I had my first child in November, so as you can imagine, the “family” category of my life has recently taken centre stage.
Just three years ago, however, I was living alone in Toronto, Canada—16,258 km away from any family. With COVID keeping us all at home, my main focus was work.
While there can be a season for everything, I am often craving balance. I care about my family and work, but I also value my friendships, exercise, and hobbies. There’s only so much time, and I often end up neglecting at least one area.
The start of a new year always feels like a chance to recalibrate. The trouble is there are normally too many things I’d like to focus on, which can result in failing before the end of January.
In The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin dedicates a year to experimenting with ways to become happier. Her approach is simple: focus on one area of life each month.
For example, in January, she works on boosting her energy through habits like high-intensity exercise. She tracks her progress daily using a chart, marking whether she completed the activity or not.
The idea is that by concentrating on one area each month, the improvements will start to feel natural, becoming habits that require less effort over time. This also builds her confidence as she moves on to the next focus.
When I want to introduce something new into my life, I often take a similar “month of focus” approach. For instance, when I was learning about skincare, I committed to 30 skincare experiments over 30 days. (That was pre-baby, when sticking to a daily commitment felt a bit easier!)
Those 30 days made a big difference in my knowledge and confidence. While I don’t make skincare every single day now, it’s become a meaningful part of my life. It gets me away from my computer and reconnects me with my senses.
If my goal is something I don't want to do everyday, for instance, going to the gym 3x a week, I still ensure that I track those times that I go on my calendar for at least a month.
A year is a long time, and life can change a lot in that period. But committing to something for just 30 days is manageable and can have a lasting impact.
If there's something you're excited about doing this year, try a commitment across 30 days and let me know how it goes!
Wishing you a wonderful January!
- Annie xo