I'm designing a life I don't want to retire from.

If you follow my @kaizen_ashley Instagram page, you know already know how much I talk about quitting my job and never working again. I actually used to do a lot of complaining about working. Not because I don’t like my job, but because I didn’t like the lack of freedom. Well, I eventually got tired of hearing myself complain, and decided it was finally time to take action. 

In May, I enrolled in @thefioneers Design a Life You Love program and I am so happy I made that decision. It’s a 4 month program and we are only about halfway through, but I am learning so much about myself. I’m already on the #FIRE journey with my husband and have been saving and investing a large chunk of my income for a few years now. The original goal was to continue to do that for the next 12 years so we could retire by age 45, but what we’ve realized as we’ve progressed on this journey is that we don’t want to delay fulfillment until retirement. I’m at a place where I want to feel fulfilled at every point in my life, so I’ve embarked on a journey to discover what that means for me while also exploring different options to continue to increase my income. 

The program uses lifestyle design tools to guides us through different exercises to identify our core skills, characteristics and values to design a life we don’t want to retire from.

What I’ve learned so far is:

• I don’t want to wait until age 45 to quit my full-time job

• I value seasonality in my life (sometimes I enjoy a faster pace and some months I’d prefer slower living)

• I enjoy developing systems and using automation to make my life and my business more efficient

• Uninterrupted quality time is very important to me

• I’m super engaged when I’m talking about the enneagram

• I desire a life of freedom and ease

• I’m motivated to become to best version of myself in every facet

• I need autonomy of my time

• I despise anything that doesn’t add value

• Most of my peak experiences in life focus on ending a journey and starting something new and fresh

This list could go on and on, but I’ll stop there for now. This experience has been super eye-opening and I’m excited to continue to learn more about myself and tap into what really sparks joy for me ✨

What would you do if you had unlimited time to yourself today?

I saw a post on Instagram recently that really got me thinking. It said

“If we’re not careful, time-consuming full-time jobs insulate us from needing to truly know ourselves.”

That resonated with me.

I immediately went to google to look up the word insulate to better understand how it was used in this context. 

Merriam-Webster’s definition said “To place in a detached situation: ISOLATE”

Interesting.

So, essentially, my full-time job could be separating me from NEEDING to know my true full self. 40 hours a week spent working could prevent me from having the space, time and mental capacity to allow myself to explore my interests and desires. Having a time-consuming job could take up just enough energy to leave me with none at the end of the day or week to figure out who I am and what I love.

Hmm. It makes sense. If I’m spending 8 primetime hours a day, when I’m the most alert and productive, dedicating my attention to a full-time job and approximately 8 hours a day sleeping, that only leaves me with about 8 hours to spend the time “how I would like to spend it”. (I put that in quotes because I have a 5-month-old and he tends to dictate how I spend most of my free time.)

But wait, back to that last 8 hours…that’s actually a decent amount of time. That’s literally ⅓ of my day. Obviously, we have to factor in the mental and physical burden of working from home full-time, while parenting full-time plus time for eating, showering, timing of my son’s naps, and the other simple necessities, like scrolling on Instagram and Facebook lol. But, even with a baby, I bet I have a good 1-2 hours to spare everyday. 

So, I went back to reread the post to see if I still agreed with it. It said

“If we're not careful, time-consuming full-time jobs insulate us from needing to truly know ourselves.”

This time, “If we’re not careful” is the part that really stood out.

So, what if I was careful?! What if I valued my time enough to ensure I had at least 1 hour a day to dedicate to myself? Or what if it isn’t only about time? What if it’s really about intention?

I keep telling myself that I want to stop living for the evenings and the weekends. That I want freedom and choice to do what I want, but why have I convinced myself that it has to be all or nothing? Why can’t I find ways to start baking in that freedom and choice that I desire every single day, even if it’s only for a couple minutes or hours a day.

Since discovering that post and working through this stream of consciousness, I’ve been trying to be more intentional about how I can spend more time doing things that I enjoy or just simply want/need to do.

One thing I’ve been doing is journaling. Each morning, I answer a very specific question: “What would you do if you had unlimited time to yourself today?”

What started as just a journal prompt, has begun to transform my days. Each day I may list up to 10 different things that I would like to do for the day if I had time. Most days the list is simple with tasks related to cleaning the house or cooking a meal, but other days the tasks are more creative like starting a passion project or developing a new skill. 

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• When I give myself space to think about what I’d like to do for the day, even if I can’t do those things, it sets an intention for the day. One that allows me to look for times throughout the day where I can maybe squeeze in some of those things I would like to do.

• I have way more freedom and choice during the day than I realized.

• Visualization leads to inspired action. Making my list visible acts as a reminder to do more of the things that I want and that add value versus letting time pass me by. 

• Rest is also an action (and is different from sleeping). Some days I can intentionally choose to just rest. There’s way more freedom in making that choice, than getting to the point where I’m so exhausted that I just fall asleep on the couch, and wake up regretting not being productive.

