Year of Less

At the beginning of October, I read one of those books that for better or worse, sticks in your brain. Makes you think about your life, life in general, and how you want to make changes for the better.

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

This book, paired with a bunch of things that were happening in my life, helped me decide that I will be participating in a "Year of Less", starting about 2 weeks ago.

So far I'm doing pretty good! Ha!

OPINION TIME
We as a (western, global north, developed) society consume WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. This is a huge contributor to the climate crisis, and our shitty lives under capitalism. Honestly. So many people have written so many smart things about this, I don't know what I could possibly add.

MY RULES
Cait Flanders gave herself some "rules" to follow over the course of her year, to guide her on what she could and couldn't purchase. I have decided to do the same, and use her categories.

Essentials
These are things I am allowed to buy, like toiletries (only when I run out), and groceries (only when I have a plan for them).

Non-essentials
These are things I am NOT allowed to buy. This is the long list.

• Dishes
• CLOTHES
• Food storage containers
• Hair accessories
• Notebooks
• Craft supplies
• Photo albums
• Things at a craft sale
• No new subscriptions
• Indoor plants
• Picture frames

Approved Shopping

These are items that might be covered in the "banned" items, but are specific things I know I am going to need over the next year, OR things that improve my life and don't add to my mental burden of "too much stuff".

• Home improvement items from our Projects List
• Fitted sheet (1)
• Sunglasses
• Hiking boots
• Stamps
• Photos
• Travel

BUT FIRST, DECLUTTER

One of the first actions Ms Flanders takes is to go through everything in her house and take an inventory, and then start giving away any belongings that didn't fit or make sense in her life any more. This helped her see all the things she did have, helping her not buy some of those items in the future. But it also showed her that so many items she just "had to have" at one point in her life, weren't actually being used in her life anymore. I think we have all experienced that feeling.

I haven't done this exercise yet, partly because I still have so many boxes unpacked from our recent move. "Minimalism" is a movement that just doesn't resonate with me anymore, but I know I have too much stuff that I don't need or want. And I know that I need to live with less stuff in order to best live in our tiny new home. I plan on making time in November and over the December break to give myself a fresh start in 2020.

LOOKING AHEAD

I am also looking ahead to doing some 30-day challenges as part of this. That is, 30 days of eliminating a thing or a behaviour that doesn't serve me, and can push me forward in my other goals. Like no social media, no plastic, no dairy, no candy, no eating out, etc. It feels as though in taking all of these small steps, I am so close to realizing this huge potential in me and my life. Life on this earth is only going to get harder over the next years and decades. I need to do my part to prepare and to mitigate those changes for me, my family and my community.

Here goes!

There are only 3 months left in this year. How are you going to spend this time to get you where you want to be?

xo

May Goals

April was so short! I spent the first 10 days in Dubai, and then I spent the next 5 days recovering from Dubai (jet lag is arlakgjsdhblarg!), and then all of a sudden April was half over! But boy oh boy, now that April is 100% over, have I ever learned some lessons let me tell you!

1. I want to feel relaxed on my trip to Dubai to visit my family! Yep yep yep.

2. I want to feel energy and work towards figuring out a good balance of diet, exercise, and mind work. This happened, but not purposefully, and not in the way I expected. I am dealing with long-term iron deficiency that is now significantly impacting my energy, my health, my strength...all these things that I already struggle with. I have been eating meat (gasp!), and going for slow walks, and being very gentle with myself. This is going to be a longer term work-in-progress and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. But I am glad I put it on this list, because even though I didn't "solve" it, it's in my face now and I can't ignore it.

3. I want to feel absorbed and work on a "100 Days of" project. Wheee yessiree! My project this year is unstructured and so relaxed and it's so different from past year's and yet also exactly what I need right now! I wrote more about it here, and already finished my first Project!

4. I want to feel triumphant and complete something that really challenges me. I left this as a TBD at the start of April, and while I didn't really consciously decide on it, after it happened I realized that I found my challenge this month.


APRIL (SNOW) SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS
1. I want to feel present and make a plan to celebrate Mother's Day my way. 2. I want to feel flow and make some changes to the way I'm living in my home. 3. I want to feel steady and make a schedule for Lucas' nights here. 4. I want to feel curious and do some deeper thinking about my word and my Big Life Goals.

