january recap: what worked well

It’s February 4th, and I’m reflecting on a highly successful January 2024. I didn’t realize how much could really take place over just 31 short days until taking this time to reflect, but I’m here to share my tips and “what worked well” with you.

The beginning of any new year can be a whirlwind. My goal was to start this year off of a good start and make serious progress toward some big projects and goals (and small, daily habits) I’d put off last year while on maternity leave and then with the busyness of the holidays.

We’ll get right to it: What worked well for me in January, what I’ll continue doing in February, what I’ll change, and ways to have a highly productive month yourself.

Getting Started Right

I shared this blog post during the new year with four vision casting tools that I highly recommend you use to get started right with goal setting and vision casting. Even before January had begun, I completed my Cultivate What Matters Powersheets goal planning pages and set my “Tending List” for January, including monthly action items, weekly rhythms, and daily habits I wanted to cultivate. I also created a digital vision board for 2024 and set it as my phone lockscreen and computer background. Click here to get my tips for creating a digital vision board and a free Canva download to create your own!

My monthly goals for January involved personal wellness, growing my faith, prioritizing writing and journaling, rebranding my newsletter and website, leading myself first as a leader and business owner, saving $$, and prioritizing my marriage and relationship with RJ. I’ll talk about how I broke each of these larger goals down and what worked well this month.

Journaling Every Day

Two daily habits that worked well in January were (1) daily future self journaling (I walk you through my daily prompts on this post. See #6) and (2) growing my faith by joining a Bible Recap accountability group on YouVersion. What worked well was pairing both of these habits together in the morning, first thing.

Each day, I wake up and immediately grab my Bible and journal. I’ve also been completing the One Line a Day: 5-Year Memory Book for the past 4 years, so I grab that journal too. I read the Bible chapters from the Bible Recap (I use the YouVersion app to access this content), watch the devotional video, take notes, and complete my future self journaling prompts in my notebook. The whole process takes about 10-15 minutes, and I look forward to it every single day. In January, I read all of Genesis and Job.

In January, I also journaled the same prompts every single day. The pattern I wanted to shift (See Future Self Journaling prompts) was attempting to control the outcome(s), and my affirmation was related to “I am a sought after speaker and writer. I trust God with the outcomes.” I wrote these same prompts every single day for 31 days.

January Daily Habits

In addition to my morning Bible reading and journal prompts, I focused on daily movement and healthy nutrition (no sugar, no eating out, and no caffeine - duh). I completed a four-week exercise program through BODi called 4 Weeks for Everybody. This program included four workouts per week, 30-minutes a day. I workout from home, in my living room, typically while my 10-month-old is playing around my feet. This is what works for me in this season (and since 2018). I sprinkled in a few Peloton rides here and there.

RJ and I together completed a “No Spend January” to stay on track with our savings goals, and we completed a comprehensive review of our budget. Our goals for our “No Spend” month were no eating out, no clothing purchases, no Amazon purchases or Target trips, and overall no spending money on “extra” things. It was a lesson in intentionality and discipline. I often found myself clicking to Amazon without thinking, then I’d pause, remember our goal for the month and ultimately decide I didn’t need the purchase. It was a lesson in realizing that most of what we buy impulsively isn’t really needed.

In addition to our “No Spend” month, RJ and I set a goal of one date night a week (no spending allowed). It was fun to get creative on our date night ideas. We also launched a workbook for you in January — the Extended Couples Vision Retreat Workbook — to help your relationship grow deeper through intentional vision casting and goal setting as a couple. We’ve already heard from so many of you who are taking us up on the vision retreat challenge. We can’t wait to hear more about your retreats! RJ and I had to postpone our own vision retreat, typically scheduled every January, to February. I’ll keep you posted on that!

Lastly, I had a personal wellness goal to get outside at least 1x per week. With the unpredictable winter weather and heavy rain in Atlanta for almost a week, my outdoor time didn’t happen every week, but I noticed that when I prioritized a walk outside, my mood improved immediately. I’ll continue my goal to get outside more often in February.

Professional Goals That Worked Well

I mentioned that, professionally, I planned to rebrand my newsletter and website in January, as well as prioritize blogging and writing. I took a break most of 2023 from my writing for maternity leave and was so ready to get back into the swing of things.

I’m glad to say, with the help of my stepdaughter, I rebranded this website, the blog, and my weekly newsletter to serve you well in 2024. I have so many exciting things planned. We also updated all the links, tools, and resources here on the blog and launched my Pinterest page.

I wrote 21 new blog posts for you in January in addition to several Instagram writings, five newsletter writings (one each Friday in January), and several posts for our business blog. How did I do it? I established a weekly writing schedule, blocked my calendar, and stuck to it. Most of the time, I was able to be more productive by going to my local coffee shop. I let my team and RJ know that I wouldn’t be available, turned off notifications, and spent two hours on writing. I started January with a goal to write one blog post per day. Around mid-January, I realized this goal wasn’t the most attainable and decreased my goal. I’m excited about the 21 posts I’ve shared with you!

If you’re looking for even more resources, check out the three, free digital downloads I created in January: a digital vision board template, my nanny/babysitter’s guide, and a 30-day habit tracker, which I used to keep track of my January daily habits that I mentioned here in this post!

I’d love to create even more free downloads for you, but I think I need to hire an assistant first…LOL.

For my professional work with Atlanta Wellness Collective, we also achieved some seriously impressive goals in January. The ones that I can share with you now are: interviewing 15 applicants without posting that we are hiring (I wrote all about it + our hiring strategy here), rewriting our 58+ page Provider Manual and launching a brand new provider support website for our team, launching our 2024 Leadership Team, and booking 10 speaking engagements and podcasts for Q1 (maybe attributed to my future self journal prompts, huh?). Some of our other goals will be shared publicly in upcoming months!

January Mantras

My January Mantras, as I’m calling them, were:

God’s plans > My plans
It’s okay to grow slow!
Every day, little-by-little, small things add up.
God controls the outcomes.

My January priority was to: Get Started Right.

On January 31st, I used my Powersheets to journal a “Month In Review” and reflect on the past 31 days. I journaled gratitudes and good things, goals that are growing well, what’s not working, what I read and listened to, and my favorite memories from January.

I recognize that every month won’t be as successful or productive, and that’s okay! I’m proud to have had a successful January, and we’ll see where February leads. One thing I know: God’s in control and His plans are greater than my own.

My goal is to grow slow and move closer to Him each day. I choose to make daily decisions and prioritize small healthy habits that lead me to my future self.

I hope that by sharing this post with you, you’ll take away just one small thing you can adopt for yourself to help you live life well. If you have any questions, reach out on Instagram.

Here’s to growing slow!

Thanks for reading! Want more writings and resources?

Here are a few blog posts you might enjoy:

001. Read me if you want personal development books to dive into

002. Read me if you’re a leader in need of a pep talk

003. Read me when you’re feeling in a rush and want to slooow down

004. Join the weekly newsletter for resources, essays, and encouragement.

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to substitute professional therapeutic advice. Although I’m a mental health professional, no content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct professional advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Talk with your healthcare provider about your health concerns and before starting or stopping therapies or treatment recommendations.