So many good things have come from this very simple task that I have begun to do every morning. It literally only takes a couple minutes and it’s not complex at all. I do it while I’m still laying in my bed. I’ve created a running, bulleted list in Google Docs so I’m also able to look back on what I wrote on previous days. I also choose not to track whether or not I was able to complete any of the tasks. For me, it’s not about increasing productivity, it’s about the feeling of freedom and choice. It sounds counterintuitive because I never have time to complete all the things on any day, but it feels good knowing that I COULD make time to just start ONE of these things if I chose to.

So, what would you do if you had unlimited time to yourself today?

Kaizen My Life.

The last blog post I wrote was on December 31, 2020. It’s now 2022. A whole year and some change has passed.

What’s interesting is that the same content that I wrote about at the end of 2020 is essentially what brought me back to my blog today. As I was reading the post, I realized that I have some of the same feelings that I wrote about over a year ago.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot has happened since I wrote it. 2021 was hands down the most accomplished year of my life. In the last year, I:

• Grew and birthed a whole baby (who is now 4.5 months old)

• Planned a trip with my husband for 600+ people to travel to Punta Cana, DR

• Saved and invested over $100k on our path to financial independence

• Gave over $30k to nonprofit organizations

• Traveled once a month for the first six months of the year

So why do I feel like I’m in the same place as last year when I’ve accomplished so many AMAZING things?!

I think what I’m struggling with is the fact that I have such limited time to choose what I want to do. Even when I attempt to Make Room for the things that are important to me, it always seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Or that I’m typically too tired from working a full work day to have the energy to spend on those things. And of course, that has only amplified since I became a parent.

That’s what it is. Lack of choice and freedom.

As an Enneagram 7, my basic desire is to be satisfied and content - to have my needs fulfilled. My key motivations are to want to maintain my freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, and to keep myself excited and occupied.

Currently, I spend 40 hours a week working a job that, honestly, is a good job with a really good company that gives me tons of flexibility; but also, one that I feel is preventing me from doing the things that I really want to do. One that doesn’t always allow me to show up as my authentic self. One of necessity and obligation that limits me to evenings, weekends, or PTO and flex days to do the things I truly desire. I feel like I’m missing out on so many worthwhile experiences because I spend most of my days doing something that pays my bills but doesn’t necessarily bring me joy.

The concept of trading my time for money is one that just doesn’t sit right with me. Once I discovered the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) I feel like I finally discovered the solution to all my problems. I’ve always had the “Work Smarter, not Harder” mentality but what if I could not work at all?! My husband and I have been on the journey to financial freedom for a few years now and I think that’s what makes it even harder to go (upstairs) to work everyday. I know what my dream life looks like, I have a plan to get there, I’m just not there yet. Having a solid plan to one day be able to be work-optional is extremely empowering, but knowing it will still take years to get to is a little frustrating.

I was listening to a podcast the other day and heard something that really stuck with me. 

One of my favorite podcasters, Jamila Souffrant (Journey to Launch podcast), was being interviewed on a different podcast about her journey towards financial independence (FI). She spoke about how for her discovering FI was a gift and a curse. The idea of leveraging your income to achieve this goal is exciting, but also, when you become aware of this other way of life, it’s hard not to imagine what your life future life could look like which could cause you to get annoyed with everything in your current situation.

Her advice to listeners was this:

“Don’t make your situation your enemy…Make peace with where you are…You might think that quitting your job is going to solve all your problems and it won’t.”

“Get your mind right about where you are now. Give gratitude to the job that you have that is paying your bills, hopefully IT IS paying your bills. Really lean into that and see the positives of where you are because you don’t want to make it an enemy.”

I’m not going to lie, part of me was a little annoyed to hear her say this. Especially because she had already quit her job a few years ago to become an entrepreneur and work on her passion project.

The other part of me was kind of intrigued. I’ve really had this mindset that quitting my job was THE ANSWER. And truthfully I can’t say that she has convinced me otherwise but her words made me really take some time to reflect. Here are some thoughts that came to mind.

1. “Don’t make your situation your enemy.”

   1. There are so many good things about the situation I’m currently in. Because I work from home, I get to spend every second I’m not working with my son and my husband, who also works from home. My job creates an environment where I can be a mom and employee and not have to choose between the two. My income allows me to save and invest at a very high rate to help me achieve my goals. Although, we have a few years until we reach our financial independence goal, my current situation is in no way bad or toxic, and is in fact, pretty ideal and I should treat it as such. (I’m still going to post on Instagram every chance I get about how ghetto working is lol.)

2. “Make peace with where you are.”

   1. I’m not where I want to be but I am well on my way. I have to remember to balance the desires for my future with gratitude for my past and present. I’m extremely blessed and have to make sure not to rob myself of experiencing joy in every period of this journey. 

3. “You might think that quitting your job is going to solve all your problems and it won’t.”

   1. Again, I’m still not 100% convinced on this one but it got me thinking… maybe there’s a mindset shift that needs to happen. Maybe there’s another way to get what I’m aiming for without spending the next 13 years saving and investing aggressively to “retire early” at the age of 45. Maybe I have more freedom and choice than I think. Maybe instead of focusing on the end goal, I need to assess what I have control over today. Start small. Make incremental changes. Kaizen my way to the life I truly want to live. Isn’t that what this blog is all about anyway?!

