On March 21st, I attended a healthy habits webinar with Spring Health (shout out to Spring Health, Inc. for all my mental health needs). I’ve been struggling with establishing healthy habits. As most do, I started the year off with so many goals. I abandoned most of them before month 2. It’s not lost upon anyone to want to be better (whether it’s better at being good or bad is none of my business). I am going to be so real with you right now. Before the webinar ended, I completed purchases from Amazon, Footlocker, and an online swimsuit store. I’m saying this to say shopping is one of my unhealthiest habits. I don’t know how to stop.

Before we go any further, I will share with you something I wrote in November 2023. I’m not sharing it to shame myself but to help you understand where my mind was regarding my goals and where the journey of budding my healthy habits was supposed to begin. Please keep in mind that I wrote this before I knew this blog was going to actually exist (I did that a lot, by the way).

The initial transcript:

Glow up

So, there are many 6-month glow-up programs online, and none fit me. That said, I’m running a trial-and-error program of my own. My soft start will take place in December 2023. I will be focusing on the following categories:

I mentioned that I want to walk into my purpose, so my faith is where I’ll start. Since gratitude is key, I need to start showing more of it, especially to my God, who is the reason for my being. Not to jump off of the religious deep end, but the truth is trying it my way isn’t working. 

When it comes to self-care, I’m cheating myself. There’s no way to make it seem like I’m too busy or my finances are getting in the way. Nope, I’m just out here cutting corners. So that will end in 2023. Come 2024; my Sundays are no longer occupied by early report times or laziness; I am to do at least two things to revitalize my mind and soul. Once I develop it, I’ll share a list of ways to do this.

I am separating fitness from self-care. Ladies and gentlemen, IT IS NOT THE SAME. Yes, fitness is a form of self-care, but mental and physical wellness cannot be lumped together. So, I will be coming up with some workout routines, one for work days and another for off days. I will be sticking to therapy because, well, I need it (as does everyone else I come into contact with). My goal is to become physically and mentally stronger than I have ever been.

Next is finances. I believe I’ll start by doing the cash envelopes. However, this will not be for bills…it will be for saving. So I suck at not using my debit card and if I see it, I have it. The only way to control my spending urges is to leave the cash at home. I’m not going to sit here and lie about how I’m going to budget. I’m not. I’ll use one of my accounts as a “home” account and have all my bills automatically withdrawn from said account. I’m a flight attendant, which makes budgeting sort of a myth. 

Love. Well, I don’t really have a plan for that one other than being open to it when it arrives. When that happens, the only mission I have formed in this beautiful mind is to ask the hard question from the jump. I’ll probably provide a list of those when I also come up with them.

Next, we have Joy. I did not know I lacked joy until recently. This entire journey was prompted by my lack of joy. I miss listening to music, painting, float therapy, and trying things I’ve never experienced on a whim. That’s my joy, and I’m jumping into it without remorse.

Relationships are a big topic for me. As I get older, I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that not all relationships are necessary. This is not negative in any sense. We are evolving, and our relationships need to evolve as well. So, I am taking this time to foster the growing relationships as I do. Time put in and titled dynamics are no longer excuses to hold on to the relationships that no longer serve you.

My education is the most stressful of all the topics I am geared up to refresh. I am one (yes, 1) credit away from receiving my Ph.D., and I’ve been at this point for quite a while now. I cannot seem to force myself to care enough to finish. For years, I have been my own motivation, and I’m currently experiencing burnout at a very unattractive rate, if I say so myself. Along the way, I have had a few friends cheer me on. Life’s gotten a bit out of hand for everyone, so those people are either going through their own trials or nowhere to be found. Everyone around me seems to think that “You’ve got this” helps, but I must say this out loud. It doesn’t, but thanks. So, with that said, I need to dig deep and put in my big girl pants to push through or move on. I think I need to return to my “purpose of pursuit” to light that fire again. I will complete this degree…maybe.

Back to the current post…

So mostly everything I wrote still holds to be true; it’s just that my timeline seems to be a bit skewed (or screwed, if you ask me). As I disclosed in my first post, I feel that if I shared my personal goals with the world, there is a better chance I will accomplish something…right? 

I dedicated my ‘Cheers 2 Me 2024’ Pinterest board (which is public: https://pin.it/7lCOci9Ft) to my entire cause, and now I have to revamp it. I set goals for months 1-5, and for June 2024, I wrote “Mid-year Checkup” (as if I knew months 1-5 would be a shit show).  So, I am considering continuing my April and May plans and setting my unfulfilled January through March plans to restart in June. I will implement these healthy habits.

For those of you who are savvy Pinterest users, here’s the basic breakdown of the current ‘Cheers 2 Me 2024’ board:

January- Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health 

February- Self – Love, – Gratitude, and -Worth

March- Financial Fitness

April- Pray, Meditate, and Manifest 

May- It’s Just Business 

June- Mid-Year Checkup

If you see “Reboot” next to the board’s name, it means that I have introduced the reboot (Yes! Healthy Habits 2.0 will be in full effect) and that I’m showing my age. With that being said, I’m going to leave you with a promise. My next post will be a Travel Post! Hang in there; I’ll get to the good stuff.

If you missed it, check out my first post for reference: http://imjusttrippin.com/the-introduction-life-layover-and-wanderlust/

Love Life,

Janai