Impact & Ease
A Few Words About Routines
ā€”
An update,
news and some
things I love
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
An update on the impact & Ease experiment
 
First name / Friend,
 
A couple weeks ago, I promised to take you along for the ride of running myself through my own new program, designed to support female impact-makers in leaving burnout, stress and a lack of inspiration behind to step into an embodiment of impact and ease. The last two weeks have been super exciting, since the first few people jumped into the beta-version of my new sessions. I was super nervous, tbh, but the feedback more than made up for it. Anyway, here's my personal update:
 
So the last two weeks I was pretty focused on all things routines and habits. And let's just start by saying: it was absolutely necessary.
 
With moving from New Zealand to Germany, not having a permanent place to stay at yet, and trying to settle into doing business and life in a somewhat new way, my habits and routines were pretty much out the window. 
 
Routines and habits do not come naturally at all to me. And they enhance my well-being, my mindset and my energy levels like nothing else.
 
I tend to be a rather stagnant person physically, which means I could basically work, eat, and chill from bed all day long. And generally, there's nothing wrong with that except I just don't feel my best, don't do my best work, and aren't the best partner/friend/coach from that place.
 
Which is why, over the years, I started to experiment with routines and habits. And I found some not-so-much talked about key factors (check out this blog post to read them) that helped me create the exact right amount of routines, structure and habits throughout my day.
 
Since I already had an idea about what kinds of routines are supportive to me, I spent the last two weeks getting back to my routines and habits. It's been a journey, that' for sure! By now though, I can report that it's all worth it and you should definitely work on finding that sweet spot that is the right amount and right kind of structure to you. ;)
 
I started this two-week journey by reflecting on the things that usually get me in the right space mentally, emotionally and physically. I then took look at how I could fit that into my day without feeling stressed about it. Here's what I came up with for me:
 
  1. After I get out of bed, I go to the bathroom and get rid of any stagnancy from the night before enjoying breakfast and coffee with my husband.
  2. Once my husband left for work, I make sure my work area is in order and not surrounded by too much chaos.
  3. To get into the right headspace, I start with mindset journaling: a page of gratitude, a page of objections/mental exploration of what my mind is making something challenging mean, and one page of rampaging (a technique by Abraham Hicks, usually done vocally, like here, but I'm currently exploring it as a written approach).
  4. Move my body to get those endorphines going and get rid of any stiffness. Usually, I choose something not longer than 15 minutes. 
  5. After taking a shower, I sit down for meditation to find that inner peace, let the mind empty, and feel any stagnant emotions.
I love that plan and felt super supported right on the first day of doing this routine again. It's almost a bit insane to feel and observe what a difference this makes to my day. I've been showing up more confidently in my work, felt more present in my relationship and felt all in all more comfortable with myself.
 
For the sake of keeping this report honest though, I also want you to know, that not all days are rainbows and butterflies. As a person with a menstrual cycle, someone who's sensitive to things like full moons and eclipses and a woman who's trying to create a new and wholesome life in still quite new surrounding, the sun didn't shine for me every day over the last two weeks.
 
When I had a bad day and still reluctantly dragged myself to do my routine, life definitely looked a tiny bit brighter afterwards  and I felt like my day got a new start. Which doesn't mean that everything was perfect and I felt happy all the time, but the difference was definitely palpable.
 
When I had a bad day and didn't do my routine, the day usually had a much harder time to get turned around. I observed myself wallowing in my feelings longer, becoming more and more reactive throughout the day and additionally feeling resentment towards myself because ā€œI didn't even manage to do my morning routineā€.
 
So my key takeaways from the last two weeks were:
  • I love my routines and habits and am beyond grateful that I'm back onto them for the most part
  • It's okay if I don't do my routines with reverence all the time and it's also okay if there are days when I don't do them at all
  • The lower the bar to actually get started, the more often I actually do my routines, e.g. looking up workouts I want to do the weekend before, having my journal right on hand in the morning, having a more or less dedicated space to meditate in etc.
If you are keen to explore what routines could do for you, I invite you to join me for a (free in May) Structure&Strategy session. During the 60 minutes we have together, we explore what it is that suits your day-to-day life, what it is that supports you the most and how we can bring the two together in the most sustainable and easy way.
 
 

 
A New blogpost: Four Steps To Establish A Sustainable Routine As A Female Impact Maker
 
Image item
 
Did you know that you can find blog articles on my website, too? I just published this deep-dive into the how-to of routines and how you can make them work for you.
 
 

 
A couple of things I loved lately:
I shared a very short Yoga Nidra practice on InsightTimer. Yoga Nidra is a rest practice that can equal up to four hours of sleep. Check it out here.
 
I've been listening to this book (it might only be available in German) lately and am loving it!
 
My new home town is totally underrated by international tourists. So if you ever come to Germany, make sure to come by and say ā€˜hiā€™. Like, the whole city looks like this.
 
I'm absolutely frothing summer weather right now. Nothing like having dinner outdoors on the balcony. I can't wait for summer vege season to be in full swing to finally make this recipe again.
 
Thank you so much for your kind messages, your feedback and for simply following along here.
Saskia
 

 
Instagram
Facebook