So I’m challenging myself to focus on the opportunities I have today to live a life of choice and freedom. And I challenge you to do the same.

What’s one thing you can do today to make small, incremental progress towards a goal you have?

MAKE ROOM.

This time of the year is always a time of deep reflection for most people, including myself. It’s normally when we look back over what we set out to accomplish for the year and assess whether we achieved the goals we set for ourselves or not. 2020 is a year that I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined. 2020 forced us to shift. It forced us to Make Room for different ways to live our lives.

At the beginning of 2020, my intention for the year was to “Make Room”. Make Room for God, my husband, and then myself, in that order.

God first, because duh lol. No but really because I knew that living in His will was way better for my life than anything I could’ve ever planned. I knew that I was searching for things that only God could provide, but I also knew my relationship with Him had been lacking. I knew that drawing closer to God was the most important thing I wanted to focus on. 

My husband, second, because my life was about to be connected with his in a way I hadn’t experienced before and I knew there were some things I had to learn about partnership, compromise, submission, and cohabitation. I wanted to prioritize that relationship because I was so used to focusing on “me”, and I would now need to make the mental shift to focusing on “us”. 

Thirdly, myself, because I needed to do a better job at setting boundaries for family and friends. Not that anyone was super intrusive or disrespectful with my time, but oftentimes I would prioritize things that others needed and wanted and not leave enough time for the things I needed or wanted to do.

So as you can guess, the year didn’t go at all the way I planned.

Ironically, this was the year I probably felt the farthest from God. Not because of what was going on in the world, but because of what was going on in my world. I had plans. Really good, fun plans. God shut them all down. And although I had no choice but to surrender to His plan, I didn’t do it willingly. I fought it at every step. I complained about everything I wanted that I felt was taken from me. This was supposed to be the “biggest” year of my life and everything that made it “big” was cancelled. I kept saying, “What are the odds that this would be the year that a global pandemic struck the entire world?! Like, why THIS year?! The biggest year of MY life!” Such selfish and privileged thinking, right? I know. 

I realize now that at the beginning of the year, when I set an intention to “Make Room” what I really meant was that I was going to spend the entire year after April 25, 2020 doing so. I prioritized my wedding, and everything that wasn’t related to that got pushed to the side. Including God. Well, we all see how that turned out. God was like Don’t even trip, bruh. You don’t have time for me? I got you! I’ll move all that stuff over so you can focus on what’s really important.

And although this year wasn’t at all what I thought it would be – each time I was met with disappointment about something that I couldn’t do or that I felt was taken from me, there was also an opportunity to change my perspective and Make Room for God’s will in that moment.

• When my bachelorette party was cancelled, God made room for me to focus on preparing myself for marriage in premarital counseling instead of turning up with my friends in Puerto Rico. (Not that I couldn’t do both, but I definitely wasn’t prioritizing both.)

• When my wedding was postponed, God made room for me to separate the marriage from the wedding and focus on the most important part first. (We back in 2022 though!!)

• When my honeymoon (that we waited to the last minute to book) was cancelled, God made room for me to accrue more PTO days and save them for future trips.

• When Black Excellence Beach Weekend was cancelled, God made room for 600+ people to join us in Punta Cana in 2021 (which is almost triple the number of attendees we previously had for the 2020 trip).

• When the world shut down and all the social events we had planned for 2020 were cancelled, God made room for my husband and I to spend the most time that we’ve ever spent together in life, just us two - turns out we really like each other lol. (It was even more special that this is our first year of marriage. I truly believe this year will set the tone for many more to come.)

• When we transitioned to working from home, God made room for my husband and I to have lunch or take walks together on our breaks in between calls and meetings.

• When the doctors offices were closed, God made room for me to become really intentional about my physical and mental health. (I’ve been working with a naturopathic doctor, chiropractor/acupuncturist, and I just found a therapist!)

• When the gym and yoga studio closed, God made room for me to create an in-house exercise room, where I was able to work out virtually with my best friend who’s in Chicago.

• When all my tv shows were put on pause, God made room for me to start reading and writing again. (It’s also ironic that in previous years, I would write a post about the theme I had chosen for that year, but this year I didn’t even “make room” for that.)

• When churches closed their doors, God made room for us to stream services virtually giving many the ability to watch multiple services in different cities.

Honestly, the list could go on and I’m sure I’m missing some important stuff but the point is - even when I didn’t Make Room for God, He always did and always will Make Room for me.

A big shift for me came this year when I had a conversation with my husband that really opened my eyes. I told him that I felt like I didn’t have control over my own time. That it felt like my time was just being sucked away by all the things I had to do and I never had time to do what I wanted to do. It felt like I had so much free time, but nothing to show for it. I had a list of things that I had been waiting for some extended time at home to do, and I still felt too busy to do all the things.

