I’ve been trying my best to send you an inspirational blog every Sunday. I’ve named Sundays, Sacred Sunday, because it’s the day I most love to reflect, plan, and carve out peaceful time for myself. I’ve enjoyed taking this a step further and sharing my reflections with you.My vision is for you and I to connect each Sunday in hopes that I can support you in creating a sacred time for your weekly reflection and planning.
THE SKILL I’M YET TO MASTER
My writer/blogger friends have told me a thousand times that I need to write my articles in batches. “You need to have at least 2 or 3 pieces ‘in the can’ so you never miss your scheduled blog day.” Some of my author friends write up to a year’s worth of articles at once so they can set it and forget it.
I so admire these people!
But even though I’ve been blogging since 2012, I am yet to master this technique.
I’ve never been able to write more than one article at a time. I take a long time to write these blogs. I’ve also developed a terrible habit of writing and publishing my posts on the same day.
All this to say that despite being a writer for the past 11 years, I’m still trying to find my groove.
I was feeling very committed to Sundays, though, and thinking that this was my day. And then this Sunday I was in the Florida Keys with my family.
Since I hadn’t written my blog ahead of time, I missed my Sunday post.
I confess I was super disappointed in myself. Comparing myself to some of my favorite bloggers, I felt even worse. I went down the rabbit hole of comparative thinking:
In the past, I may have gotten discouraged and not written this week at all; I may have used this as evidence that there is, in fact, something wrong with me; or I may have just scratched the Sacred Sunday Idea altogether, hoping to find another system/day that works for me.
But I’m not going there this time.
Because this is what I see my clients do so often. They, too, struggle with consistency and make it mean all sorts of things about themselves. They abandon their goals the moment they fall off track. They judge themselves, compare themselves, and think they’re just not good enough at this “thing.”
I’ve witnessed how implementing principles, reframing perspectives, and eliminating the shame game empowers these men and women to become more consistent and successful.
As a student of stoicism, I think about Marcus Aurelius’ famous quote: Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. But I have learned that sometimes you need to be tolerant with yourself as well.
So today I’m approaching my failed Sacred Sunday email with the grace I teach my clients to have with themselves, and I’m applying my own principles to myself.
CONSISTENCY IS FLEXIBILITY
We often confuse being consistent with being robotic. But as humans, sometimes consistency requires flexibility. Take exercise, for example. So many of my clients think exercise means going to the gym for an hour. If they can’t make that happen, they can’t exercise, which results in massive inconsistency. But once they realize that exercise simply means movement, everything changes.
Exercise can mean 100 jumping jacks or 10 push ups before bed. It could be a 5 minute or 50 minute experience. It could look like a walk today or a spin class tomorrow. It can be high intensity or low-intensity, strength or cardio, at a gym, at your bedside or on the street. You can be a 5amer, weekend warrior, or an everyday exerciser. You can be a little of all of it. The point is, no matter how you approach it, you always keep moving that body of yours.
As for me, I may not have yet mastered the art of batching blog posts or writing on schedule, but throughout all these years, I have always kept writing.
I have continued to show up — albeit imperfectly — to do this work I am so committed to. So today I’m giving myself some grace for missing a Sunday and not making it mean that I’m inconsistent.
I’m just flexible and that’s okay, too.
IT’S NOT ALL OR NOTHING
This one is huge for my clients. My clients often tell me they go “all in” on eating clean or exercising and that the moment they fall off track, they quit.
The all-or-nothing game can be dangerous because it assumes perfection or bust. Unsustainable expectations set us up for failure rather than success.
I constantly remind my clients of the importance of focusing on progress rather than perfection. I teach them to play the long game instead of engaging in short-term extremes.
Although missing my Sunday email made me want to turn in my resignation as a life coach, I have decided this does not have to be an all-or-nothing scenario either. I often refer to myself as a turtle, and it’s just taking me a little longer than other writers to learn this batch writing skill. (11 years longer, but who’s counting?)
Oh, and by the way, this is not to say that I am not still aiming to develop this batching skill or create a more efficient way to show up every Sunday in your inbox. It just means I’m not going to torture myself any longer because I haven’t mastered it yet.
TODAY IS AS GOOD AS MONDAY
Today is as good as Monday is one of my favorite affirmations:
I love Mondays because there is this “fresh start” feeling. It’s almost like having a weekly New Year. But the downfall to the Monday mentality is when Mondays don’t go as planned. You didn’t get a chance to workout. You had a birthday dinner and there went your “eating healthy” this week.Once Monday falls apart, the rest of the week goes with it. But not in this community. Not for you.For us every day is a Monday. Every day is a new opportunity to crush your day, your week, your month, and your year. It doesn’t matter what day it is today. Today is as good as Monday!It’s the best day to make good choices — because you woke up this morning — and that means the Universe is giving you another chance. Make sure you take it.
I’m using this affirmation to remind myself that today is as good as Sacred Sunday. It’s a perfect day to share my moment of clarity with you and remind you that even if in different scenarios, we all struggle from time to time.
Hopefully, this email will land in your inbox exactly when it was supposed to and serve you in a big way. If it does, then it will have all been worth it in the end.
