2025 The year of Less and Rest
The Year of Less and Rest
2025 didn’t start how 2024 me planned.
In early November/December of 2024, My vision boards were coming together, plans set for growing the companies, and more were on the docket, but….
We were immediately struck with the stomach bug for the last two weeks of the year. My kitchen was overrun with dishes and medicine; my car was messy; we had to change our travel plans due to illnesses in our household last minute, and my internal world felt entirely off-kilter.
Immediately, my old self popped up saying things like:
· How will we handle this and keep up with everything at work?
· Why does this always happen to us?
· People are relying on you; keep it together!
· What do you mean by the babysitter being sick? It’s our fault. She is gonna hate us!
I am already in charge of a research department at a consulting firm, own my own business, and am enrolled in a PhD program. Oh, and oh, right… I'm a mom and wife. Let’s be honest: Those last two things are enough to throw your nervous system into disarray, depending on the day and what is occurring in your packed schedule without all those other items.
Shout out to all my full-time stay-at-home moms; you are incredible. God blessed you with the patience of 1,000 monks.
With all that in mind….I felt so overwhelmed in the last week of 2024.
So what did I do?
Honestly, I spiraled at first, as we all do. I took some time, pulled a bingo/chili, and said to myself:
“Have a little cry, pick myself up, and keep moving!” Thank god for that show, by the way.
My team and I have conversations around this exact occurrence all the time.
Roadblocks and speed bumps are NOT an indication we are not meant for the road of greatness; they are an indication that we are ON THE ROAD and DRIVING IT!
Even so, after a moment of reflection, I decided that this year would be different from the last 32 years of my life—not in a new year, new me kind of way, but in a New Year, more honest, kind, and less stuff kind of way.
In the most accurate way possible…. A year of less and rest.
Why you may ask?
If I am a researcher and educator in the psychology of optimal performance, why would I choose this year to slow down and rest…. That sounds so contradictory….
Well, as fellow type A individuals, we tend to adopt the methodology of ‘what more can I do to solve problems’ instead of ‘what can I do less of to do what I have more efficient or better.’
Most of us forget that rushing around and constantly adding more and more to our schedules is a big red flag indicating a dysregulated nervous system.
And from what I have taught and researched over the last decade, dysregulated nervous systems cause physical, mental, and spiritual illness in us.
If I can reduce the amount of time I have to take off due to my inability to work to the time I want to take off because I can, then yes, that means I'm doing it.
So, how am I having a Less and Rest 2025?
1. I’m dropping my marathon and HIIT training for walking, weight lifting, and yoga.
2. Decluttering our house to minimum items (this got out of control while having a toddler, so this is a request from both my husband and myself)
3. Saying no to events that drain me rather than raise me. (Boundaries practice here we come)
4. Planning more one-on-one time with my husband.
5. DROPPING MOM GUILT
6. Dropping my phone off in the ‘no touch counter’ after 8 pm.
7. Eating food that feeds my soul, not just my workout goals or my emotional neediness.
8. Communicating my need for support, Aka using the delegate button more than I’m used to. (yes this is also boundaries practice)
BUT MOST OF ALL
9. Dropping the need to be more to serve others.
Serving others is excellent; I am the absolute advocate for servant leadership. But the good old saying, you can’t pour from an empty cup, is more true now than ever.
Fill your cup so it overflows, not drains out the bottom.
