The Case of the Sputtering Start: How to Stoke Your Inner Fire This Fall
5 years ago, I was following someone talking about using the last 90 days of the year to set themselves up for a strong start to the new year, a new decade. Maybe it’s “October Theory”, maybe it’s the awareness of the end a cycle.
To show up for yourself by doing a workout and hydrating your body well each day. A simple, straight-forward goal to aim for every day for the last 90 days of the year. One that, without knowing it at the time, hits on several facets of the Glow Map.
I had been on my personal growth journey for a couple years. My kids were 3 and 5. My business was set up and I was figuring it out with my day job.
And something about that last 90 days challenge lit something up in me.
And then immediately sputtered.
Evidence from my Apple watch tracking
You’ve likely had similar experiences. Feeling the nudge to sign up for someone’s free or paid challenge. Getting the emails, listening to the podcasts, joining the special Facebook group.
But you stumble. You sputter. And many times, you give up.
Which feeds a story about how you can never follow through on things. That you aren’t capable of lasting, transformative change. That maybe this goal is just impossible for you.
You take is as evidence of fact, versus circumstance. Proof you can’t trust your gut, versus alignment in your approach.
It was tough to be consistent about showing up for myself, making the time to get a workout in when I hadn’t been used to it.
It was a challenge to remember and have capacity for ‘one more thing’ in my day.
And it wasn’t even about doing the actual thing. There were some days I didn’t even put my Apple watch ON to track my progress.
But something about it kept tugging at me.
Curious about what desires are on your heart that will help you grow your glow?
Download the free Glow Map Mini-Course.
Heart-Aligned Action
As you build the connection with your intuitive knowing, you’ll start noticing the paths that will lead you on a journey of aligned action.
This desire just didn’t want to give up on me. No matter how much I got in my own way about it at times, something about this time felt ‘sticky’.
Because when I was honest with myself, the intuitive part of me knew that I wanted the type of change that the actions from this 90-day challenge would bring. That it was time. I was ready. And I could make it happen.
I wanted to have more time for me in my day.
I wanted to feel stronger.
I wanted to have the evidence that I was showing up for myself.
It turns out, these weren't simply wants, they are aligned with how I am designed to thrive as a human, what replenishes by glow and keeps it juicy. (More on that another time)
And guess what?
By listening to that tug in my heart, trusting in it’s timing and aligning my actions to follow, I became more consistent showing up for myself.
Heart-led motivation leads to consistent action
Motivation only gets us so far.
Wanting starts to help us name what we desire. And when it’s guided from that intrinsic knowing of what makes us glow, we tap into an energetic force that goes so much deeper than the motivation that comes only from the mind.
When our heart gets involved, we tap into the power of consistent, life sustaining energy.
A steady, predictable drum beat that we can build off of to feed into the rhythms of our days.
But it’s going to feel a bit off-kilter as we establish a new rhythm in our lives.
What I learned is that I needed to find ways to make it easier to settle into this journey of change.
First, I started by actually wearing the tool that made tracking mindless. This required making sure it was charged each night. And placed in a spot that made it simple to put on each morning.
Then I focused more attention on noticing my current movement patterns to see my daily activity levels. This helped me not feel overwhelmed by the mountain ahead of me.
I also started getting curious and playing with ways that I could squeeze in moments of movement throughout the day without needing to carve out a solid block of time in my jammed day.
I realized that when I was popping up to hit my hourly stand goal (especially at the end of a long conference call), I could shake out some of the deep eye-roll energy and stress of new to-do’s with a mini dance party. Not only did it help me with my overall goal, it boosted my mood.
As the days got shorter, I figured out ways to get my walk in during the work day. Conference calls where I was on mute anyway I took on the move. As I got comfortable breaking the norm of feeling like I had to be at my desk to be working, I started planning my calls as times to intentionally pair with my walk.
One of the ripple effects of this was inspiring the other person to get their walk in as well. Win-win.
This process of being curious and flexible helped me build a runway that led to a sustainable, consistent daily habit that has refueled my spirit and replenished my glow for nearly 5 years.
Begin with a Promise
I keep using December 1, 2019 as the day my streak started, but I need to start giving myself credit for the day that I made the promise to start showing up for myself.
However imperfectly.
To give myself grace while I figured things out.
To have time to adjust my life to this new goal.
Until it wasn't just a goal, but a lifestyle.
1,768 days later with a 60-day runway, I can say that showing up for myself through a daily walk, to close my daily rings is ingrained in my identity.
It's something I can't not do because of all the ways it makes me stronger, and saner and more myself.
It's something that makes me put on my shoes and walk out that door, no matter the rain, sleet, snow, heat or bugs.
And knowing the minimum of what is enough when my capacity is low.
It's okay to be inconsistent while you build consistency.
A shaky start doesn't mean you should stop.
And that's exactly how my free Heart Intention Tracker supports you.
It helps you build your runway toward taking consistent, aligned action to fulfill the sticky, can’t shake it, heart-inspired desire.
Questions to Ask Yourself-
How does my heart want me to use these last 91 days of the year?
What growth do I want to experience this quarter?
What can I start doing now that will make next year easier?
When has not being consistent held me back from pursuing something on my heart?
So Firefly, what is your heart pulling you toward?
(Not sure? The Glow Map Mini-Course helps to reveal that)
With 91 days left in the year, I hope that you follow the nudge to see what you can do to follow your heart.
You never know where it will take you...
Stephanie Rose is a transformation-focused mentor and strategic change guide, helping people uncover the mysteries that hold them back from living a life they love. Through energy management, intuitive insights, and practical tools like the Glow Map and Human Design, with a playful, detective-inspired approach, she empowers others to confidently pursue their dreams and create sustainable, lasting change.
Start your journey- sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.
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