Written by Andrea Marcellus, Author of The Way In
Practice Personal Authenticity
Getting more out of life means knowing who you are, what you like and how you excel so you can use your strengths unapologetically and to your greatest advantage. But personal authenticity isn’t just about who you are… it’s also about who you are not.
Pandemic Practice: Ask yourself: How did you spend your time? What made you feel happy? When did you feel most like yourself? Recognizing and then honoring the patterns that emerge from your daily answers will help power your life forward.
Live The Rule of Awesome
Do what is awesome… and if it’s not awesome, don’t do it. (Unless it is for your family or kids, in which case we gladly do all sorts of sacrificial anything and everything!) But when it comes to yourself, whether it is chocolate cake, new shoes, a potential new client, or a social event… if it does not make you feel fabulous, don’t do it.
Pandemic Practice
A simple practice, but a truly profound concept, this life rule is all about becoming more discerning and economical in terms of choices. Not only is it a great strategy for avoiding “what should I wear” moments, handling takeout choices while you’re trying to lose weight, and saving money by avoiding impulse shopping, it establishes a technique for making decisions with clarity and purpose. Also, and more importantly, each time you decide something is worth it, you define and solidify your own
self-worth, which levels up your life across the board.
Allow in The Extraordinary
Life is full of beauty, even during a global pandemic, that too often passes by unnoticed as we race to fulfill one task, obligation, and responsibility after another. The precious time you preserve for yourself creates space and mental bandwidth for you not only to be able to recognize opportunity, but to seize it and pursue it.
Pandemic Practice: The key is cultivating curiosity daily. By making a point to learn something new every day, even just a little thing, we keep the prefrontal cortex of our brain active, releasing dopamine and creating new synapses. Creating extra space and time allows you to slow down and receive beautiful moments, large and small, consequential, and not-so-much.