Sit on the THRONE(S) of 2022 and become the Queen of your Realm.
Here are my tips on breaking down different areas in your life in order to have a great foundation for your year and beyond.
TIME
What time are you giving to your goals and dreams? Are you waking up an hour earlier than your family or your former, unmotivated self? Are you intentional with the time you have? I’m not saying you need to time block every second of every day, but be intentional with your calendar. If you find that your evenings are spent sitting on the couch, watching tv, and scrolling Instagram and Facebook, then you wonder why you can’t get ahead with your goals, you should take this as the kick in the pants you need to be more intentional with you evening routine. Even if you spent two of those evenings per week working towards your goals, you would make a huge impact on your goals.
HYDRATE
How much water are you drinking? My guess is that you’re not drinking enough water to adequately hydrate your body. When I was in the Army, we always gauged our hydration level by the color of our pee. Gross, right? But seriously you should absolutely be drinking enough water so that each time you urinate, the toilet water barely changes color.
Water intake is integral in so many functions in your body and keeps things working optimally.
RESTORE/PRAY/MEDITATE
Quiet time to reflect, restore, pray, meditate or just sit alone with your thoughts can restore you in so many ways. You really get to know yourself in those quiet moments. This can be a time for self-care in the form of getting to know yourself by quitting all the noise around you. Connect with God, the Universe, your higher self, or whatever you believe in, but become more true to yourself. Yes, that’s a little woo-woo, but nothing will make you feel more powerful than knowing exactly who you are and what you stand for, and the best way to figure all that out is through restorative stillness and quietness.
OBSERVE/VISUALIZE
I’m huge on vision boards and writing down my goals. If you love a good vision board activity, I highly encourage you to make one for yourself. I’ve done one for the past 4 years and I love the whole process.
When I was young, I used to be obsessed with Dodge Ram trucks. No joke, I went to the dealership and got one of their pamphlets and tore out the pictures of Dodge Rams (and Dodge Vipers) and put them up on the walls of my room. Right next to Ryder Strong and JTT! Every time I saw a Ram out on the road, I would yell “DODGE RAM!”
When I was a senior in high school, after working at a video rental store and as a bagger at a grocery store, I bought myself a brand new, dark blue, Dodge Ram Quad Cab 1500 and I was obsessed.
It may have taken a few years to get my dream car. I needed the means and the ability to actually drive it, but I focussed on what I wanted and I put all my energy into getting it. I have no doubt that waking up every day seeing a picture of my goal helped me stay on track to getting it.
NARRATE/NOTEBOOK/JOURNAL
Putting pen to paper can be one of the most therapeutic things you will ever do. There’s nothing like a brand new notebook, full of possibilities for filling the pages. Whether it’s full of words, stories, dreams, pictures, or flowers pressed between the pages, the potential it holds is undeniable.
Each morning, I write down 5 things I”m grateful for and it sparks an attitude of thankfulness and mindfulness that I can bring into my day.
huffpost.com
EXERCISE
If you don’t have a regular exercise routine, now is the time to start. Of course, check with your personal doctor if you have any health concerns, but you’ve got to start somewhere. You could go for a 15 minute walk around the block with your family or your dog. You could dust off those old roller blades from the 1990’s and race your way to a fit body but whatever your exercise of choice, make sure you’re safe and that you get your heart rate up a little bit.
Humans weren’t designed to be as sedentary as we are. My day jobs keeps me sitting down for long stretches of time. Sometimes I’m driving for 3 hours or sitting through yet another meeting, but I’m lucky enough to have been gifted a watch that prompts me to at least stand up and move around a little bit each hour. Every time you get up to use the restroom (refer back to H - Hydrate), take the long way to the toilet.
If you don’t have this tool, you can easily set a timer on your phone or alarm clock or link activity to some other trigger throughout your day. The point is, you have to make movement and exercise a habit.
(SEX)
I’m throwing this bonus “S” in here after talking to my husband. He decided that everyone should be having more sex in 2020 and while I’m not a sex expert, I do agree that a healthy sex life can improve your year! Since I don’t expect you to take my word for it, I thought I’d do a little digging into this concept to give you some facts to back up our claims.
(Confession: I’m 100% blushing as I’m even thinking about talking to you about this topic.)
In a webmd.com article from 2013, Kara Mayer Robinson discusses the 10 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex and cites the following:
Improve your immune system - stay healthier more often
Boosted Libido - have even more sex
Improved bladder control for women - don’t pee on yourself as often
Lower your blood pressure - take less pills
Counts as exercise - refer back to my discussion on exercising more
Lowers heart attack risk - self explanatory
Lessons pain - orgasm can actually help block pain receptors when you release hormones during sex. The good news on this one is that even if you don’t achieve orgasm, many of the pain fighting symptoms will still exist.
Lessen the likelihood of prostate cancer for men
Improve sleep - unless you’re getting woken up for sex, of course
Eases your stress - jackpot!
Dr. Sheenie Ambardar says “Sexual arousal releases a brain chemical that revs up your brain’s pleasure and reward system. Sex and intimacy can boost your self-esteem and happiness, too. It’s not only a prescription for a healthy life, but a happy one.”
So, there you have it. The THRONE(S) method to making your 2020 the best and happiest year of your life.
What do you think? Did I miss anything you think should be included?
I can't wait to cheer you on!
- Shannon