He politely checked me with a simple question. He asked “What is preventing you from doing the things you say you want to do so badly?”

And I didn’t have an answer, because I knew in that moment that I was looking for anything to take the responsibility and accountability off of myself.  I was looking for SOMETHING to blame, when really the SOMEONE was me.

As I reflected more on that I was reminded of the story in the Bible where Jesus visits Mary and Martha. Luke 10:38-42 NLT says, 

38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I was prioritizing the wrong things. I felt like I had to complete things that I needed to do before I got to the things I wanted to do. But really, neither one of those things were more important than what God commanded me to do. 

Matthew 6:31-34 NLT says 

“31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

It’s crazy how when I really take the time to go to God for guidance, there’s so much clarity He provides in His Word. And every single time, when I think I have a plan or control over my life, I’m reminded that His plan is ALWAYS better. So even when the to do list is getting long, and I wake up with a million things on my mind I have to remember that if I seek Him first, and truly MAKE ROOM for him every single day, He will give me everything I need, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Happy New Year, y’all!

Feel.

This morning I went to yoga, as I always do on Saturday mornings. At the beginning of class, we are instructed to set an intention. The purpose of setting an intention is to bring your attention and focus to a quality that you would like to emulate - both on and off the mat. Today, my intention immediately came to me: Feel.

Feel every movement, every inhale, every exhale, every stretch. 

Feel all the tension, all the tightness, all the resistance, all the struggles. 

Feel the releases, the expansion, the relaxation, and the peace.

Not just physically though. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

I typically don’t take the time to just feel. As an enneagram 7, my core desire is to feel happy and content. I tend to consume myself and my life with exciting things and experiences and will do anything to escape feeling sadness and pain. I’m always thinking about what’s next, always moving on to the next thing, and always trying to find the positive in situations. 

In the moment, it feels like a strength. That I can just keep pushing forward, despite all the bad things happening around me. And although, I do believe it is. The downside is that when I actually take the time to sit and feel, the weight seems 10x as heavy because of all the stuff I’ve been avoiding. And then, I realize that I wasn’t finding joy in the hard times. I was just ignoring the hard times. That’s when I also realize that what I once saw as a strength, is probably an unhealthy pattern that I created or adopted from somewhere. I’ve been working to unpack why I do it and where it came from, but as I do so I realize that sometimes that part doesn’t even matter. What matters is that I recognize it, and decide to break the cycle. So today, I made the choice to feel and surprisingly it felt “good”. 

If you know my husband, you know that he is a pretty emotional person. Not in a bad way, though. (Who made being emotional bad, by the way?!) Anyway, I used to tell him that I envy that he can express his emotions so well, with no shame. Whether he’s happy, sad, grateful, defeated, he typically is open to sharing with whoever will listen. I’m grateful that God is using him to show me that it’s okay to feel and that I don’t have to hide those feelings. I don’t have to envy him and I don’t have to communicate myself the way he does either. We all need an outlet, whether publicly or privately, to express our emotions and to just feel. 

I’m learning that my outlet is through writing. 

So, today, I’m taking the time to feel and I’m choosing to be open and vulnerable with those feelings. I’m feeling whatever I need to feel. Feeling all the things I don’t want to feel. Sitting in those feelings as long as I need or want to. And I challenge you to do the same.

New Year, Same Me: Just Committed!

Happy New Year!!

I know y’all are probably like, where on Earth have you been?! Listen, I can explain. Actually… I don’t have a good answer that wouldn’t be an excuse. I was going to go with the whole “I didn’t have anything that added value, so I didn’t write a blog post” line or the “I’ve been traveling so much I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write” excuse, but that’s just not true. I actually have several notes on phone with blog posts that I started and just never committed to finishing. Although I have been traveling a lot, I’ve also had lots of free time that I’ve wasted. As I mentioned in my very first blog post, one of my biggest struggles is following through on things I said I was going to do. Hence the reason one of my best friends bought me a 2019 planner that says “Stay Focused” on the front. (What can I say, it’s the Gemini in me. At least I’m honest and consistent! haha)

Anyway, I won’t spend too much time dwelling on the past. 2018 has come and gone and we’re already a week and a half into the new year. I’ve had the opportunity to do A LOT of reflecting, and I want to share some of my lessons from the past year and some intentions that I’ve set for 2019.

I’ll start right where I left y’all hanging. The question that I get a lot… “Do you still get to work by 8:00am?” (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my monthly challenge for August 2018). I’ll give you a quick recap:

A few months ago I started a challenge. My goal was to increase my productivity by waking up at 5:45 am, getting to work by 8:00 am, and making sure I use my planner every single day. My success rate for the that month was about 96%, which is great in my book. (I probably average about 75% now, but 8:30 is the absolute latest.)

Here’s the issue: Waking up earlier and getting to work earlier helped with my timeliness, but it didn’t directly translate to my productivity. It didn’t really matter what time I got to work (within reason). What mattered was what I did with the time I had when I got there.

