Each year I try to focus on a new word to keep me focused on growing into the person I want to be. This year, I want to ‘ELEVATE’. The intention is to keeping learning, growing and improving so that the quality of life for myself and my family increases.
To ‘elevate’ one’s life doesn’t mean just buying more expensive things or going on trips, it focuses on surrounding yourself with, and incorporating, higher QUALITY items. Better food, better people, consuming better information, creating a better environment (at home and beyond). Elevating your lifestyle can have numerous positive effects on physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Here are some reasons and ways I’m focusing on elevating my life this year…
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Improved Health
There’s no point in wanting more in life if you’re unable to live it well. Continuing to focus on as much clean eating as possible (I’m terrible at eating veggies!) which also means sticking with organic produce and dairy for the kids, moving my body every day, meditating and good quality supplements for targeted issues.
Cooking more homemade meals is top on my list for creating better health for my family. Not ordering out as much allows us to know the quality and freshness of our food, avoid unhealthy oils and save money for other things. The goal is to make at least dinner an elevated experience, complete with candlelight, soft music and linen napkins.
In addition to physical health, mental health is incredibly important. Taking supplements that support brain health, avoiding brain-damaging things as much as possible, like alcohol, feeding yourself positive words and visuals, letting go of negative thoughts and practicing mindfulness are some of the best things we can do for our mental health.
I have been cutting back on the number of supplements we take as a family and just rotating through some as needed for stress or illness. However, a few daily ones I take are ARMRA (the kids also take ARMRA every other day). I have found ARMRA colostrum to be so much more beneficial than collagen for healing my gut. I truly can tolerate so many more foods without bloating or upset stomach.
I also take Earthley Wellness Lunamore and Natural Balance, and Pendulum’s Metabolic Daily and Akkermansia. These have helped get my fasting blood sugar from mid-high 90s down to the low 80s. For those who have a history of insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes (TD2) in the family, it’s imperative to get your sugar under control and functioning normally. TD2 runs in my family so I am hyper-aware of the need to not let it get out of hand.
Increased Productivity
There are so many distractions in life and I am easily overwhelmed and distracted at times. Being able to elevate one’s life really starts at being able to function efficiently and stay focused on the big picture.
Places I am looking to spend less time in (or on) are: mindless scrolling on social media, constantly cleaning, running around for errands, solid routines, repeating unnecessary steps in work.
How does this get achieved? Putting timers on my phone to kick me off social media, turning off notifications, reducing the amount of clutter we have and organizing the rest, making a list and plan on how to get as much accomplished in one errand run and utilizing small conveniences more (like Instacart and online food ordering from Thrive), and finally, using as much automated assistance as possible for business.
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Productivity also depends on being (and staying) organized. I operate at my best when things are clean, organized and uncluttered. Elevating basic organization with sleek looking containers also helps. Here are some items from Amazon that helps staying clean, put-together and organized look stylish.
Financial
Diving deeper into investing and savings is a huge goal for us in 2024. Just like it’s hard to elevate and sustain your life without a healthy body and mind, it’s just as hard to accomplish when you have to worry about your financial situation.
Having a solid savings built up, consistent investing into our personal Robinhood and Acorns accounts, looking for investment properties and of course, clearing debt are our biggest goals.
How are we achieving this? By making more informed financial decisions, not living in a scarcity mindset, creating and sticking to a realistic budget and focusing on our long-term goals.
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Personal Growth and Development
This year, I am committing a lot to consuming helpful information, instead of mindless (mind-numbing) content on social media. I’m not the best at reading but am working on increasing my dedication to reading information-based books.
Because it takes me awhile to make it through and entire book, I have been using the Headway app which provides summaries of some of the most popular books on the market. It’s been great for me when driving or taking walks and provides a nice alternative to podcasts.
One of the best ways to elevate your lifestyle in to consume quality information that allows you to acquire a new skill, gain more knowledge on a subject or for general self-improvement.
Stronger Relationships
One of the best ways to elevate your life is to surround yourself with quality people. People who support you, think both the same and differently from you (same values but challenging ideas and dissenting opinions) and people you aspire to be like.
I’m also focusing on creating more memorable experiences with my family. More trips, more family game nights, more family time in general that involves fun and laughing.
Surrounding myself with equally motivated women entrepreneurs is how I plan on expanding my business mindset this year. My best friend and I have created Co., a network of women business owners and entrepreneurs. I can’t wait for this networking group to grow into big things!
Follow us on IG @meet_co
Personal Style
Elevating my personal style in one area in which I plan to “feel” and “look” more like the person I want to be. By nature, I am a neutral-loving gal and lean towards clean but classic furniture and clothing cuts, natural materials and an overall “quiet” feeling to both my clothing and home.
For clothing as a mom of 2 boys, it’s pretty easy to just throw on a sweatshirt and leggings or ripped jeans, but it doesn’t make me feel put together. Growing up I was a big GAP and Polo lover (with a mix of surfer vibe…growing up on the beach will do that!) and I want to get back to that “preppy” feeling.
When investing in pieces to elevate my personal clothing style, I look to focusing on purchasing classic, quality shoes and accessories. These are things that will not necessarily go out of style, things you won’t out grow (from either weight gain or weight loss) and items that can take a basic jeans, t-shirt and blazer to a whole new level of sophistication.
I will also purchase quality staple pieces of clothing, like a good pair of jeans, a well fitted jacket and quality sweaters.
Here are some of my favorite classic, quality staples.
Overall Mindset and Habits
Overcoming a limited mindset is one of the biggest obstacles to elevating one’s lifestyle. self-limiting beliefs and hurtful habits are often the only things standing in the way of personal greatness. Once we stop blaming others for our unhappiness or lot in life, we see how much power we have to control it, rather than giving others the power to take it away.
Ultimately, elevating one’s lifestyle is a personal journey that involves making intentional choices to improve different aspects of life. It’s about finding a balance that aligns with individual values and goals, leading to a more fulfilling and satisfying existence.
Do you have a word for this year? What are some ways you plan on elevating your life?
