Hello Team, I’ve missed you! I hope everyone had a lovely summer and is settling back into the fall with ease. Personally, the transition from summer to fall is always a tough one for me. So much so that this year, I realized I needed to give myself more time with it, because after all, we’re all about finding ways to be gentler to ourselves here, right? Readjusting a deadline is a quick and easy way for me to take care of myself, and speaking of taking care of myself…

Do you guys remember my post, Pyramid Theory? In it, I talk about the little things I choose to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis that lead to being the person I want to be. Given that the screws on my proverbial self-care cart get a little loose in the summer months, at the beginning of every new season, I like to begin with the question: What do I need to prioritize in a day, a week, a month and a year to be the best version of myself?

These are the things that always seem to be on my list:

1. A consistent movement schedule
2. A clear, doable meal plan
3. Uninterrupted work time
4. A healthy sleep routine
5. Scheduled time with my husband, family, and friends (and…)
6. Mindfulness around how and when I use technology and screens

My martyr tendencies mean I often prioritize others’ needs before my own basic care. But, the good news is, my tendencies toward control and perfection mean that I’m also the type of person who will stick to a schedule once it’s in the calendar. It took me years before I realized that I just had to carve out a little bit of time to think about this ideal week and write it down. Once I took a moment to figure out what I needed and when, it became so much easier to show up for myself. 

While there are countless benefits that come from consistently taking care of myself, here are a few that I’d like to remind myself of today:

• Having a solid plan gives me enough control to feel secure, so I can more easily let go of what’s out of my hands.
• Another benefit—when I prioritize my schedule 90% of the time, those 10% deviations from the routine aren’t a big deal. For so many years, every interruption felt incredibly defeating because my cup was so empty. Now, annoyance with a schedule change is actually a warning sign for me—if I’m irate because something interrupts my day, I’m either doing too much for others or simply doing too much.
• And lastly, the best ripple effect of showing up for myself consistently—self-confidence. This one goes back to the positive side of control again. When I make time for the things that matter in my life, it feels like I’m taking responsibility for my own happiness. It’s an incredible alternative to what I was doing for eons, which was blaming other people for my unhappiness.

As I was reflecting on this 10th Season of Confessions, and 50 years of living, I realized that this time in my life is less about changing who I am, and more about remembering who I am. Can anyone relate to forgetting a lot of things these days? This season, I’m not interested in reinventing the wheel, I’m just interested in figuring out which of my screws have gotten a little loose as my cart has traveled along life’s path. It’s up to me to take the time to do that evaluation so my cart runs smoothly through all that it’s going to encounter this school year. 

How about you? Do any of your screws need tightening? Do any of your routines need a bit of maintenance?

Next week, we’re going to be chatting about finishing strong—or, at least, that’s what I thought we were going to be talking about. But maybe finishing strong isn’t the only way to finish…? More on that topic next time. Until then, thanks so much for showing up for Season Ten TeamConfessioners. I’m excited to be together another year facing all that life throws at us! Thanks so much for listening.