Getting to work at a certain time didn’t make me productive. Making a plan for the day didn’t make me productive either. I could get to work at 7:00 am, write out a to-do list of all the things I wanted to complete and still have an extremely unproductive day because I didn’t commit to getting the work done. The only thing that will make me productive is actually committing to being productive.

Which brings me to my next point: I had 4-5 major goals for 2018. I achieved 50% of those goals, one of which was starting this blog. I consider that my biggest achievement of 2018, along with 2018 being my most traveled year of my life. I, however, did not reach my savings goal or hair goals and I also didn’t achieve some of the things I intended to do with my career. In retrospect, I realize that although I only had 4-5 goals, they weren’t aligned, and actually conflicted in some ways.

At the beginning of the 2018, I chose Manifest as my word for the year. I wanted to “manifest” all that God had for me. I wanted to seek, understand, and live out the plan and purpose he had for my life. I set big goals for 2018 and thought it would be my year of manifestation. However, I spent less time with God and more time scrolling and lurking on social media. My year was full of traveling, celebrating 30th birthdays, weddings, and accomplishments of others, so much that I didn’t spend much time working on the things I wanted to accomplish. Don’t get me wrong, I had the time of my life in 2018 and I wouldn’t change any of it, because those experiences and memories are priceless and will definitely last a lifetime. But, I should’ve been doing that in addition to working on the goals I set for myself, not instead of. I didn’t make myself and my relationship with God as much of priority as I did my friends and family. Instead of work hard, play hard, I was playing hard and hardly working.

I realize also that I didn’t achieve all my goals because I didn’t take the time to get clear on what I was supposed to “manifest”. I wasn’t praying and aligning myself with God’s will for my life. I was trying to do things my way. I had arbitrarily set goals that were led more by a certain status rather than what God wanted me to. I wanted to “manifest” certain desires rather than focus on the calling God put on my life. I wanted more, but I wasn’t putting in the work, for the right reasons. How was I supposed to live out God’s plan and purpose for my life if I wasn’t even spending time with Him?! How was I going to accomplish anything if I hadn’t done any work?

The crazy thing is that I almost repeated the same cycle again this year. The first word I chose for 2019 was abundance. I didn’t do the “One Word that Will Change Your Life” devotional, I didn’t pray about it, and I didn’t wait to hear any confirmation from God regarding the word. The word actually came to me mid-2018, when I came across an article (on Facebook probably) about attracting and manifesting abundance into your life. It compared the difference between a “mindset of lack or scarcity” to a “mindset of growth or abundance” and explained that if you “change your mindset, you can can change your life”. I thought that if my plans for my life would “manifest” in 2018, then 2019 would be my year of abundance!

I’m not really sure which parts of the article I agreed with and which parts I didn’t. What I am sure of is the fact that I thought that I could set some intentions, say some affirmations, change my mindset and I would magically accomplish all the goals I set out for myself and welcome an “abundance” of who knows what into my life. My goals were the same goals I didn’t achieve the year before, plus a few more. The plan was the same plan. I had written my theme for the year out in my planner, searched for scriptures to align my goals with my word, and even started writing a blog post about my word for 2019. Halfway through the post, the words just stopped flowing. I realized that I was trying to convince myself (and whoever reads this) that the plan I had was a good plan that would yield different results, but I knew in my heart that I wasn’t doing anything drastically different from previous year. I was missing something, the most important thing: DOING THE ACTUAL WORK!

A few months ago, there was a post going around on Instagram that literally came for my life. It said “People romanticize their plans but dread the execution. The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding.” Whew! That is so me. I love making plans, and most people know that about me. (It’s probably the reason I actually got 2 planners for Christmas.) But, it wasn’t until I starting writing this blog post 2 days ago that I realized something really had to change.

“See the devil, he learns from your mistakes, even if you don’t. That’s how he keeps you in cycles”

- Jonathan McReynolds, “Cycles”

So my new word for 2019 will be COMMIT. It’s not a word I chose, but rather a word God revealed to me. I knew it was God because I felt like I was fighting it. My flesh really wanted to use the word abundance. It sounded so good (and I didn’t want to scratch it out in my planner)! But I felt God tugging on my spirit to be obedient and to do things His way, not my way this year. So I will COMMIT.

COMMIT to God. COMMIT to obedience. COMMIT to doing the work.

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed”

Proverbs 16:3 NLT

If at first you don't succeed...

So if you read my last blog post then you know all about my challenge for the month of August. (If not, you should read it to gain some context.)

Okay, so I’m a few days into the challenge and I already have some reflections that I’d like to share.

Storytime...

