Plan & Reflect Ep. 6

In this episode, I’m sharing my favorite monthly reset rituals—from setting goals to small, intentional acts of kindness. I recorded part of this at the lake, so it’s a little impromptu, but totally in the spirit of going with the flow. Mentioning habits that keep me grounded, help me reflect, and get me excited for what’s ahead. I briefly discuss The Life Cycles book which has easily become something I thoroughly enjoy. 

Transcript

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Hi, I'm Emily Johnson, and you're listening to Comfortably Uncomfortable, a podcast about discovering the beauty, the benefits, and the unexpected breakthroughs that come from stepping outside of our comfort zones. This isn't about having it all figured out, but rather showing vulnerability through personal stories and everyday situations that challenge us to grow. If you're on a journey of self-discovery and growth, you're in the right place. Stay tuned, and together we can get comfortably uncomfortable. been spending a lot of time at the lake lately i've been out here every single day and i just love it um but i'll probably end up finishing this recording when i get home because i did not bring any of the things that i really wanted to discuss in today's episode which is pretty much what i love about the first and the last of the month i think it's just such a nice time to plan and reflect because I think that if you can be aware of everything you did and didn't do last month, it just helps you figure out what needs to be done next month. So it's a good time for me to just kind of sit with myself and figure out the things I want to do. But yeah, I thought it would be a fun episode to talk about my little routine around this time because I really think it does help set the tone for what I want to accomplish with my daily goals and overall goal. So I just do little things to help lead me to success. I don't have my habit tracker in front of me and I should have probably already figured out what I wanted to do next month, but I'll wing it. I'll say that there's a few things I always have on my tracker, and that is my Better Every Day journal, which is a journal that gives you a sentence, a question to answer, like not a full-on prompt, like you could literally answer these questions yes or no, or you go in-depth, you get out of it what you give. But I love that. And then gratitude, I love to just, have a grateful heart like I love to just start the day or even just throughout the day just remind myself every little thing I'm grateful for even in like a moment of feeling like what the fuck I hate it here like be like oh but I'm still grateful for you know just kind of changing my mindset because that's been something that I've done regularly for quite some time but I just am now more so just very intentional about it then what else another non-negotiable Meditating. Meditating has been something that I, even if I don't do it every single day, which I am pretty good at keeping up with it regularly, but I just like to have it on there just to ensure that I try to spend time throughout the month because it's a nice reminder of how good I feel when I do stop to just chill and do my own thing. And then I think those are the ones that I always have. And I won't go through all of what I do, but just kind of like the main ones I want to focus on this month. Not any like the flossing or elevating my feet this is something different like I I love to be a good person like I just think that's I don't know people overcomplicate it but it's one of the easiest things to do just to kind of treat anybody the way you want to be treated but I want to be intentional this month about just like doing an act of kindness and I feel like I am pretty good about you know trying to make someone's day whether it's like a friend or you know a stranger but I want to like really be intentional about it this month and try to do you know something every day that is just an act of kindness and maybe if you guys are interested i can start like a little episode of all the things that i did that month these are just ideas but yeah i think that aside from what I do with my habit tracker. Um, I also read this book that one of my girlfriends, Jordan, got me and I tell her all the time that it's literally, um, top three, like one of my favorite gifts ever because it's just so useful and I really find enjoyment in it. And I read, um, I read it the last in the first, um, day of the month and it's not like a full-on book. It's really just, um, basically, okay, so the Life Cycles book, and if you're into the numbers like I am like numerology and that kind of fun interesting stuff then this book is honestly something that you would probably really enjoy because it basically just like analyzes how your birthday creates personal cycles that influence your life like it in all regards you know to emotions relationships career identity um but I don't know you basically just like figure out your life cycle by doing math with your birthday and it kind of just helps you navigate like what to expect from the month I don't know if that sounds right how I'm explaining it but it's just it's very interesting like it really is but I like to read the month that I just went through to see how the book lines up with how you know my month actually went and then I love to read the upcoming month because it's you know gives you a good idea of what to expect she gave that book to me when I moved here. Oh, wow. So yeah, she gave that book to me when I moved here. And this has been part of my routine every month with it since I've had it because it's just that phenomenal. I love it. I think it just gets you, you know, maybe hype about how you can, you know, come closer to reaching your goals and whatnot. But yeah, I'll probably have to finish the rest of this episode at home because it's