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Last week I reached a new threshold in my streak of daily promises to myself! 1,250 days.

(Streak= completing a minimum daily promise (MDP) of 15 minute walk + closing the fitness rings on my Apple watch)

At the 3-year mark I noted how the purpose of my walk streak was shifting a little bit.  If you want to read how it started, you can read about it here and here.  Since then, I’ve been using the time on my walks to be more mindful and present, more in the now.  That has looked like leaving my phone at home or only pulling it out to take a picture or leave myself a voice note. 

Through knowing myself better, I’m becoming more aware of when I'm holding my own self back. I’m breaking the habit of “helping” my kids’ Pokemon Go buddy and having it hijack the entire walk sometimes.  Or simply just completing the walk in name only, and not feeling restored when I’m done.

Do you know the signs-

• When things are feeling stale?

• When you feel tempted to give up because you aren't seeing results?

• When doing the self-care doesn't leave you feeling taken care of?

Overall, I’m refocusing and trying to use it as a time to be more intentional for me based on what I most need that day.  Giving myself space to step away from everything, versus seeing it as time to cram more stuff I enjoy into that space.  Quality over quantity.  I'm noticing that more often I need to use the time to step away from all those things.  So, I've been using some of my walks to go without my phone, or at least without listening to anything. 

Slowing Down

This has been a change because I counted on my walks as space to listen to all of my podcasts (on 1.5x speed of course).  When I move my body, it turns on the taps to my flow of ideas and I get an inspiration high.  (I also just learned that this is in my Human Design as well).  And I still do have ideas come through.  But as I'm working on other goals in my life, particularly around where I want to journey in this space, then I know there are times when I really need just a space for me, myself and I and let the conversation be guided from within.

When the inspiration does spill over, I like to use the time to walk and talk things out with myself.  If I do have my phone with me, maybe I’ll record what I’m saying (like I did to capture the rough draft of this journal entry). Often though, it is a case of just talking it out with myself.  It’s taking the same stream of consciousness journaling that I use in my written journaling practice and transforming it into an audio journal.  

Download my free journaling guide to try it for yourself.

No one knows that I'm talking to myself, they think I'm just on the phone.  I’m not talking loud or anything.  When someone is nearby, I pause for a moment and carry on.  I’m using it as time to work through the stories that me, myself and I are carrying and letting my voice translate those inner thoughts as a vibration I can work with.

Through reading Untethered Soul by Michael Singer and discussing each chapter with a few of my growth-minded friends has really helped me name that inner voice.  If you want to meet people who support you in your interests, check out this entry on having hobbies and making friends as an adult.

In the book, he talks about the inner voice that is your roommate.  Not the one that quietly guides you from the seat of your soul, your inner knowing and inner authority.  I’m talking about the one that always has SOMETHING to say about EVERYTHING. 

These conversations with myself on my walks are helping me learn how to notice how that inner voice shows up and get a picture of who that “person” is.  Knowing that I don't need to take direction from that voice, that they're well-meaning but they don't always see the big picture.  They're very focused on fears of the past or anxieties of the future, paralyzing me from aligned action.  Creating space to release that swirl of self-talk into the world has been helpful.  I respond to that “roommate” voice when my thoughts are infused with the magic that comes when I walk.  It is giving me a confidence boost by releasing low vibration thoughts and orient myself on the next aligned steps I can take toward my goals. 

Intentional Intensity

The flip side of this slowing down is the intention to add more intensity.  Knowing that that having a streak of doing the same thing every day, consistency, is good. But I know that in order to uplevel my frequency, my vibration, that way that I show up in the world, I need to change how I show up in the world.

Be the change you want to see in the world

My identity is needing to shift in order to rise to meet the goals within my heart.  By setting the Minimum Daily Promise to myself, it has allowed me the grace to stay consistent even on days it feels hard.  What I’ve noticed though is that I’ve been allowing for the Minimum Daily Promise (MDP) to be my ceiling rather than my floor.  Since I want to continue to streak, while giving myself room to grow, I’m adding in a layer of intensity to this segment of my streak.  I want it to be sustainable and come from a place of growth, yet nudge me to the edges of my comfort zone in a variety of ways.