On Day 2 I went to bed at about 9:30pm and woke up around 4am and could not go back to sleep. I laid in the bed for about an hour trying to go back to sleep and of course it wasn’t until 5:15 that I started to doze off. Before I got into a deep sleep, I had a decision to make:

1. Get a few more minutes of sleep and risk falling back to sleep for hours, which would mess up my one day streak of getting up before 5:45am, or

2. Just get up now, and make good use of the time.

So I made the decision to get up around 5:20am. I did my morning devotion, scrolled on Instagram and Facebook for a little bit and then decided it was time to make moves. At this point it was about 5:45am and I contemplated what else I could do in that extra time I had that morning. Again, I had 2 options:

1. Get dressed and go to work early, or

2. Make some breakfast

Of course I chose to cook breakfast. I never get to cook breakfast on weekday mornings because I’m always rushing, so I decided to whip up some pancakes and bacon since I had time. The only issue was that I had a sink full of dishes lol. If you know me you know how much I STRONGLY DISLIKE washing dishes. So much to the point that it almost deterred me from making breakfast (don’t judge me lol). But I already had my mind set and could literally taste the pancakes and bacon in my mouth already, so I went ahead and washed the dishes I needed and loaded the dishwasher with the dishes I didn’t feel like washing.

Okay, it was finally time to cook breakfast. It took about 20 minutes (including the time to clean up and load the used dishes in the sink). I was about to sit down to eat when I looked at the clock at it was 6:55!!! Where on earth had the time gone?! I was supposed to be at work before 8:00am and at 6:55 I hadn’t showered, brushed my teeth, washed my face, nor had I eaten the wonderful breakfast that I just made for myself.

So obviously, the plans changed. I packed my breakfast to go so I could eat it at work and hopped in the shower and rushed to get dressed in like 30 minutes. It takes approximately 30 minutes to get to work so I was hoping I could still achieve my goal of getting to work by 8:00am.

Fail.

I walked into work at 8:06, frustrated, frazzled, HUNGRY, and really disappointed in myself. How on Earth did I wake up at 4am and still be late to work?! On DAY 2 of my challenge? Smh.

Well, as I was eating my breakfast, at work, I had a little time to reflect and evaluate what went wrong. Here are my observations:

1. I didn’t have a plan or routine for my morning. I was making decisions on a whim not really understanding how unrealistic I was about the “extra time” I thought I had. I needed make sure I completed all the important tasks first, before doing anything extra. It would’ve helped if I written down my plan, before executing. Moving forward I will make sure that I will set aside time to plan my day before I get out of bed, rather than waiting until I get to work.

2. I underestimated how much time it would take me to cook breakfast, get dressed, and get to work. I didn’t factor in the time it would take for me to wash dishes, to clean up, to pack my food up, and then the amount of time it actually takes for me to walk to my car from my apartment and then walk to my office once I get to work. I also underestimated how traffic could set me back. Moving forward I will include the time stamps for time-sensitive tasks to ensure I’m planning realistically and actually stay on task.

3. I was measuring the wrong thing. I was tracking an outcome metric and not a process metric. The outcome measure (Arrival time to work) is a lagging indicator, meaning it gives you results after something is complete. It only allows you to look back into the past, and makes it difficult to make the changes until after the thing you’re tracking has already happened. A process measure on the other hand is a leading indicator. It helps you to influence the future to get a favorable outcome. I’ve evaluated that it takes a maximum of about 35-40 minutes to get to work from the moment I walk out of my door. If I l’m out the house by 7:25 at the absolute latest I will be able to get to work, without rushing, and be sitting at my desk before 8:00am every day. Moving forward I will aim to leave to house by 7:20am to give myself some wiggle room (just in case I forget something or I’m having a slow morning).

Hopefully these adjustments to my plan, will help to yield more successful results. I’m learning that we can make as many plans as we want, and they may be really solid plans, but no plan is concrete. It’s not until you start working on something that you truly learn what works and what doesn’t work. It may be then that you discover, an even better way to do something. We shouldn’t let failure stop us from getting to where you want to be. Instead, that failed attempt to evaluate what needs to change and make the necessary adjustments! Trying is unlimited. In the words of Aaliyah: 

“If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.”

New Month, New Me: August 2018 Challenge

2018 has been THE BUSIEST year of my entire life. No exaggeration. From girls trips to weddings to destination birthday parties to bridal showers and bachelorette parties, family reunions and concerts, I’ve literally done it all and it’s only August. I still have so much more to do! More weddings, more bridal showers and bachelorette parties, more concerts and even a few football games. So far this year I've been to Denver, LA, Greensboro, Nashville, and Cancun, and I've gone back and forth to Chicago so much it feels like I still live there. I still have 4 more trips scheduled this year for Orlando, Las Vegas, Tuscaloosa, and San Francisco but if it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not. I’m so grateful for this life. I’m so grateful to be able to travel so much, celebrate with my friends, and spend so much time with family even though I live 4.5 hours away. I’m just exhausted! I’ve been going, going, going so much that I haven’t had the opportunity to take time for myself. So now that Summer '18 is winding down and I get at least two weekends out of the month to be in town, I want to spend some time working on getting my life together.

One of the ways I plan to do that is by going back to doing my monthly challenges. If you’ve read my first blog post, you know that every year I choose a Word of the Year to provide clarity and purpose for what I want to achieve that year. Well a few years ago, I was introduced to a planner that would help me take that one step farther. In addition to the Yearly Theme, there’s an opportunity to complete monthly challenges to focus on a habit that you'd like to create or break. I love this method, because this is what Kaizen is about: making small, gradual improvements over time to achieve lasting change. 