May can sometimes be a strange month for me, as this is the month I got married all those years ago. And celebrating motherhood as a "single" mom is always deep-though-inducing. The Daily Habit I am adding this month is about finances, and with the plan to focus on more of my Big Life Goals I think this will be a month of slow and steady movement dotted with bursts of colour.

FURTHER READING
January 2019 Goals
February 2019 Goals
March 2019 Goals
April 2019 Goals
You can read about my overall plan for 2019 here.
I am tracking my Daily Practices with my favourite tool, created by Elise Cripe. You can download her "Habit Tracker" here.. (It will download automatically).

xo

April Goals

Ugh March. You can go suck a duck.

MARCH SUMMARY
1. I want to feel creative and do a daily ART practice. Aside from a couple of days where I just ran out of time, I had a great month of creativity! I learned a lot, grew a lot, and enjoyed the space to create with no rules, judgement, or expectations. I'll be posting the entire album here soon.

2. I want to feel purposeful and seek out knowledge that will help me further my big goals. I'm not sure how successful I was on this one, but I did appreciate the call out. I was able to find some library books that I think will help in this (for future months), and had some real talk moments with myself where I asked myself some questions about my goals. Why have big goals if you're not going to work on them? What does it take every day to be successful? What happens when your goals change?

3. I want to feel empowered and volunteer with a political party or action group. We're in an election cycle right now. The writ dropped in the middle of the month, and I put my name down for a lawn sign, asked them to call me so I could help out and now I'm leaving the country! I still ended up feeling empowered, as I've been reading up on election issues and doing my part in educating folks who pass by this little internet bubble of mine.

4. I want to feel trusted and help Lucas work on BIG LIFE stuff. This was a very big deal for me this month, and I see it connecting to so many other pieces of life, and life work. Thanks to the improvement in the weather, we have been going for more walks. I use every moment of those walks to connect with him. We have also started playing video games together. What a difference it has made to join in with his favourite activity!

HELLO APRIL. LET'S GET TO IT
1. I want to feel relaxed on my trip to Dubai to visit my family! 2. I want to feel energy and work towards figuring out a good balance of diet, exercise, and mind work. 3. I want to feel absorbed and work on a "100 Days of" project. 4. I want to feel triumphant and complete something that really challenges me (what exactly is TBD).

April is going to disappear so fast! I'm in Dubai for the first couple of weeks, a much needed vacation that I am going to use as a "reset" to Spring so I can hit the ground running once I'm back in Edmonton. I've got loads of plans, but I also need to plan some downtime so I can stop running myself into the ground. This month is all about balance.


FURTHER READING
January 2019 Goals
February 2019 Goals
March 2019 Goals
You can read about my overall plan for 2019 here.
I am tracking my Daily Practices with my favourite tool, created by Elise Cripe. You can download her "Habit Tracker" here.. (It will download automatically).
This podcast - Their Own Devices - is a tool I am using to help me be a more involved parent. I highly recommend the episode on smartphones.

xo

March Goals

Aside from experiencing one of the longest cold snaps in recent memory, February was pretty amazing for me, in terms of hitting my goals.

FEBRUARY SUMMARY
1. I want to feel in control and ruthlessly cull my TBR ("To Be Read") list. This was a much more major undertaking than I anticipated, but I made it through! You can read more about it here: 10 Steps to Get Your TBR List Under Control

2. I want to feel connected and host a friend (or a few) for a Galentine's Day brunch. I still can barely believe that this was real. I had six amazing goddesses in my home, along with the most delicious galette, and literally the most vibrant energy filling up every inch of my heart. I was so sad to see them go...we had a magical morning.

3. I want to feel like a good role model for "Current Lucas" by helping him with his goals workbook, taking him skiing, and having good conversations. Thanks to the nasty cold snap we didn't get outside much at all this month, but I have been more focused on how my Current Lisa interacts with and influences Current Lucas. Being a parent is a wild ride y'all, and it just keeps getting better.

4. I want to feel love and send happy Valentine vibes out in to the world. My Dudes, in addition to my Galentine's Brunch, I made lunch for my office team mates on Valentine's Day! My love language is making food for other people and watching my favourites folks getting second helpings and listening to them chat over my lunch filled my soul right to the brim.

It wasn't all shiny roses and happy success stories though, as I am still struggling with my energy levels and haven't been focusing on my physical activity as much as I would (always) like to.

