm. I have so many things to do and so many projects that I want to start. At the same time, I'm trying to educate my kids (and myself), save for travel, record videos, figure out how to help people eat better and grow my business, etc., etc., etc.
Sigh.
Did I also mention we're moving? Yeah, I have to nail down a plan of action.
In the video, Marie starts off by talking about the importance of doing a mental dump when dealing with feelings of overwhelm. Basically, get all of those thoughts on paper. I put down my cup of tea, pulled out my journal, set my alarm for 10 minutes and got to work. I frantically wrote down those thoughts, concerns, and ideas and filled up over 2 pages of words and tears.
When the alarm went off, I continued to write a little more until I felt like everything was out.
Even though the assignment was therapeutic, it actually made me feel worse.
I still went back to the video and checked out the next step...
Marie said to put a BIG FAT LINE through all of the concerns that you have no control over. She said, "If we don't have control over it, we shouldn't spend time on it." I wholeheartedly agree but something interesting happened.
I was only able to put a line through TWO ITEMS on my list. I'm quite sure that wasn't the point of the assignment but a different message resonated with me. Basically, I have complete control over how I feel, what happens in my life, AND how I respond to everything that comes my way. In a way, there's no such thing as not having control of anything.
The last step....
Cross out the "meh" items. Get rid of all the things you say you want to do (or should be doing) but never make the effort to actually get done.
I eliminated a lot from my list during this step and it showed me how much I talk but rarely get shit down. Umm, yeah you gotta do better, Monique! *shaking my head*
When it was all said and done...I ended up with only a half page of concerns.
In conclusion...
I gave myself permission to be okay with just being Monique and not downing myself for focusing too much on what I should do or be. Not saying that I will continue this life of mediocrity, but moreso, that I will try not to worry so much about what I can't immediately change. All I can really do is take baby steps to get to where I want to be and redirect my focus to those steps and not should've/could've/would've thoughts that float through my head.
Worry and senseless overwhelm is preventing me from striving AND growing.
I still have a long way to go but at least I have a better perspective.
If you got this far, thanks for reading. :-)