For the month of August, my goal is to Increase My Productivity. I’ve realized that the last few months I’ve been all over the place (literally and figuratively), getting a lot done, but not efficiently or effectively. I’m always late for everything, I frequently forget things, and I’m never really focused, and it’s because I haven’t done a good job of planning.

So, my plan of action is to focus on 3 simple things:

1. Waking up by 5:45am every weekday morning (Originally by goal was 5:30am, but I wanted to be realistic and allow time to snooze my alarm at least once lol)

2. Getting to work by 8:00 am (at the absolute latest)

3. Making sure to open my planner every single day

I chose these 3 things because I've identified them as actionable countermeasures to the reasons why I’ve had such low levels of productivity lately. (I did a 5 Why analysis to determine the root causes. More about that in a later post.)

I will be tracking my progress daily using my planner and process control boards that I’ve created. There are a few other tools and apps that I plan to use to help with times when I’m easily distracted or when I have some extra free time.

I’ve also chosen a few books to read, some podcasts to listen to, and some TedTalks and YouTube videos to watch, in order to keep myself motivated and also learn new methods and habits to increase my productivity.

It may seem like I’m doing the most, but I’ve gotten the most successful results by creating a plan, establishing a solid system to track my progress, and fully immersing myself in knowledge to truly learn, grow, and sustain.

"Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it."

- H. James Harrington

 

I'm excited about making positive progress this month! Feel free to join me on this challenge to become more productive! I'll be sharing more tips and tools throughout the month.

My mission: Add value.

When I launched my blog a few weeks ago, the feedback I received was beyond anything I ever could have imagined! I expected some people to read it, but I didn’t expect THAT MANY people. I also didn’t expect all the comments, DMs, text messages and requests to subscribe to be notified when I write a new post. So many people told me how well written the post was, how they appreciated the transparency and how they were inspired, motivated and even challenged. It made me feel so warm and fulfilled. It made me feel like I was walking in my purpose, finally doing what God called me to do. But that feeling was both a gift and a curse. As much as it made me want to continue writing, it also made me put pressure on myself to make the next post just as “successful”.

The first post came straight from my heart. It was my personal journey over the last few years. It was genuine because the intention was to share with no expectation of anything in return. As I was searching for what to write about for my second post, I noticed that it didn’t feel as genuine. It felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons, like I was too focused on if people would like it or not. Or how many comments or likes I would get. But that’s not at all what this blog is about. Or what I'm about.

So I took some time to pray and seek out what God wanted me to write about. In my reflection time, I realized that I lacked clarity on my purpose for this blog. I knew I wanted to share about continuous improvement, but what’s my goal here? What’s my intention? What’s my mission?

God put each and every one of us on this Earth for a purpose. Every person, every place, every thing has a purpose. Organizations and businesses communicate that in their mission statement. It’s what guides the people in that organization. Mission statements are designed to provide direction and clarity and to explain the organization’s reason for being. It identifies the core values and beliefs and creates the framework for the work that is being done. If organizations and businesses create mission statements, why don’t we as individuals? In everything we do, we should know the why. We should be clear on our purpose. It should bring focus to our life and guide every decision we make.

So I set out to determine what my mission statement should be and after thinking, reflecting, and praying, it came to me.

My mission is to add value.

Short and sweet. Just two words packed with so much meaning. And not just for my blog, but in life.

With every post, in every interaction, every conversation, even at every party, my goal is to add value in some way or form.

As I thought about how this mission statement would help guide me, I realized that there were already a few ways where it already applies to my life. You’ve probably never seen me sitting down at a party. Because 1. I’m a dancer and 2. I didn’t go to the party to just take up space. I went to have a good time. So in order to add value to that party and to my life and those who I went to the party with, I’m going to dance and have a good time. Also, I'm not really big on “small talk”. I can easily sit in a room with another person and not have a conversation. Some can’t deal with the awkward silence but I normally don’t engage in conversation unless I have something valuable to say. Another thing I try not to do is turn on the tv or radio when I’m not actively watching or listening. I’d much rather sit in silence, than have non value-added noise in the background. I’d rather spend those moments thinking, or reading, or listening to a podcast - doing something that adds value.

That’s what The Kaizen Lifestyle is all about. That’s what I emphasize when I teach the 5 key principles of Lean in my trainings at work: identify the value of the customer or patient and remove all of the non value-added activity (or waste) through small, incremental changes.

I aim to do the same in my blog and in life in general: Add value.

Depending on the situation or environment, the definition of value changes because value is always defined by the “customer”. Every business or organization has a “customer” that they provide a service or product to. In hospitals, the "customer" is the patient. At restaurants, the "customer" is the person choosing to dine there. At car dealerships, the "customer" is the person seeking to purchase a car. For this blog, my “customer” is the reader. My goal is to make sure that you, the reader, gain something valuable to apply to life from every single post. Whether it be motivation to make a change, a tool to help improve some aspect of your life, or just a sigh of relief to know that you aren’t alone in this adulting stuggle - if I’ve added value in any way, I’ve done my job.

