What I'm Cultivating in February 2020

It’s a new month, so I’m starting a few new things on the blog. Hooray! On Sundays, I’m sharing ways I’m personally keeping up with the very same techniques we talk about around here. This comes up a lot in our coaching conversations, but I always steer clear of answering because there is no such thing as a cookie cutter routine or a “right way” to do anything. What works for me doesn’t have to work for you, and that’s okay.

Yet at the same time, I understand it is helpful to see how others structure their goals and work to accomplish them. Seeing others cultivate the life that aligns with who they are may give us inspiration for new techniques or open up an opportunity we haven’t thought of yet.

So today’s topic: what I’m cultivating in February! When I think about my yearly goals, I always divide them into months to narrow them down into achievable, bite sized action steps. Now, we don’t have time to discuss all of my own goals for 2020, but like you, most of mine stick to the 7 dimensions of health: social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, occupational, intellectual, and physical wellbeing.

Haven’t planned your 2020 goals yet? That’s okay, click the link below to download a free resource that will walk you step by step on how to get started.

My February Goals and Action Steps:

Cultivate My Joy:

Without prior experience I’m having to trust the KY locals when they say this has been a mild winter so far. But y’all, it ain’t for the faint of heart. If I’m being honest, the wet, sunless days are draining my soul a bit. So I’ve decided to rebel and cultivate habits that bring me joy. This month I’m concentrating on:

1. Propagating my houseplants

2. Learning how to paint with watercolors (which is harder than I imagined!)

3. Taking hot baths & painting my nails once a week

4. Keeping Pizza Sundays going strong

5. Reading at night by the fire (instead of having a specific # I want to read, I’m just tracking what I have read this year)

6. Maintaining a list of things I’m looking forward to (that will happen before spring)

Cultivate My Energy:

“When the sun doesn’t wake up, neither do I!” That’s been my excuse for feeling exhausted this winter, but when I really checked myself, I knew my lack of energy was a direct result of my lack of sleep. The solution? Schedule sleep like it was an appointment every night and stop relying on caffeine. So this month I’m concentrating on:

1. Keeping the TV off once I get home from the gym in the evenings.

2. Shut down the house at 11pm. Meaning tidy up, let the dogs out one more time, lock the doors, wash my face, etc

3. Move to the bed to read until 12 when all lights go out.

4. Saying no to soda in February (we don’t always have to cut things from our lives, but fasting from something for a while can be a really good way to reframe our mindset) and will not automatically make coffee when I get up, only when I feel like I’m lagging throughout the day.

Cultivating My Gratitude: 

I’m in a spiritual disciplines group, so this month I’m practicing breath prayers and journaling. 

1. Keep a list of gratitude and places I want Spirit to move daily

2. Set aside 30 minutes to write a longer journal entry once a week.

3. Praying in the shower (weird, I know, but it works for me) 

Cultivate My Health:

My hands, wrists, and shoulders have been swollen and hurting lately. I super value doctors & medicine, but also want to be prepared with accurate information before I visit one. So the next 2 weeks I’m concentrating on:

1. Research anti-inflammatory foods & make grocery list.

2. Daily bullet journaling my pain level & location, my diet, and other symptoms.

3. Going to gym at least 3 times a week, but prioritizing moving my body each day.

4. Keeping track of hourly steps/movement on ‘off’ days.

5. Taking my vitamins & fish oil daily.

Now I hear you, all of that sounds like a lot to squeeze into a month with only 29 days, but that’s where cultivating rhythms comes into play. Personally, for bigger to-do items, I get in the rhythm of doing them on the weekends, mainly Sunday so I’m in the habit of refreshing myself and my house before the next week begins. This includes watering plants, feeding my sourdough starter, painting nails, reviewing my budget, etc. Doing so doesn’t add a bunch to my to-do list, instead it feels like a natural way to jump start my week.

The rest I space evenly throughout my day, so my morning time is filled with more intentional habit tracking and my spiritual habits. And my downtime in the evening is filled with exercise, learning, reading, painting—all activities that help me become more relaxed and ready to ease into the next day. It important to note, I don’t always get to all of these things, that’d be insane. But when they are built into my life as a rhythm, the idea is that when I have time, they feel almost natural to my day.

You’ll also notice there’s not green smoothie involved or waking up at obscene hours in the morning or anything that’s stereotypical life coach-y. That goes back to not everything people do is for you & that’s okay. We are all working with what we’ve got & doing our best to become more aligned with who we genuinely are. And I genuinely never want to drink kale.

To read more about my daily check list, click here.