My Perfect Day
And, how you can create yours!
Here we are! A new week!
I spent some time this week deconstructing my calendar. Now that I am doing more 1:1 coaching for women struggling with menopause symptoms, I needed to make some changes in my schedule + get all of that stuff set up on my Google calendar + Calendly.
As I was going through that exercise, I had an epiphany realizing how close to ‘perfect’ my schedule is.
When I say ‘perfect’ - I mean perfect for me. It’s something I’ve been working on the last several years + Wow! I’m finally getting there!
Between empty-nesting, moving, global pandemic + perimenopause, it’s been a time of deconstruction + reconstruction in all areas of life for me. The good news is - the rebuild is beautiful!
There have been times along the way when it was overwhelmingly messy, but like any remodel, you put the pieces together one at a time + eventually, it all starts to come together.
If you’re in the middle of big change or you’re just frustrated with your day-to-day life right now, this LIFT is for you!
Read on!
Welcome to The LIFT
Let me know you were here by clicking the little ❤ , leaving a comment + sharing it with your friends! If you haven’t subscribed, click the “Subscribe Now” button below for a weekly pick me up. A new issue comes out every Sunday + will be delivered right to your inbox. You can read previous issues here.
MY PERFECT DAY
Several years ago, my husband + I sat down + crafted our perfect day. It’s a great exercise. Not only did it get us clear about what really mattered for us + our values, but also helped us align our goals.
If every need was met + you could have anything you wanted, what would your perfect day actually look like?
What time would you wake up?
What would you do first thing upon waking?
What would your surroundings look like?
Where would you be living?
What would you eat for breakfast?
We both wrote out what our perfect day would look like from beginning to end + then we compared them later. Luckily, our perfect days look very much alike. That’s probably why we are still married after 32 years.
I described my perfect day as waking up for sunrise + having some quiet time to myself over a cup of coffee. Then I would have a good morning workout + shower. From there, I would work for a few hours on something I loved. It wouldn’t require that I go anywhere. Just be in front of my computer - writing or coaching or sharing information. After that, I would have a good lunch. Then, I would work another couple of hours doing research or learning something new. I would wrap up my day by spending some time on social media connecting with friends + people I admire. Then, I would make dinner + spend the evening relaxing with my husband. My schedule would allow for spontaneous meetups with my daughters + weekly lunch with my mom. I would have plenty of time outdoors + with friends.
There was more detail, but you get the gist.
After we identified our ‘perfect day’, we started to figure out ways to bring those elements into our daily life. We started moving the pieces around so that our daily schedule matched our ‘perfect day’ schedule.
I blocked out all of these elements in my calendar + then started scheduling things around those time blocks. Little by little, I have built my perfect day.
Obviously, I’m not saying every day is ‘perfect’. But, having a schedule that aligns with the kind of day that grounds me, energizes me + matches my values - well, it makes even a bad day a good one.
YOUR PERFECT DAY
Have you ever taken the time to really think through your perfect day? Where would you be? What activities would you be doing? Who would you spend it with?
Summer is the perfect time to do a little ‘constructing’. It’s a time when our regular routines are already a little off due to vacations + the days seem a bit longer. There is no better time to daydream a bit. Picture your perfect day from beginning to end.
Once you really have a clear vision, you can go into your calendar + do a little tweaking to make it match up more closely with your perfect day. Maybe you just need to swap a couple things around. Or maybe you need to add in some of the basics.
I used to be famous for skipping meals. I’d just get busy then end up eating whatever I could grab on the go. Today, breakfast, lunch + dinner are on my calendar.
As a health coach, one of the first things I do with my clients is to help them prioritize + schedule the things that help them feel good - food, exercise, sleep.
If these things aren’t crafted + scheduled into your day, when are they going to happen?
For example, we say we want to eat more healthy, but I rarely see grocery shopping, meal prep, cooking or mealtime on people’s calendars.
We say we want to be more present, but do you have time blocked out on your calendar to meditate or walk or breathe?
A lot of us feel very overwhelmed these days. That has a lot to do with the fact that we are being pulled by the nose. The world tells us how our day is going to go. We feel like we are always at the mercy of someone else. Like we have no choice. And, it’s so easy to be distracted + fill our time with things that don’t align with what we truly value + want for ourselves.
When you don’t feel like you’re in control, you feel a loss of agency over yourself. That’s when we let go of things that matter to us + eventually find ourselves on a path that doesn’t match up with anything we think we want.
If you take a little bit of time to really ask yourself what your perfect day would look like, it might be more simple than you think. And, when you add just one of those things you really want into your daily life, you will realize you can add another + another.
Your perfect day is closer than you think.
Question: If I led a free workshop on ‘Crafting your Perfect Day’, would you be interested? I’d be happy to share the framework I use + show you how to bend your schedule to match your goals.
If enough of you are interested, I’ll pull this together + get it on the calendar. I’m envisioning 45 minutes on Zoom in a small group setting. It would be a hands-on sort of workshop, not a lecture. Meaning, you will leave the workshop one step closer to your perfect day + you will know what your next step is so you can continue closing the gap.
Sometimes the hardest thing is giving ourselves time + space to actually take action on this kind of stuff. Would love to support you in this way. If you’re interested, click here to add your name to this list + I will let you know when I schedule it.
YOUR MISSION:
Take some time this week to think about what your ‘perfect day’ would look like. If work, people, money - all of that stuff - were not obstacles, how would you spend your day? Really get detailed about it.
This is also a great conversation to have with a friend. Brainstorm + design your perfect day together.
Will you try it?
IN SUMMARY:
Thanks for showing up here + reading The LIFT! I appreciate you so much! If I can be of service to you throughout the week, you know where to find me!
Learn more on my website or follow along with me on Instagram @itMayBeMenopause
See you next week?
Meanwhile - you can read thru the archives here. And, please reach out to me anytime!
Email: karen@itmaybemenopause.com
Instagram: @itmaybemenopause
Oh this is good. It's difficult fro me to imagine my perfect day. I love the ocean and the beach. I love warm and cold weather. Fresh fruit, veggies and freshly caught fish are a dream come true. Pine, I love pine, but I love palm trees too.
I work best in the morning. Optimally afternoons are for working out and socializing.
My husband and I have completely different rhythms. We both compromise and it works okay, until it doesn't. We love spending time together. But we like different things. One activity we have in common are games, cards, board, dice, etc. It's all good until I can't sit anymore and I need to move, really move around, like a bike ride, swim, or a hike. He likes sailing, walking, and biking.
Luckily we both pretty much love the same food.
We've only been married for little over two years. It's my first marriage (married at 62). I love being married. It's been really difficult for me to adjust to primarily sedentary ways. He is a long-distance truck driver so when he's home I give up a lot of "productive" time.
I do have the opportunity to get into a "routine" for 5-9 days at a time, and then back to 3-4 off routine.
My perfect day would likely be living in mid to Northern California... I don't think that's an option in this life-time. But I'm remaining optimistic. We are currently in Michigan but one never knows when serendipity or opportunity might present.
This is a great read. I'm asking my husband to sit down and work on this with him when he comes home this next time. Thank you!
Having recently retired…..I find myself a bit untethered and just hopping from one thing to another. I often miss events or forget to do something important because my calendar is disorganized. It would be wonderful if I had planned my perfect day BEFORE I retired……but it’s never too late!! I’m ready for that workshop……sign me up!