Habits for my Creative and Healing Soul

“How Do You Go To Bed So Early?
You Wake Up At 5am?
Why Would You Do That?”

Two strangers, now friends, asked me these questions last week…

Hey friends, welcome back to the blog. I met this amazing German chef turned health coach last night, and the conversation went on by the fireside into the wee hours of the morning (you’re talking to someone who’s in bed by 8 every night… but nothing is more precious to me than a true conversation, and this was worth it).

I’m still reveling at the conversation-

We talked about everything under the moon! Creativity, business, life lessons, god, lessons learned, adventure, pets, Tuesdays with Morrie. It was fantastic!

Something Came Out Of It That I Really Want To Share With You Today.
It Has To Do With Habits, Routine, Discipline, And Grace.

If you’ve been here a while, you know these have been kinda like my Achilles heal and something I’ve been working at in my life for a really long time.

Well, now my routines and habits are coming naturally to me! I’m up before 9am every single day (before 6 more often than not). I don’t stumble through my morning routine anymore, I flow through it more graciously than I ever could have expected- showing myself loving kindness and patience, not resisting the cold discomfort of the morning or that first movement of the day waking up my body.

I am in bed by 8pm every night, just to start the cozy heart of my evening routine. (Though really I start wrapping up the day much earlier. I aim to eat my biggest meal between noon and 3pm, something I’ve learned in The Habit’s Everyday Ayurveda program I am so deeply grateful for. I have a light dinner around 5 most nights, and by 6pm, the kitchen is closed.) By 8pm, I’m off all of my screens (aside from texting my husband sometimes. Long distance struggles) and I’m tucked into my bed with the pups asleep. I read a fantasy book and pray or meditate, and I sleep the best sleep of my life in my little RV in the forest.

Remember A Couple Weeks Ago When I Said I Was Having A Hard Time Being Happy
In My Own Dream Come True? I Don’t Have That Problem Anymore.

I finally learned how to be happy where I am- and to allow myself to feel and celebrate the dream come true. The secret was just presence. Mindfulness. Awareness of where I am in time and space. Kindness toward myself and remembering to celebrate how very far I’ve come, those small victories, and to embrace that the way that I see the world and the person I strive to be is unique in a numb world. (Not that others aren’t going down the same route too and I’m a saint, it’s not like that.)

There’s Power In Presence.
There’s A Unique Strength To Being Fully Present In Your Own Life.
And Now I Have That Strength Too.

So when people ask why I go to bed early, or how I wake up so early to write and have this little routine… It’s easy for me to answer. “Because it’s worth it.” That’s all there is to it. I’m a spiraling monster when I don’t have some routine. My routine makes the choices that are non-negotiable for the person I want to be now a seamless part of my day, they’re built into my routine so there’s no temptation to put it off or say maybe I will skip today. Instead, just like you wake up and brush your teeth, I wake up and I write. Just like you show up to work or school every day, I show up to my evening routine. It’s not something I consider skipping, it’s not even a choice because I was dedicated to building the habit.

I Let My Life Revolve Around Building These Habits For Myself Over The Course Of A Couple Weeks, And It Was Worth It.

Here’s a secret: no matter what your industry, hobby, or talent is, you’re going to feel like an impostor sometimes.

You’re going to feel like you’re not good enough, like you haven’t done enough, like you teach others so well and you know your stuff- but you just don’t do it for you.

This came up a lot in our conversation last night as the health coach smoked a cigarette- bitterly noting his relapse with the habit, and I told him all about social media and SEO and shared business tips- while admitting I don’t do a lot of my own tips for this site! I improve peoples’ online visibility, ability to be found organically through a Google search by people who will love their work, and their marketing techniques so they can grow incredible, human-centered, authentic communities and also be able to make sales to people who actually WANT to hear about the thing- rather than spamming up the internet some more.

I’m a blushing wiz at that stuff. But if you look into Lilacs and Paradise, this site I love so much and you guys- my sweet, amazing readers, I have not come close to doing it justice to be seen the way it deserves. If you look at how I’ve marketed my books, it’s a bitter shame compared to what I know how to do.

We Are ALL Really Amazing At Things And I Think As Humans Helping Others Comes So Naturally To Us,
Especially To The Creative Ones.

We create to improve the world, to share, to connect, and it’s incredible. But it’s so easy to get caught up in others and not give ourselves the same attention in our craft. We look at where we’re going and all we’ve yet to learn and who’s doing it better and how massive their audience is compared to us, and we forget to look back at where we’ve been and what we’ve transformed into something incredible in our own lives.

This is something every heart-centered entrepreneur goes though. It’s a part of the process.

And For Me?
The Solution Is Building A Habit.
It’s Action.

Because I KNOW this is nuts- for me to have these incredible skills and say I want to write and feel like we’re struggling with money, and then to NOT give my businesses both the best chance they have! To KNOW people love my specific perspective and skills and approach, and to not do it justice to get it seen by more people who really would love it. It’s a shame and logically it makes no sense. It’s a mindset thing- but I sit myself in spirals working through the mindset thing… and the truth?

“There’s nothing to it but to do it,” as my best friend tells me on the regular.

And…

“We get one life. Shoot your shot,” as my new German friend put it.

It’s time to DO it.
Do your thing. Show up.
Take your shot.

I Want To Challenge You Today To Look At Where You Really Want To Be…

AND at where you’re coming from. Take it seriously. Imagine telling someone about the past 8 months, 3 years, 11 years of your life. What’s going to stick out to them? Look at what you HAVE accomplished. Look at what you’ve even survived, pulled through, overcome. You are a rockstar and it’s time for your brain to own that, and replace the criticism with this “holy shit I’m kinda amazing” instead. And then you let that spark lead you further into action. Make more magic. We get one life. Shoot your shot.

Build it into your habits! There’s a long-term part of most every dream. For instance, I blog and email you guys on Sundays. I write in the mornings for my books. Writing is a part of my routine, always.

And then, for the stuff you do in batches or single-sessions, just outline the process and put each step ON THE CALENDAR. It’s a non-negotiable meeting you aren’t allowed to miss. You dedicate yourself to that meeting with your dreams and show up fully for it- as if someone is on the other side of it with a $1,000,000 check for you. You show up for it like that, and see what happens. (What do you have to lose?)

That last bit there isn’t just for you, it’s for me too. But I sure hope it helped! I hope that wherever you are with whatever you’re building, you give yourself credit for being amazing, and you make a little space today for it to be even easier to build that dream tomorrow.

In the simply perfect words of Isa Adney, keep going!

With love,

Jessica