just getting a little... different out here right now thank you have a good one oh wow perfect timing to show you what i meant that was funny how that ended but it did start to get weird um this man came up to me and asked if he could take my picture and i was kind of thrown off by that but i think he was already like videotaping me i think he was like on facetime and i already recording me just by the way he had his phone. I don't know, it got weird. I honestly should have kept recording because that was very uncomfortable. I just was not comfortably about it. That was dumb. No, that was kind of funny. But to get back to what I was talking about, I wasn't planning on recording out there, but I thought it would be good practice to kind of just go with the flow. So that was kind of cool to just see how that sounded. But, oh, also after, you know, listening to a lot of these episodes back, I realized some things I need to work on. I need to expand my vocabulary when it comes to cool. So I actually looked up synonyms for that. So if you hear me drop a word like remarkable or lit or fire or dope, just know that I'm substituting it for my typical phrase cool. Or at least I'm going to try to. But I wanted to touch back on kindness and being a good person because I came across a quote that I had written down about... Compassion is the shortcut to joy. And the quickest way to feel better is to wish someone else well. So I don't know. I think that is just like a cool way of implementing doing something kind, thinking that it will bring more joy to you. I think it does. My friend gets so mad at me when she asks me what makes me happy. I'm like, to make other people happy. But I really do love that shit. I guess it really does bring joy. But also... something fun that I do, it's kind of like become a little game for me, if you would. Whenever I pull up to a place like a store, and I see someone loading their car, I time myself to get out of my car at the perfect time to walk by them and be like, oh, I can take that back for you, like their shopping cart. And I mean, nobody's ever like, no thanks, I got it. They're like so gracious. They're like, oh, thanks. And one time I did that, and this is when I think I turned it into something I like to do because this one woman said to me, I hope you have the best day ever and everything good comes to you for the rest of your life. And I was just like, ah, you have no idea how much I love words. And that just hit me. So I was like, hell yeah, I'm going to, Just live my life like that. But I don't know. That's just me, I guess. Also, I wanted to go back to my habits this month because now that I am back in my place, I was able to write them down and figure out what I want to do next month. And also the ones that I usually do have on regularly. I used to have working out and walking separate, but then I combined it into one and I'm like, okay, you'll have a good day. If you do one or the other, you don't have to feel obligated to do both. And honestly, I sometimes still do both and just, you know, I just kind of is a way to just be a little bit like not so aggressive with myself. Um, And then I'm on a podcast prep kick. So every day I want to just do something that brings an idea of some sort in relation to my podcast stuff. Another thing that I do all the time is affirmations. I love a good affirmation. I guess that goes back to me and words. Words and numbers, easy to please. But affirmations is a big one because I know that I'm hard on myself and it's been brought up to me and I you know I'm very aware but I'm working on it I am working on it and it's funny because I have always had like you know little things or slogans around my house that just help with me up but I've been really loving the vibe of my place lately because it's just finally like fully decorated to the way I like. And I don't know, every corner you turn, there's something that like makes me smile or just feel inspired by. So I just tend to put affirmations on my habit tracker just to like keep that in mind, what makes me feel good, like hyping myself up. But yeah. The final thing I do on the first day of the month is... setting goals that I want for the month or just like things I need to do. Like if I'm planning on going somewhere and I need to book my flight or, you know, I just make my to-do list. I just make my to-do list for the following month. And of course I add to it as the month goes on, but it's just a nice, a nice little start. Oh, and I guess I have a calendar in my room. And so I reset the calendar, you know, like a little whiteboard. I write everybody's birthday on it, right? Little random things I do. I do a lot of dog sitting funny how that whole thing started but basically one of my clients who became one of my friends lives in this building that one time I was helping her out with her dogs and as I guess the more people saw me that week they just kind of started getting my contact information and yeah I'm like that building dog walker is what I feel like but it's awesome because I mean The pay is great. And it's so close to my place. And it's such a nice place. I mean, there's literally valet parking for me to run in and let a dog out. So yeah, if you can envision the building. But yeah, so I just kind of reset my calendar, my goals, all the good things to a help me keep moving forward. But yeah, if you take away anything from this episode, I hope it's, well, maybe it's to plan and reflect. Maybe it's to inspire you to do one small act of kindness, whether it be to a friend, a stranger, or, you know, someone else, I guess. I hope you were able to connect with this episode to some degree, whether it was through laughs, aha moments, or even just a little encouragement. Any and all feedback is welcome. And as always, your time spent listening is greatly appreciated. Grateful for you all. Till next time. XOXO