Hello my dear listener! Welcome to the brand-new episode of Morning Cup of Sunshine Podcast. First of all, wish you a very happy new year. Hope this year brings you all the joy in the world, lots of love, laughter and good health. Do you remember I made an episode all about Vision boards last year? I also made a Vision board last year. Guess what? I did make the one for this year too. But do you know what is the biggest difference in my two vision boards? Last year, my vision board was full, extra full of all the new and exciting things that I wanted to work upon. I created the Vision board for the first time in the year 2021. But this year, I am a little more seasoned and I know a little more about the way I want to feel and live this year. This year my vision board is not filled with a lot of goals and dreams. It is much simpler. It focuses more on simplicity than rushing through life. Because the biggest lesson that I learnt from 2021 is the importance of intentional living. The simplicity of life is much more beautiful than the pace of life. I feel much more centered and happier when I am not running throughout my day. It is hard, it is very hard for a person like me, who has a million things to do in a day and just does not have that reset button, but I am trying my very best to be more calm, more composed, more centered and much more grounded in my roots. So, you must have guessed, the word of the year 2022 for me is Simplify. Last year, the word that I chose was Believe. I wanted to believe that I could create a podcast from the ground up. I wanted to believe that I can create and nurture beautiful relationships. I wanted to believe that I can work on my fitness journey with grace and grit. I wanted to believe that I can spend more time honing my writing skills. It was a beautiful year, my belief in good, my belief in my own abilities definitely helped me achieve most of the goals that I put on my Vision boards. When I took a break from podcasting, I got many emails, calls and even so many of my friends personally asked when am I coming back and I think that was the biggest moment for me. I was able to build relationships with this podcast. My only intention to create this podcast is to brighten your day with some good motivation and help you create the best version of yourself. I believed that I could do this and you proved me right with your numerous messages and emails. The word Believe really helped me move forward when I was in doubt. This year, I want to take it one step forward. I do still want to believe in the big dreams, bold goals but with more intentional thoughts, with a more simplified approach, with more compassion, in all with much more simplicity. That’s the reason the word for 2022 is Simplify for me.
Now what does this mean?
This year I want to focus on simplifying my routines, my habits, and my home, my wardrobe, my schedule, my possessions, my rhythms, my online spaces to reduce that mile long to-do list. I would rather focus on what matters the most. I want to simplify my daily routine so that at the end of the day I don’t feel burned out. I want to simplify my surroundings. I don’t want to be a mom who is always running around, stressed out, doing things that take most of my time, I would rather spend intentional time with kids, soaking in their laughter, those extra cuddles. I don’t want to overcomplicate my routine by running behind perfection. I don’t want to go that long extra mile to make my home perfect for guests, I would rather want my doors open for friends and family to simply enjoy each other’s company. Simplifying my thoughts, decluttering my mind is what I want to focus on rather than feeling my mind with the burden of perfection, stress of too many things. I want the clarity of thoughts; I want to enjoy simple things in life and hence the word Simplify
How to Achieve it?
You know me very well; I don’t just throw the terms without any concrete action plan. I believe in the power of actionable thoughts. Mere ideas cannot simplify my life, I need to take simple concrete action to simplify my daily routine. The biggest thing that anybody needs to do if they want to simplify their life is to focus on one thing at a time.
Focus
When new year rolls around, everybody is on their super best motivated game. You make a list of new year resolutions. You add everything that you wanted to achieve in that list. You think as if turning a leaf of your new life is going to be as easy as turning a page in the calendar. But the week into January, you already saw yourself slowing down, slowly getting down from that high horse of motivation. But does that mean, you would no longer set the new year resolutions? Yes, you should absolutely do it, I believe in them but what I have learned over the years is that resolutions need to be set with more intentions and with concrete plans. You fail because you do not have a concrete plan. Same thing goes for my word of the year. I won’t be able to simplify my life if I don’t have a concrete plan and correct intentions. So, to simplify my life, I have decided to focus on one thing at a time. Around Diwali, I was working on way too many projects, I had some exciting opportunities for podcasting, I was preparing for one of the exams, I wanted to go all out for my workout routine and what it did to me was making me completely burnt out. I was not able to do anything properly. So now I learned my lesson. You can do everything in life, but you cannot do it at the same time. That is the key to simplify your life. Yes, there are going to be times when you have too many things and too little time. But even in those situations, your focus should be on one single thing and the rest of the things on your plate should only be treated as just chores or even habits. So, let’s say you are starting a new business and you are occupied in building that business from the ground up, but you also want to lose some weight. Naturally, you want to focus on your weight loss journey, but it is very hard to work out consistently, meal prep, follow a regime. So, I would suggest focusing on your dream. Your dream is to start that business so give your complete focus to your dream. But that does not mean you cannot workout. Don’t be fixated on following a certain weight loss regime in this season of life, rather incorporate exercise in your daily routine as a habit. Make it a part of your daily routine, maybe take all your calls while walking in your workplace, maybe just do some quick workout first thing in the morning. Don’t focus your energy on achieving both things at the same time, focus on one and make another as part of your routine. Tiny habits are the best example in this situation. I have an entire episode about tiny habits coming very soon. So, we will talk about it in that episode.
Declutter
Simplifying every aspect of your life brings you peace of mind and I think it starts with simplifying your surroundings. This year, I want to focus more on experiences than possessions. I have plans to declutter my home and get rid of all the fluffs and extras to simplify my daily schedule. If there is a space for everything and everything is in its space, it makes life much simpler. I am going to declutter my digital space as well but more about that in upcoming episode.
Breathe and Enjoy
If you are always tired, if you are constantly running from one thing to another, completing one thing and moving on to the next thing without even stopping for a minute to breathe, to soak in the glory of what you have accomplished then you will always feel there is something more, something missing. You will always feel the void, you will never be able to enjoy your own success. Simplicity comes from the sense of calmness. It comes from the sense of contentment. You can achieve simplicity only when you actually spend time breathing and enjoy the beautiful life that you have created around you. If you keep focusing on the huge clutter in your living room, all those couch pillows thrown on ground, all those cozy, beautiful blanket thrown down, covering your entire floor, you will never see those tiny minds playing fort under those piles of pillows and blankets, you will never hear their giggles, you will never be able to be part of those silly games that these tiny minds are playing. These are simple joys of life. Simple moments, simple joys of life are what make your life worthwhile. These moments, these memories make your life beautiful and simple. You will realize that you are a happier, healthier person when things are simple and slow, when your heart and soul and brain have the white space necessary to breathe.
I just want to remember that it is not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes us happy. This year, I want to focus on building my day around the things that I truly enjoy, that matter the most. It is the goal to have a simple but significant life. Hence the word for the year 2022 is “Simplify” for me. Now, it's your turn my friend, I am eager to hear your word of the year. Let’s have a hearty conversation here.