I had initially wanted July to be an outwardly and inwardly slow month. To encourage myself a little, self-care a bit more, and mostly to listen deeply within, to just rest and stop. 

But here’s the funny thing: the minute you truly, madly, deeply stop, you realise that you can almost re-start all over again. It’s like my spirit just wanted my authentic acknowledgement that I had pushed myself too hard. That all they ever wanted was for me to just sincerely let it all go from my grasp, just for that infinitesimal moment. That I’ll be feeling just fine from that. And it did. It really did, to my surprise.

How strange. 

And within a few days, I felt my shoulders lift, my pace slow, my breath come back. It wasn’t encouragement I needed. 

It was acknowledgement. 

Just plain, simple, raw recognition. I feel better already.

-———

That was the key insight from July. I could have stopped there. But there’s also some interesting developments in July, signs of an old life returning, and opportunities revealing themselves. So a recap:

??‍♀️ Health: Re-started some version of a daily micro-habits system. Started sitting meditation again. Siestas and sleeping by 1130pm. Re-started strict keto again too – after all those keto bakes and ice cream during lockdown, my belly is returning as well! Also started to walk more, climb more stairs, stealing tiny opportunities for some exercise.

? Coding: I started a new daily streak. One hour of code everyday. I’m learning Vue and Nuxt now, and Rails API and/or mongoDB after this. Easy or not, time will pass anyway. I might as well get over myself and just keep at it, so that one year later, I won’t be wishing I started. Following my energy when I feel blocked while learning coding had also been helpful. 

?‍? Productivity: Planning dedicated days to work on my range of products. Mon-Wed for learning coding and making progress on my website builder SaaS, Thu for Sweet Jam Sites, Fri for Keto List. I like it. That way I build a weekly habit to work on them and not forget or let them lapse for too long. Also finally SEO-ed Sweet Jam Sites, fixed the data analytics on Keto List, and got around to embracing marketing my own way. Starting to listen to music again while working – I always found that music softens me, and soothes the nerves. When I forget music for too long (like during the pandemic lockdown), I’m usually worse off.

✍️ Writing: Hit Day 600 of daily writing! Another milestone. 

Can do more/better:

• Fitness: Start running and working out again.
• Inspiration: Re-start reading and podcasts again.
• Money: Monthly spending review. Find ways to lower costs. Find more side gigs. 

July had been a positive glimmer of optimism after what had been a long dark winter. Here’s to an August that will top that!