BUT NOW ON TO MARCH
1. I want to feel creative and do a daily ART practice. 2. I want to feel purposeful and seek out knowledge that will help me further my big goals. 3. I want to feel empowered and volunteer with a political party or action group. 4. I want to feel trusted and help Lucas work on BIG LIFE stuff.

Making progress on Big Goals, Lucas, and getting back to things I really love are the big themes for March. And doing more videos for the blog, because "Lisa Gets Cozy..." was a big hit!

FURTHER READING
See my January 2019 Goals here.
And my February 2019 Goals are posted here.
You can read about my overall plan for 2019 here.
I am tracking my Daily Practices with my favourite tool, created by Elise Cripe. You can download her "Habit Tracker" here.. (It will download automatically).

xo

February Goals

Still riding high on Big 2019 Energy, carrying these vibes into February, the month to celebrate love and Black history - two of my faves.

My focus over the next 28 days is to continue thinking about what I want the year to look like, but also to drill down into some of the big intentions I envision for myself. Today I start on the second Daily Practice I want to make a habit of this year, adding "wash at least one dish" to January's journaling practice. I hope to have started 10 Daily Practices by the end of the year, adding one per month until October.

JANUARY SUMMARY
I set out four pretty fabulous "feelings goals" for January (read the full post here) and I think I did pretty good on them! I always love the feeling of a new year, and have learned to take advantage of that burst of energy over the first few months. Everything is doable, everything is achievable, and there is time for everything. I know this feeling will wane before spring - it has every year - but I never think of it as a failure. Especially when I fill January through March with so many awesome things!

1. I want to Feel Connected and invite my parents over to see my new couch. My Mom came over for dinner one night while my step-Dad was out of town, which is always nice (I LOVE cooking for my parents). And my Dad was over one night as well to drop Lucas off, but he says he doesn't remember seeing the couch!

2. I want to Feel Joy and to Feel Challenged and go on a winter (ski) adventure in Jasper. I wrote more on this amazing, joyous, beautiful experience on the blog here.

3. I want to Feel In Control and find success in my first month of sobriety. I think I am still in shock about how good my first sober month went. Like, so. dang. good. I will have to write some more about this, because I literally cannot believe it.

4. I want to Feel Strong and complete a full month of Body Boss. I was doing SO GOOD and then the last week of the month hit me, and hit me hard. But, I am still counting this as a success because look at all the smiles!!!!

AND NOW ON TO FEBRUARY

1. I want to feel in control and ruthlessly cull my TBR ("To Be Read") lists. 2. I want to feel connected and host some friends for a Galentine's Day brunch. 3. I want to feel like a good role model for "Current Lucas" by helping him with his goals workbook, taking him skiing, and having good conversations. 4. I want to feel love and send happy Valentine vibes out in to the world.


FURTHER READING
You can read about my 2019 Goal Setting, um, goals here.
I am tracking my Daily Practices with my favourite tool, created by Elise Cripe. You can download her "Habit Tracker" here. (It will download automatically).

xo

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January Goals

In 2018 I focused on crafting a 5 Year Plan. In 2016 I wrote out goals for the year under four headings, and then I tried to make a point of reading through those goals every month to see where I was at. In 2015 most of my goals were attached in some way to my OLW that year (Simplify). In 2014 and 2013 I wrote out monthly goals based on things I wanted to accomplish for the next month. And strangely there are NO posts in 2017 under the label "Goals". Hmm.

So, what does 2019 look like in the Goal department? Am I going to push forward on my 5 Year Plan? Do I need smaller, bite-sized goals to get me moving? Or do I finally need to re-focus on goals that help me feel the way I want?

Those are a lot of million dollar questions.

I like the idea of breaking up my goals by the month. That way I won't feel like I can procrastinate throughout the year, and then all of a sudden December is here and I'm stressed and disappointed that I didn't accomplish everything, that I didn't do more.

I also like the idea of creating "feelings goals" to focus on how I want to feel and then doing actions that get me to that feeling.

This is all going to be a work in progress for the next few months at least, so I can see if there are any kinks to work out. But I'm excited! I LOVE the fresh smell of a new year and the energy that comes with.

JANUARY GOALS

1. I want to Feel Connected and invite my parents over to see my new couch. 2. I want to Feel Joy and to Feel Challenged and go on a winter (ski) adventure in Jasper. 3. I want to Feel In Control and find success in my first month of sobriety. 4. I want to Feel Strong and complete a full month of Body Boss.

Happy New Year Friends!
xo