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Happy Monday!

In true Lucy fashion, it took me over three weeks to decide my words for this year. It’s not that I’m indecisive, it’s that I have to let ideas sit for a while to see how I feel about them before committing to them. Not always helpful… but it does help me feel more aligned to my actions.

And if you follow me on Instagram you’ll know it was a bit of a rocky start to my year, so I gave myself the grace to make January my ‘warm up’ rather than pressuring myself to hit the ground running. Which, to be honest, is what January should be in my opinion. We’re still in Winter (well, here in the northern hemisphere!) which is a season for resting, reflection and a slower pace.

I’ve always thought it a bit odd that we expect ourselves to do all these new things and start the year with a ‘bang’ when we’ve just had Christmas and we’re in the depths of Winter. Christmas is naturally a time when we break from our usual routines, our usual ways of eating and it can be quite a stressful period for our bodies and mental health. So it’s not exactly the best foundation for “hitting the ground running” in January.

So my new approach to the year is having January as the warm up to set foundations for the year. And I must say, I like it. I’ve been softly setting my intentions rather than rushing into action, getting into a rhythm with some small habit tweaks I want to make and I’ve planned out my first 3 months (no more).

My Words of 2024

Instead of traditional resolutions, I prefer setting my intentions for the year with three carefully chosen words. They’re my guiding principles for the year - a filter through which I can make my decisions.

This feels much more natural to me than goal-led resolutions. It’s more the ‘why’ and ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’ and feels more sustainable, intentional and attainable throughout each season. I then add in my habits and goals each season through the lens of my chosen words. (I’ll share more on my seasonal approach to habits soon).

SLOW

Slow is my first word for the year. It’s a gentle reminder to myself to stop rushing through life. To slow down time and savour it and embrace a more sustainable and beautiful way of living and working.

This could look like:

Spending more time just being in nature. Exercise is important, but I don’t want the only reason I’m in nature to be for exercise. I want to have more slow, calm and soul-nourishing time in nature too with no intent other than to connect to the outdoors.
Incremental and intentional 1% habit changes rather than trying lots of new things at once.
Setting up my business in a way that feels manageable and at a pace that feels sustainable right from the beginning. Otherwise it just isn’t going to work. So prioritising slow and steady, intentional effort instead of exhausting hustle.
Reading for pleasure: I like to read, but I mostly read non-fiction, self development books where there’s often an end goal of learning something or increasing my knowledge of a subject. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, but I want to allow myself more time for slow, fiction reading where the goal is simply to enjoy the process of reading and getting lost in a beautiful story.

JOY

In both my business and personal life, I want to follow the joy more this year.

In my business, this looks like:

Forgetting some of the ‘rules of business’ I’ve been trying to follow for a few years (and quite frankly, haven’t really served me) and instead, choosing joy as my new strategy by focusing on those things that my intuition says a big, excited “YES!” to and letting go of the things that feel like a chore. Perhaps I’m crazy. Time will tell…!

And in my personal life this looks like:

Not saving the fancy plates for special occasions (à la Monica in Friends)
Making more time for hobbies: I’ve picked my needlepoint back up and I’m absolutely loving it!
Having a mid-afternoon dance in my office (which is also our living room) with my fave playlist.
Letting go of guilt for having fun. Even when the world doesn’t feel light, you’re allowed to be happy and find joy. In fact, we need more people living with joy because it radiates out into the world, and honestly, we can’t underestimate the positive, ripple-effect of that.

NOURISH

My third word is Nourish. Since turning to nutrition and lifestyle changes in 2018 for my chronic fatigue, my health and what I consume has been my number one priority. And it makes such. a. difference.

But nourish goes beyond just what we’re eating. It’s also about how we eat. How we exercise. What we nourish our minds with. How we’re looking after our nervous system. In a nutshell, nourish suggests a more thoughtful and holistic approach to health. One that embraces all aspects of wellbeing and celebrates what truly feels good.

For me, nourish means listening to my body, leaning into intuition and honouring the natural rhythms of my cycle rather than trying to push against them.

This also looks like:

Savouring my food more, eating without distraction and being more mindful about how I eat.
Choosing exercises and workouts that feel nourishing rather than exhausting and depleting. This also aligns with my pursuit of joy ~ selecting exercises that feel fun rather than it feeling like something I ‘have’ to do.
Being selective about what I read/watch/listen to and making sure it nourishes my mind and feeds it with intention. I’ve struggled a lot with anxiety recently and this is so important for soothing my nervous system and reducing the amount of time I’m spending in the ‘fight or flight’ state.
Letting go of toxic productivity and hustle culture expectations and leaning more into soft productivity.
Leaning more into self-care: nourishing my skin with natural products and spending more time filling my cup with mini ‘spa’ moments at home - something I haven’t been making time for recently.