Habits for Purposeful Living Challenge

Today, we’re sharing a heartfelt behind the scenes look at why we’re excited to dive into a habits for purposeful living challenge.

For the past 18 months, I feel like a huge storm cloud has been hanging over our heads.

At first, I thought it was the extra time spent recovering from Covid, Strep and an allergic reaction while being knee deep in grief over the unexpected and tragic loss of a beloved family member.

Then I thought it was the stress from being back in school.

Next, I thought it was all the delays with our house being painted which rolled into a wildly active hurricane season which brought flooding from Tropical Storm Debby and damage from Hurricane Helene which put so many of our projects on hold.

The fall season brought a significant job change thanks to a corporate buyout and takeover and a loved one needing an assisted living facility yet refusing to go which brought its own set of challenges.

Once Halloween arrived, I was hoping we’d finally get a break.

But mere weeks into November both my Mom and her sister, who is like a mother to us, started undergoing extensive testing for two completely different medical issues.

And as you can imagine, by the time we went on our family’s Christmas holiday, my nerves were frayed, and my brain was foggy from trying to keep all the balls in the air.

“All you have to do is get through this year and things will be different,” I kept telling myself while feeling uninspired, unmotivated and completely exhausted.

A Spark of Inspiration…

In January when the extensive testing turned into real results leading my Mom to have surgery, my aunt to have chemo treatments and an additional hospitalization for our loved one though, I seriously started wondering how we were ever going to find our way out of the contant chaos when inspiration struck in the most unexpected way.

“I need you to help me find something to look forward to,” my Mom said vulnerably while we were on the phone one day.

“How about a girl’s trip? I know AG can’t go too far because of her treatments but that could be fun. Also, aren’t you going to Europe with Dad again this summer? That could be something to look forward to as well,” I said trying to help.

“We’ll be finished with Loblolly soon. Maybe you can start shopping online and find a few special pieces,” I continued.

She was quiet for a few minutes and finally said, “I need something to look forward to every day and if that’s not possible every week would be ok too.”

“Oh,” I replied trying to keep my voice from cracking.

A Catalyst for Change…

As we continued our conversation, I realized this chaotic cycle of life events triggering a stressful period leading to burnout was so familiar it was starting to feel like an old friend.

Despite that, I felt certain if we learned to approached things different way or had a system in place that helped mitigate stressful periods and the risk of burnout, we could turn things around and possibly break the cycle once and for all.

I was completely lost in thought when I heard my Mom say, “I don’t mean to upset you. I just want to live as much life as I have left, and I want to feel like the best version of myself as I’m doing it.”

I’m not gonna lie the minute we hung up, I started sobbing.

Despite praying over these situations for months, they still make me so incredibly angry.

But I also knew after our conversation that I’d been charged with a special mission.

Crafting a Special Mission…

The first thing we needed to do was to create a supportive environment for all the feels and questions.

So, my sisters and I started saying, “We listen, and we don’t judge. This is a safe space,” any time someone in our pod needed to talk.

We’ve also been repeatedly telling my Mom, “Your body, your choice. We support whatever you decide,” so she feels empowered to make the decisions that are best for her without any pressure or undue influence.

Next, we needed to create an environment that felt like a respite from all of life’s demands.

So, we decided to forgo seasonal decorating to fully focus on creating sanctuary spaces within our homes.

In addition, I took a deep dive into blog posts and YouTube videos on how to live your best life.

Talk about a treasure trove of inspiration!

Prioritizing Something New…

While there were a lot of interesting things to explore, there was one concept I kept coming back to repeatedly.

And that was the idea of prioritizing intentional and empowered living.

So, I called my Mom and asked when was the last time she had made herself a priority.

“Ummmmm….it’s been a while,” she hesitated before turning it around, “What about you?”

“I truly can’t remember,” I countered honestly.

“To be fair, I don’t know if these ideas will even work,” I continued. “I mean, we already do a lot of them, and I don’t feel like ‘that girl or that woman or becoming her’ at all.”

“Yeah, but you do you do them consistently?” she said, “It sounds like that’s the key, right?”

“Well, you said you needed something to look forward to, let’s use this as an experiment and find out!” I replied.

A few days later we hatched a plan to officially try a 6-week challenge but instead of using the typical that girl or that woman trending aesthetic and ideas, we decided to take a softer approach.

An approach that combines purposeful living with intentional energy so that we can fully focus on self-improvement and healing in an empowered, authentic and sustainable way.

Simply put, for the first time in years, we’re consistently prioritizing self-compassion and healthy habits for a purpose filled life.

Purposeful Living Habits Challenge…

In addition to continuing our hydration, skincare, journaling, exercise, healthy meal and sleep hygiene goals, we’re also committing to these daily areas of focus for the next 6 weeks…

• Creating a morning power hour (no phone, tv or social media the first hour of the day)
• Setting a daily vibe and intention
• Practicing an empowered mindset
• Honoring our energy and productivity style
• 30 minutes of strength/resistance training, yoga, or pilates
• Tidying for 30 minutes a day
• 20-30 minutes of organizing or planning action items for the following day
• Prepping snacks and meals
• Reading 10 pages of a non-fiction book
• Choosing 2-3 items from our weekly purposeful living menu (ex: try something new, send cards and letters, walk on the beach, visit the museum, coffee dates with friends, gardening, etc.)

While it might seem like a lot, these things naturally already fit into our rhythms, rituals and routines.

We simply need to be more intentional about doing them consistently.

Each week, I’ll share a behind the scenes update on how things are going.

And once we’ve finished the challenge, I’ll share the tips and tricks that helped us the most in case you want to try your own challenge.

Honestly, I’m hoping these things become the catalyst for a complete lifestyle change because we greatly need something to help break the constant chaos cycle for good.

It’s time to pivot with purpose.

As always, thank you for being here and for cheering us on.

We appreciate your support more than you know and we’re excited for this new adventure,

CoCo