Welcome to from Survive to Thrive: Week 1!I've been talking about transitioning to a new format as Real Appeal ends, and here it is! I'm going to move beyond survival mode and figure out what it takes to truly thrive in my life.
Let's review my week...
Origin Story
The inspiration for my new format comes from two people - Elena Sonnino and Gretchen Rubin.
Elena is a life coach and her "superpower is to help individuals and groups thrive with more well-being, more purpose, and more curiosity in the now" (source). Moving beyond survival mode and learning to thrive is an ongoing theme of hers. I've worked with her in the past and I'm excited about starting to work with her again as I learn to thrive in my life.
Gretchen is "a writer who relentlessly explores human nature to understand how we can make our lives better" (source). I've been inspired by much of her work, particularly The Happiness Project book, the Happier Podcast, and the Happiness Project Experience course. This past Sunday, my friend Kathryn & I got to meet Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth in person at "Happier Hour: An Evening with Gretchen and Elizabeth." I'm envisioning this journey towards thriving as my own happiness project.
Elena is a life coach and her "superpower is to help individuals and groups thrive with more well-being, more purpose, and more curiosity in the now" (source). Moving beyond survival mode and learning to thrive is an ongoing theme of hers. I've worked with her in the past and I'm excited about starting to work with her again as I learn to thrive in my life.
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| I recently reconnected with Elena at a Women's Wellness Expo |
Gretchen is "a writer who relentlessly explores human nature to understand how we can make our lives better" (source). I've been inspired by much of her work, particularly The Happiness Project book, the Happier Podcast, and the Happiness Project Experience course. This past Sunday, my friend Kathryn & I got to meet Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth in person at "Happier Hour: An Evening with Gretchen and Elizabeth." I'm envisioning this journey towards thriving as my own happiness project.
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| L to R: Gretchen, me, Kathryn, Elizabeth |
Turtle Steps
Elena helps me identify turtle steps: very small steps that I can take in the direction I'd like to move. A big factor keeping me stuck in "survival mode" is the significant amount of time I'm dedicating to work. I no longer have clear boundaries between my work life and my personal life, and I'm working many evenings and weekends. I need to create boundaries and reclaim some of my personal time.
The turtle step we identified a few weeks ago was picking one night a week and not checking my work email after finishing up for the day. I thought this would be easy to do. It was only one night. I tried for two weeks. I couldn't do it.
I still haven't done it, but I've put in the infrastructure to finally be successful this week. I've been using the mail app on my iPhone and iPad which includes both my personal and work inboxes. So every time I checked my personal email, I would also see how many unread emails were in my work inbox. Just seeing the presence of unread emails drove me to read them.
I've downloaded the Gmail and Outlook apps so I can keep my email accounts separate. Now I can look at Gmail without seeing the number of unread messages in my Outlook account. This week, I am not going to check my emails on Thursday night after I finish up for the day. I'll report back next week.
The turtle step we identified a few weeks ago was picking one night a week and not checking my work email after finishing up for the day. I thought this would be easy to do. It was only one night. I tried for two weeks. I couldn't do it.
I still haven't done it, but I've put in the infrastructure to finally be successful this week. I've been using the mail app on my iPhone and iPad which includes both my personal and work inboxes. So every time I checked my personal email, I would also see how many unread emails were in my work inbox. Just seeing the presence of unread emails drove me to read them.
I've downloaded the Gmail and Outlook apps so I can keep my email accounts separate. Now I can look at Gmail without seeing the number of unread messages in my Outlook account. This week, I am not going to check my emails on Thursday night after I finish up for the day. I'll report back next week.
Health Stats
Inspiration
Although I still have another month until the Real Appeal platform closes down, I had my final session with my regular coach, Saharra, last week. I'll have a new coach for the next few weeks, so in some ways it feels like Real Appeal is already over. In her last email to me, she said:
It has been such a pleasure to get to know you and also get to read your inspiring blog each week! I sincerely appreciate your kind words. You are on an amazing path to not only your health but inspiring others around you to take care of themselves as well. I will miss having you in class. Continue inspiring others, Kimberly! It is very apparent that inspiring others by sharing your authentic story is your calling. Take care, I wish you the very best! Yours in health, Saharra
The sentence that I highlighted above really spoke to me and made me feel happy.
Looking Ahead
I have a busy week ahead, with yet another conference and no white space on my calendar until Friday.
On Thursday evening, I'll be going to the Fall Kick-off Party for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and 5k Walk as part of the social media team. We will be introducing our 2020 Race Ambassadors; raffling off race entries, ASICS shoes, and a Garmin; choosing the color for the race shirt; and fundraising for Children's Network Miracle Hospitals through a wine pull. Come join me if you are in the DC area.
On Thursday evening, I'll be going to the Fall Kick-off Party for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and 5k Walk as part of the social media team. We will be introducing our 2020 Race Ambassadors; raffling off race entries, ASICS shoes, and a Garmin; choosing the color for the race shirt; and fundraising for Children's Network Miracle Hospitals through a wine pull. Come join me if you are in the DC area.
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| CUCB2020 Race Ambassadors Clockwise from top left: Kristen, Colleen, Brian, Jina |
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