Habits for Purposeful Living Challenge: Week Three Recap

We’re sharing our habits for purposeful living challenge week 3 recap today!

Truth be told, I thought this week would be the easiest because it was centered around self-care.

When my Mom couldn’t get a facial appointment and my signature shade of auburn turned out slightly darker than I had planned, though, I knew we’d been given an opportunity to redefine self-care outside of beauty treatments and bubble baths.

After all, self-care is ultimately giving yourself what you need, when you need it.

It’s honoring your choices and owning your decisions.

Self-care is setting healthy boundaries.

It’s learning to reparent yourself.  

It’s decluttering or eliminating things from your diet, your home, and your life that no longer serve you.

Self-care is educating yourself on your mental health, physical health, wellness, finances, and your long-term goals so you can make informed decisions.

It’s putting in the hard work.

And making time to celebrate the big wins and the little wins.

It’s knowing what sparks joy and doing more of it.

Author Brianna Weist defines it this way, “Self-care should not be something we resort to because we are so absolutely exhausted that we need some reprieve from our own relentless internal pressure. True self-care is not salt baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.”  

Being honest with ourselves and others about our needs isn’t always easy, but it is a critical part of the growth journey.

 So, remember to be gentle, loving, attentive and kind to yourself.

You’re worth the investment.

Here’s a look at our Purposeful Living Habits Challenge Week Three Recap…

Week Three: Goal

The goal of the third week was simply to be more intentional about self-care. 

What Worked Well This Week?

Mom – Before this week, I looked at the daily habits as an important list of things I wanted to do.

This week, I finally see how they are all interwoven together.

Each one building on the other to lay a firm foundation and make us stronger versions of the person we’re becoming.  

CoCo – Creating white space in my calendar so I could be more flexible and attending 2 doctor’s appointments I had put off for way too long. They were scary but I’m proud of myself for following through. 

What Did Not Work Well?

Mom – My sleep pattern was extremely off this week, and I started each day feeling exhausted. It was harder to stay focused.

CoCo – Being honest about my weight loss efforts. They’re not working as well as I thought they would be. Hopefully, my doctor can provide fresh insight in the coming weeks after my labs come back.

What Surprised You Most About This Week?

Mom – I used to look at self-care as facials, bubble baths, and getting my nails done. Even though that’s part of it, I realize now that it can be so much more like reading in the rocker on the back porch, under the bottle brush tree in our backyard or at Starbucks.

It can be having afternoon tea with cookies, buying a new candle, treating myself to ice cream, taking care of my health needs, going to a movie, or taking a nap during the day.

Self-care genuinely covers all areas.

CoCo – Once you embrace the idea that self-care is so much more than beauty treatments and “treats,” it opens up a whole new world of learning how to truly take care of yourself.

**We never discuss our answers in advance because we do them on separate days, so it was wild that we had the same revelation about self-care.

What Did You Choose from the Weekly Habits Menu?

Mom – Went to the movies, found two pieces of wall art while out treasure hunting, had dinner with my sorority sisters, napped in the middle of the day, had breakfast in bed, treated myself to an ice cream cone, lost track of time because I was having such a great day, went to a doctor’s appointment, and celebrated my grandson’s birthday.

CoCo – Deep cleaned the house and worked in the yard, started a new book, tried a new recipe, bought flowers to celebrate making it through the doctor’s appointments, finished a series I’d been working on, took a nap, prioritized connecting with loved ones, celebrated national acai day and my nephew’s birthday, applied a clay mask, tried new haircare products and a new drying/styling technique for curly hair I found on YouTube.  

What We Watched This Week:

Mom – Sweet Magnolias

CoCo – Lewis Hamilton’s MasterClass. It was really inspiring!

What We Ate This Week:

Mom – I had a few sweet treats this week but overall, I’m still eating really healthy.

CoCo – We tried a hybrid meal prep planning idea which meant we ate more take out than usual and I didn’t have as many planned lunches as I usually do. Hoping we can find a happy medium before our office hours change again this summer.

 What We’re Looking Forward to Next Week:

Mom – I feel myself growing and changing and looking forward to new opportunities each day.

CoCo – Week 4 of the challenge is all about self-image.

So, I’m excited to take the lessons we’ve learned about mindset in week 2 and self-care in week 3 and combine them with week 4 which is all about identity and self-image.

It’s been really beautiful to experience so much progress since week 1 and even more since we started this habits for purposeful living journey in the first place!

As always, we hope this post has helped.

Let us know if you’re also doing the habits for purposeful living challenge too so we can cheer you on.

Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Many blessings,

CoCo