Happy Monday, friends.
I had a few different brainstorms for this week's letter jostling around in my Evernote, but none of them felt authentic to the week's tone. January is always one of those hard months: the grey, gloomy skies don’t assist us much as we move through a long, quiet, month. As we approach the end of the month when so many of us declare we’re changing our lives with a new year, I started to think of what it really means to set a “resolution.”
I’ve mentioned this before, but I do not make resolutions rather, I use a word of the year. This year, my word is “Continuation”, used as a baseline for how I move forward. But, when I think of a resolution, I can’t help but think that all it really is, is a tool for us to carve out time for ourselves.
“I want to lose weight”, means that you have to carve out time to meal prep, eat healthily and go to the gym.
“I want to write a book”, means that you have to carve out time to sit with your ideas and write them.
“I want to grow my personal business”, means that you have to find time to work on its’ branding.
Whatever you chose to come to a resolution with this year, nine times out of ten, it’s centered around time for yourself. Which leads me to wonder: Why do we struggle to put ourselves first?
In a recent interview with “The Toast”, a collaboration that on the surface seemed odd, but ended up being incredible, I might add, Jay Shetty talks about his new book “8 Rules of Love”, out January 31st. In the interview, he discusses with Claudia how spouses need to have similar values, but that they will always differ because values are like fingerprints. In his relationship, his wife values family over everything, and Jay values his purpose over everything. In everything that he does, he puts his purpose and himself first- knowing that prioritizing the things that bring him joy will make him a better person in the other areas of his life.
The most successful people in the world find time to live in their purpose. It doesn’t mean that they do not love their partners or families- it means that they know in order to be the person they’re meant to be, the person their people love, they have to prioritize the things that fulfill them.
What if we all remembered that we do not need the promise of a New Year’s Resolution to prioritize ourselves?
So many of us prioritize the needs of others above our own, thinking it’s an act of service. What we don’t realize is that what we’re actually doing is creating an internal monologue of subconscious resentment. We’re conditioning ourselves to not believe in ourselves when we put ourselves on the back burner. We’re telling ourselves our needs, our desires, and our dreams are less important than others when we fail to put ourselves first.
In order to find our balance and happiness, we have to be selfish with our time. In order to achieve our wildest dreams, we have to prioritize ourselves.
This week, I want to challenge you to talk to yourself in the third person more. Act as if you are your own supervisor and hold yourself accountable to the things that help you feel fulfilled. It can be as simple as putting “gym” on your calendar like a meeting or carving out ten minutes to meditate or journal. It’s not easy to switch that mindset, but as we continue to focus on our resolutions, remember that at the root of it all, what you’re truly focused on is “time”.
JOURNAL PROMPT OF THE WEEK:
If money was not a factor, I would do more _______________________
I love this question because it allows us to visualize our lives outside of the construct of our jobs. It allows us to really think about what makes us happy, and what a fulfilled life really means to us. I love to use this question as a check-in point for myself when I’m feeling wayward, or like I’m off-balance.
I’ll go first….
If money was not a factor…I would do more writing and landscape photography. In the writing landscape, I would continue writing this newsletter but expand into using my imagination more. A long-term dream of mine is to write more Children’s books. I recently pulled them all from Amazon when I noticed my “About the Author” was out of date, and have held myself back from re-submitting them. It’s certainly a subconscious block that is rooted in my past life, but I digress. I’d love to write short stories with recurring characters that challenge kids of all ages to use their imagination, not just a screen. Eventually, I’d love to create an interactive app that brings children into the worlds I create. Photography-wise, I’d love to continue focusing on Love Yourself portraits, while also using the power of my Wrangler to explore more. In an ideal scenario, I’m bringing Love Yourself clients to the quiet beaches only trucks can touch, and allowing clients to be free in a beautiful setting. All while selling Landscape prints and being able to capture the beautiful world around us.
But, that requires time, and right now- my time is dedicated to building a business/world, that runs on passive income. What I love about this answer is that I live extremely adjacent to it now. I’m almost there, I know its’ close.
As always, don’t forget to follow @leannegelishstudio on Instagram. I enjoy having my photography and writing under one Instagram umbrella. In addition, the Salt with Soul Shop has some new drops, including so many fun stickers! I’m still easing into this Etsy world, but creating just to create has been so enjoyable. Please visit it so Etsy continues to bump it up in the rankings :) Thank you for being here and we’ll see you Thursday with a little Salt.