I love celebrating birthdays whether it’s my kids, husband, friends, or my own. I don’t know about you but there are certain times of the year when I get very reflective. The beginning & end of the year, the beginning & end of the school year, and of course my birthday. So today, we are talking about birthday reflections. 

Turning another year older brings out all the feelings and reflections. I think it’s so fun to look back and see how you’ve grown in a year, the obstacles that you have overcome, the ways that you have stepped out with bravery or confidence, and all the memories that you have made. 

I’m sharing with you 3 things I’ve learned this year. All 3 have made an impact on every area of my life.

The first thing I’ve learned in the last year is that seasons of rest are okay!

Do you struggle to rest? I’m not necessarily talking about sleep but taking a step back from certain things that you are able to do and instead focusing on family or time with friends, etc. 

I have made it a habit the past few years during the holidays to slow down when it comes to work. This used to be really hard for me. The same is at play during the summer. Every summer except the one that just finished was a little stressful for me. Instead of creating boundaries and thinking through what that would look like, I would get frustrated at my kids and lose my temper all in the name of getting 30 extra minutes of work done. 

I wanted to fully embrace summer with my kids and step back from work this year and for me, that meant not taking on new clients and batch recording all my podcast episodes before they got out of school. 

That’s what I did! I didn’t want summer to end this year because we had such a great summer with my kids, friends, traveling, etc. This reminded me that I need seasons of rest. Seasons to step back and focus on what is in front of me. It was the best and I have already told my husband that I want next summer to look the same way!

The second lesson I have learned this year is accountability in your health is the key to your success!

Accountability is something I’m continuing to learn about to find what works best for me with the season I’m in. Even as a health coach, this is still a choice I have to make. 

It wasn’t until this January that I had consistent accountability for my own health. I reached out to one of my best friends who I knew would keep me in check and we have touched base pretty much every day since January about our nutrition, workouts, steps, water, and sleep.

It hasn’t been perfect but it has helped me so much. Knowing that someone else cares about my goals and health as much as I do is such a gift!

Sometimes you learn things but then you re-learn them in different seasons and what seems to work for you. If you are reading this and you have health goals, not just talking about losing weight, but overall health no matter what your goals are, find accountability!

The last thing I have learned this year is that communication with Nathan and my kids is so important and crucial.

I used to stuff how I felt. I would keep it inside to myself and not let anyone know how I was feeling. This year, I learned to open up more and communicate how I felt. This has been especially helpful with feeling overwhelmed and communicating with Nathan. He can’t read my mind and expressing my feelings during overwhelm has been so helpful. 

Not only that but honest conversations with our kids about age different topics. This has been huge in both helping us bond and also being able to have conversations based on their ages. Communication with my kids has built so much trust and I’m so grateful for that.

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