2020 has been a really intense year. So much is going on and if you’re one to keep up with the news, it seems as though there’s always bad news. It’s easy to get sucked into the black hole of scrolling on social and watching timelines implode about all that’s going on. While staying in the know is important to me, it’s vital that the second half of the year is refreshed for me. It’s about being deliberate and intentional about my relationships, my mindset and business. Below are the 5 ways I plan on refreshing the second half of 2020 and how you can too. If nothing else, I hope that by the time you get to the end of this blog post, you’re encouraged.
Your Faith in God
If you don’t refresh anything else in your life during the quarantine period, be sure to refresh your faith! Getting closer to God at this time has really helped me stay positive and hopeful. For me, refreshing my faith means getting better at prayer. Last month, I finished reading “Dangerous Prayers” by Craig Groeschel. I’m learning how to become awesome and fearless at praying. No longer interested in playing it safe in my prayer life. But that’s how I’ve chosen to strengthen my faith. What could you do that would refresh your faith in God this month?
Your Relationships
During this time, I have found myself reaching out to family and friends to check on them. This is a fantastic time to strengthen relationships. It can start out with text and then eventually graduate to phone or video calls. But thinking of others and letting them know that you’re thinking of them specifically during the quarantine period is a good start. And for some relationships, it doesn’t have to be anything deep – just deliberate. Just reaching out to others with a thoughtful or funny text can start a dialogue that’s beneficial to the existing relationship.
At home, I find myself focusing on one of my kids more than the others each day to get to know each of them more. Because we’re home with our spouses and children more each day, this is a great opportunity to learn their love languages more and how we can serve them. I’ve been trying to do my best to take full advantage of the time to do that.
Your Habits
If you’re like me, you’ve probably started a habit (or wanted to) and fallen off because you’re human. Because we’re at home a lot more, this is a fantastic opportunity to create or refresh habits. Whether you want to read more, workout a certain amount of times a week or even start waking up early to really dive into your side hustle – the time is now. Building habits requires discipline and commitment, which is hard. Don’t think you should master a habit overnight. Try to get better everyday, little by little. Aim to be 1% better than yesterday. (Like James Clear suggests in “Atomic Habits.”) And if you miss (which is understandable) just try your best not to miss twice. I can’t think of any other time where we’ve been forced to stay home and focus on ourselves like now. Take advantage. On the other side of this, you’ll be glad you did.
Your Goals
To be clear, if you want to use this time to rest and enjoy your family – do it. This is a great time to do so. There’s also nothing wrong with making new or refreshing your goals. These goals can be personal or professional. Things have certainly changed, so it’s an opportune time to edit your vision board. Are certain goals now further out of reach? More urgent than before? How can you change the path to your goal without totally omitting it? Should you let a certain goal go and create a new one? Schedule an hour a week to revisit your annual and monthly goals and to create tasks (and habits) to help you accomplish them.
Your Self Care
Regardless of how positive I want to be, this is a stressful time. That’s taking care of yourself is even more important than usual. Sure, you can’t go out to get a massage or a manicure at this time, but you can certainly refresh your skincare routine or elevate your home bath situation to feel taken care of. As a mom of 3, it’s hard to find uninterrupted time to pamper myself, but even if I have to do it early in the morning or at night after everyone’s asleep – taking care of myself is a must. And while it can be indulgent, self care is a discipline. It’s a habit worth creating and keeping.
What’s one thing you’re looking forward to refreshing in the next 6 months?
I love this article Mattie. I have alot to work on, but I have used this time to refresh my goals and self-care. I have pretty much squashed all of my goals during quarantine. Still working n my habits thought – whew!
Thanks so much for posting this! These tips are super helpful.
I know that I’ve fallen back into some old habits. However, I’ve created a few new ones, good ones. Balance, right?
In the next 4 months (It’s August now), I hope to learn to be more consistent in the right areas. I’m consistent in scrolling through social media, but not consistent with doing yoga to help my back, shoulders, and hips.
Therefore, I hope to identify 3 areas in my life where I lack positive consistency and change them.
Some of the things I hope to refresh are: my relationship with Christ, the way I think, my role as a wife, mother, daughter and sister, and my blog.