Layering activities that get my blood pumping and break a sweat to work on my mental strength and tenacity will help me push my boundary of comfort.  To help me, I’m using my Heart Centered Intention Tracker to help me build this habit and keep myself accountable in a way that my Apple watch doesn’t.

Just like the Minimum Daily Promise of my walk streak, I get to decide what counts toward increasing my intensity.

The minimum threshold is closing my rings and getting an outside walk, if possible, for 15 minutes and closing them however else I can the rest of the day.  For this new layer, I’m deciding that these are the types of things that “count”.

• Outdoor run

• Indoor cycle

• Bodyweight exercises

• New ways of moving my body

• Cardio power walk

• Journaling deep dive

• Planning a way through the scary thing

• Deep meditation

The idea is to build consistency by challenging the perceived limits of my mind and body to raise the frequency of my being.  As I do that, there starts to be a multiplicative effect and I’ll start to feel more of my signature frequency (another guidepost from Human Design).  My inner being feels lit up that the things I have in my heart to see through are increasing in likelihood of seeing them to fruition.  It shifts my narrative from “I’m the type of person who…” to “I AM…”  It positively alters the way I show up in the world and deepens my experience of living a life that lights me up.

I don't know if it'll be a minimum two or three times a week or having a high, medium, low option to push the comfort zone boundaries.  With the change of season and nicer weather, I feel the pull to be outside more.  My initial list is going to look like getting in a run, doing some bodyweight exercises for a few minutes or some mental boundary pushing through journaling or a new creative practice.  Tuning into what I feel I need and will serve my journey through giving myself the breathing room in my head, breaking through a mental block or building my physical strength or endurance.  Little by little, sustainably leveling up by tapping into the season of growth the natural world around us is in right now. 

Your Turn

Using an early version of this method is what got me started on my current streak.  Feeling like I was needing to consistently work toward a goal to help me somehow be a different version of myself when I hit my original 30 days. 

What is a goal that you have on your heart?  Are you feeling like now is the time to begin your journey toward being the type of person who…?  If this sparks even a little something in you, download my free Intention Tracker.  I walk you through the steps of naming a goal that is meaningful to you and the ways you can set yourself up for success by deciding what counts within your realistic capacity.

A journey of a 1,000 miles starts with a single step.

You can’t be pushing it all day on all fronts.  But by focusing on aligned consistency over unsustainable bursts, you’ll get further in the long run.  Having a list of things that honor the rhythms your days helps you be more consistent.   Having the power to choose something from your curated list to see what works and what feels best.  From there you can fully settle into a new habit, and level up from there.

Use this practice to build consistency, and follow what's on your heart.  You know you need to do, because it's within you.  You just don't know how the full path to get there.  And this is a way to experiment with that journey.  Celebrating that every step counts, affirming for yourself that you are making progress each time you get to mark one off for the day.

You get the most out of this experience by knowing that it's not about specifically how you show up each day, within a clear line of “failure” but about having evidence that you are showing up for yourself.  It's a way of collecting the dots, because if you don't know where you need to go or the way that will get you there, then you're it's just like a shot in the dark.  When you are working with a collection of things, you can start to see where you feel the results showing up and then navigate your journey from there.

So that's where this journey has taken me at 1,250 days.

My total journey looks like thousands of miles, thousands of minutes, over so many days.  But it's not about those numbers. It's about who I am and how I'm evolving and the energetic behind what I'm doing, because it's all coming from a vibration of curiosity, growing self-knowledge and embodiment.   

Exploring onward. Because it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. There's always something over that next horizon.

So, let's keep being curious about what's there. And knowing what tools you have within you to start living a life that lights you up

Where are you feeling the inner nudge to push your boundaries, to level up?  Download the Firefly Scout Intention Tracker and start your journey and start living a life that lights you up!

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Stephanie Rose is a mom, wife, business owner and a forever student in finding ways to know herself better. She acts as guide for your own journey, sharing insights, tools and practices to help you remember your magic and live a life that lights you up. Sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.

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