My July intentions

Can you believe that it is already J U L Y?! Not only is the year flying by but summer is starting to slip away.

I for once have nothing scheduled for this month! I am pretty excited about getting to stay home and relax.

This month will serve as an in between, relaxation period for me. I want to spend it working on becoming the best version of myself.

To help me with this, I am setting intentions rather than goals. The reason I do this is because by setting an intention, I am giving myself permission to fail. I feel like when you set a goal, it can be pretty upsetting when you don’t reach it.

Trent, my husband, thinks it is funny when I say these are my monthly intentions but it honestly helps me stay on track with what I want to complete and not put too much pressure on myself.

So, here are my July intentions…

1. Exercise everyday

   June was a busy month for me and I was really slacking with my workout schedule. I want to get back into the habit of doing a daily exercise whether it is pilates (I love doing the Move with Nicole classes), a circuit training, or a walk with Bart.

   If I don’t get to workout or am too tired, I am going to at least try to go on a long walk.

2. Stretch daily

   When COVID-19 first hit and we were all quarantining, I got into yoga and was getting pretty good. Unfortunately, I let the habit go but I still need to remember to do a little stretch each day. I sit hunched over on my laptop all day so a little stretch is good for me haha.

3. Drink eight glasses of water

   If I am really busy working, I actually forget to drink water. And I know this is so bad for me so I am going to put in a real effort to remember my water this month.

4. Eat three balanced meals

   Last month was a busy month of eating out and celebrating my blog launch and I went to Washington for a trip. I really want to get back into cooking each of my meals. I am even considering using a food delivery service like Hello Fresh to help inspire me to cook more meals.

5. Decrease spending on eating out and shopping

   Speaking of going out, I spent a lot of money last month on eating out and shopping. I am going to try to not go out this month (except for my weekly Chick-Fil-A because that is the Lord’s food and doesn’t count). By saving money, this will help me feel more comfortable with indulging when I go to France next month.

6. Journal/mediate each morning

   This is something I started doing at the beginning of the year and it has helped me so much. I have been pretty consistent but want to try to make sure I do this every.single.day this month. It helps start my day off on a positive note.

7. Show up for my business everyday

   After a long day of working my full time job, teaching my students, and other household duties, it can be hard for me to have the motivation to work on my blog.

   I want to show up everyday this month, even if for a little bit, so that I can continue to grow and do what excites me.

8. Say “I get to” rather than “I have to”

   I recently read about the practice of saying “I get to” rather than “I have to” and I want to experiment with this and see how it helps shift my mindset through out the day. This is just another way I am trying to shift my life into a more positive thinking direction.

9. Turn my phone off by 9pm each night and not looking at it first thing in the morning

   This is a habit I have been working on for awhile now but have recently been slipping. I always mute my phone and put it face down while I sleep (don’t put me down as an emergency contact haha) but I need to be more diligent of not even checking it before I sleep.

   I also have read research that proves that looking at your phone first thing in the morning can seriously affect your mental state for the rest of the day. For example, if you wake up and see an email or text that upsets or stresses you, you are creating that environment for yourself for the remainder of the day.

10. Pick up the house every evening

    Since I work at home, I tend to get a little…messy. I prefer to call it chaotic organization, though.

    By the end of the day, my sofa is full of notebooks, my lunch plate is still on the kitchen table, a basket of clothes I washed is still sitting in the middle of the room.

    If I can pick everything up at the end of the day, I think this will help signal to myself that I am done for the day and can start to rest. I also think Trent would like to come home to a clean house :) haha

What intentions or goals are you setting for yourself?

To help hold yourself accountable, download my digital worksheet below!