With that being said, I won’t commit to a frequency of how often I will write posts, because if I don’t have anything valuable to say I’m just wasting your time as well as mine. But what I will commit to valuable, honest content. One of my life commandments is “Thou shall not force it” so instead of just writing to write, I’ll let my personal mission statement guide me. In everything I do, my goal is to add value and I challenge you to do the same.  

What is YOUR personal mission statement?

How are you adding value?

If you’re not adding value, then what ARE you doing?

Word of the Year 2018: Manifest

If you really know me, I mean really know me, You know I have dreams!!

I’m always asking my friends to pray for my dreams, but I'm never really transparent about what those dreams are because I have a tendency to change my mind and not follow through. I have so many good ideas and goals for my life, I just sometimes talk myself out things before I can actually execute.

Well this year I told myself things would be different and this is the first step.

Background Story:

At the end of 2014, I was introduced to the Word of the Year concept to replace New Years Resolutions. I completed a devotion on the Bible app called "One Word that Will Change Your Life" and it literally changed my life. Instead of setting all these New Year's Resolutions that I would probably forget about by February 1st, the idea was to develop a one word theme to provide clarity and purpose for what I wanted to achieve for the upcoming year. The intent was to take time to reflect on my life and truly seek out what God wanted me to accomplish for the year, making sure that the word would be aligned with His plan and have impact in all areas of my life: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, relational, and financial. 

In 2015, my word for the year was Moderation. I had moved back to Chicago in September of 2013 and spent the rest of that year and all of 2014 catching up on the social life that I missed out on when I was in college and living in Green Bay post-graduation. Yes, Green Bay, Wisconsin. 2014 was all about reclaiming my happiness and just living a carefree life that I truly enjoyed. I kicked it hard and started to notice some poor habits that I didn't want to continue i.e. binge watching all 10 seasons of Grey's Anatomy and baking cookies every single night of the week. I had fitness goals and career goals, amongst other things, that required me to not just come home and sit on the couch for hours after work until it was time for bed. I realized that I lacked self-control in multiple areas of my life and wanted to find some balance between turning up and adulting. It took me almost the entire year to grasp the concept of moderation (and for some of my friends to understand that I wasn't trying to kick it every night lol), but once I began to understand that there was a time for everything it helped to focus my time on things that were a little more fulfilling.

'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:' Ecclesiastes 3:1

In 2016, I chose the word Intentional. Moderation felt a little restrictive and that's probably why I struggled with it. I realized that I wanted to continue to do the things I loved to do and stop doing the things that I didn't. If I wanted to turn up with my friends all weekend that was cool as long as I was intentional about planning to do that. I had just gotten into yoga and loved the concept of setting the intention for your practice - consciously thinking about what you wanted to do and what outcome you wanted to get out of something. That was such a fulfilling year because I was so intentional about how I spent my time and who I spent it with. Although I was introduced to minimalism in 2012, it wasn't until 2016 when I truly started my minimalism journey. I got rid of so much stuff that no longer served a purpose in my life and was very intentional about what I brought into my life. I was even intentional with my prayers. I purchased a white board and began to document my prayers on my "Prayer Board". I was very specific and intentional with my requests to God and made sure to give Him thanks and praise every single time I was able to erase a prayer that He answered off the board. It also helped to spend more time with Him as there were things that stayed on my "Prayer Board" much longer than I expected. As I truly began to understand the power of intention, I slowly saw my life begin to transform.

"All things are working for my good. He's intentional, never failing" - Travis Greene, Intentional

2017 was a year of transition. I had been praying for some things to happen and was patiently (well, sometimes impatiently) waiting on God to answer my prayers. I chose Preparation as my word for the year. I was planning to move to St. Louis to be closer to my boyfriend and needed to get a new job to make that transition. I was discouraged that it was taking longer than expected and wanted to adjust my attitude. I wanted to create an attitude of expectancy and trust. I wanted to have faith that God would give me a job offer, but I also wanted to be prepared if it didn't happen when I thought it would happen, or maybe not at all. My theme song for the year was "I'm Gonna be Ready" by Yolanda Adams. In the song she says, "Prepare my mind, prepare my heart for whatever comes. I'm gone' be ready." I wanted to prepare myself for all of God's blessings, as well as the test and trials that may come my way.

'Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.' Proverbs 24:27

'Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.' 1 Peter 3:15

By mid 2017, I had moved to St. Louis, started a new job, and moved into my new apartment. My prayers had been answered. But at the end of that year, when I reviewed and reflected on the other goals I had set, I realized that there were a few things that I would put on the list year after year and never really make any progress on. I was letting fear and doubt keep me from truly achieving all the things God placed me on this Earth to achieve. So for 2018, my word for the year is Manifest. I want to pursue my passion and chase those dreams I've been asking my friends to pray for for years. I want to have it all, I want to live my best life, and this is the first step! On my 29th birthday, I'm taking the step to manifest all that God has for me on this Earth. Thanks for joining me on this journey and I'm excited to see what is to come from it!