Learning to Swim

  The Art of Goal Setting I used to really struggle with goal setting & New Year’s Resolutions. Nothing ever stuck. This year, I’ve tried a different approach, and I have to say it’s made a huge difference. I have broken my year into 12 focuses (one for each month), rather than trying to focus on 12 things at once. New Year’s Day, 2023, I took myself on a coffee date with my planner and my laptop. I set in my calendar monthly & quarterly check-ins to review my bigger goals, along with weekly check-ins to review my short-term goals. It very quickly became clear that this would need to be an evolving process, so I’ve made sure not to be too strict or rigid. I’ve already learnt so much about goal setting in January that some of the initial goals I set for the year have changed in the first month! I started looking at what I want to achieve. But, I did this by looking at the habits (systems), not the goals. For example, I want to be calmer, more in control of my anxiety. That i...

 The Art of Simple Pleasures New years resolutions. They've never really worked for me. After the first week, that is. What I’ve done for 2023 is map my year out with 1 focus per month. January was a general GYST (Get Your Sh*t Together - an acronym introduced to me by my lovely friend @OhHelloSocialCo on Instagram, that’s stuck with me through the years). I worked on a few habits across the board that helped me to get my year started. February’s theme is going to be pleasure . How can I add more enjoyment, excitement and pleasure into my life? One thing I’ve noticed is how much we all appreciate a simple pleasure. Their significance is not lost on me, either. I’ve found (and heard from others) that adding more simple pleasures into your life can help boost your mood and decrease negative habits like overeating or smoking. You might be thinking, Amy, what is a simple pleasure? How many are there? How do I incorporate them into my day? Lucky for you, I’ve made the ‘Simple Pleasures ...

  The Art of Asking for Help I’ve always been an “independent woman” (a phrase I’m not too fond of due to its misogynistic undertones, but that’s a conversation for another day). I’m an older sister as well, which speaks for itself. I always just kind of did things by myself. I was attending doctors/hospital appointments and going on trips to the city on my own for years before I found out that these were some of my friends’ worst fears. Whilst I applaud myself for my ability to do things on my own and appreciate the benefit that this brings to my life, I have felt that I’ve slipped into “hyper-independence”. Whilst I seldom find this isolating, I’ve come to realise it’s not actually necessary. The more I speak to and am vulnerable with friends and family, the more I realise I actually have a lot of people in my corner (who want to support me). This started quite small. I asked my dad for a lift somewhere, or I asked if I could go see my friend when I felt myself spirallin...

The Art of A Sleep Schedule 😴 There were times at University where my sleep schedule became so poor I was basically nocturnal. Especially in the winter, this did not help my depression. I would often wake up in a panic when I realised I’d slept through all the light hours of the day (and all of my classes). I tried to remedy this a few times by staying up all night and then going to bed at a reasonable time, but I’d either fall asleep midday or be so tired that I slept from 10pm - 2pm. I also found that if I fell asleep before 10pm, I was guaranteed to wake up at 3am and not be able to fall back asleep. I realised that my body might just need a lot of rest at this time in my life. Mental illness can really take its toll and drain you of energy. Coming to terms with this allowed me to stop beating myself up for not waking up on time or for spending the majority of the week asleep. I had been putting so much pressure on myself that I was probably ending up even more tired. Once I r...

Haven’t been feeling Christmassy this year? That’s ok. Despite media portrayals of Christmas as “the most wonderful time of the year”… a lot of people often don’t feel that way. Christmas time places a lot of pressure on everyone. Real life seldom stops for Christmas, whether this be poor mental health or unfortunate circumstance. Whilst this is a time you may be surrounded by more family than the rest of the year, remember it’s not uncommon to feel lonely. Reach out to your friends and let them know if you’re feeling blue. Remember to check in on your friends this  holiday too. Enjoy what you can, and don’t feel guilty where you can’t. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays Everyone!

The Art of Doing More of What’s Good For You One of the most helpful things I've learned in this journey of mental wellness is that things don't have to be hard. A lot of the wellness community talk about meal prepping 3x7 meals a week and 12-step routines, but if you are struggling with your mental wellness/time this can be really daunting and not very practical. Here are three of my favourite hacks that have helped me do more of what’s good for me: 1. Assembly Meals: Food An assembly meal is something you can just throw together out of pre-packaged or prepared components.  My favourite example of this is a rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked rice or sweet potato and pre-cooked crispy kale. When I have the energy and the motivation to prep I will cook some rice (which lasts forever in the fridge) and I lay some kale out on a tinfoil lined baking tray (to save on washing up), massage it with some olive oil and salt and oven-cook for about 15 minutes- the same amount of ti...