The Pursuit of Living Well: A Collection of Essays on Wellbeing

Jun 12, 2023

These atomic essays were originally written as part of Ship 30 for 30 and posted on Twitter. I've copied the essay content here so it isn't just lost in the endlessness of the Twitter feed. Enjoy!

1 Tip I Would Give Anyone Who Wants To Build New Habits, Optimize Their Health or Pursue Personal Growth

Honestly this strategy can work for nearly anything you want to add to your life or even just to explore things you're just curious about.

The strategy?

30-Day Experiments 👩🏼‍🔬

30 days is the perfect container for trying new things. It's short enough that your brain won't throw up all kinds of resistance but long enough that you'll get a good idea if it's something you enjoy and/or want to continue.

I have completed more than 25 30-day experiments at this point and I don't plan to stop doing them. Not only are they a low-commitment way to test something out, but they are just the right length to gather data that can help you take the next step if you choose to.

I grouped the experiments in broad areas below, but the experiment itself I keep to 1 simple action. Here are some I've tried so far:

Fitness - yoga, weight-lifting, walking, jump rope, planks, squats, push-ups, jumping jacks, rebounder
Wellness - hydration, pro-metabolic eating, tracking macros, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, cutting out processed foods, sun exposure, bed by a certain time
Mindset & Growth - journaling, meditation, breath work, gratitude journaling, 5AM club, reading, writing (shout out to all the Shippers reading this!)
Connection - reaching out to friends/family daily, sharing gratitude out loud with another human, handwriting letters, random acts of kindness

I'm probably forgetting some, but hopefully this list will spark some inspiration for YOUR first (or next!) 30-Day Experiment.

My best advice if you plan to implement this strategy? Keep it simple.

Choose 1 action to take daily for the next 30 days. If you try to do more, not only will you muddy the results (how will you know what caused any improvements you notice?) but you'll burn yourself out pretty quickly.

Let me know in the comments if you've tried this in the past or if you're planning to try in the future.

See the original atomic essay on Twitter

A Different Take on Habits & Routines For People Who Struggle to Get Them to Stick

We all know it: habits are great and powerful. They can be the catalyst for massive personal growth.

But in order to experience personal growth you DO NOT need to adopt every single beneficial habit.

And contrary to what the internet may tell you, your life will not fall apart if you don't have the perfect morning routine.

If you're someone who has tried out lots of habits without success or has created a complicated morning routine and then struggled to actually complete it routinely, I see you. And I've been there.

Instead of trying to find more willpower to force myself to complete specific activities every day, I leaned into the discomfort and let my curiosity guide me.

Below are 3 things I found that work for me. Let this be a guide or inspiration for your own exploration into what works for you. I will never claim that my way is the right way. I'm here to encourage you to find YOUR way.

🛠 Build a Toolbox of Beneficial Behaviors. Think of it like Mary Poppins' magic bag. She can reach in that thing and pull out whatever is needed at any given time. You can do the same with your habits – mix and match based on what helps you thrive.

✨ Tune Into Your Intuition. The same as you crave certain foods sometimes, you also crave certain kinds of movement, challenge or even rest. Learn to tune into those cravings and give your mind and body what they're asking for.

🧘🏼‍♀️ Embrace Flexible Structure. Instead cramming your day full of complicated routines, create a container of a specific length of time or commit to doing 1-3 beneficial behaviors daily. Choose the structure that works for you and then fill it with things from your toolbox.

If you're not sure what beneficial behaviors you enjoy (or make you feel good) or you don't have very strong intuition, the 30-Day Experiments method I wrote about yesterday is a great way to give yourself space to explore.

In my experience, the more you test out behaviors, the more you'll notice the craving for your favorites.

See the original atomic essay on Twitter

3 Ways to Combat the Stress & Chaos of Life So You Can Show Up and Kick Ass

Many of us have been spending even more time online than usual during the Ship 30 journey so I thought I would share what I'm doing this weekend to recharge, in case it's helpful to anyone else.

😎 Fresh Air & Sunshine

I'm pretty sure I'm solar powered so I love to lay outside in the sun, feel the breeze (if there is one) and listen to the sounds around me.

Normally I aim for around 30-45 minutes, but I'm pretty sure I dozed off today so it may have been a bit longer.

I didn't listen to music, read or anything else but just be. As an added bonus, it's hotter than hell's front porch so I got a good sweat detox in 👏

🧘🏼‍♀️ Slow Flow Yoga

I love yoga in general, but slow flow is my absolute favorite.

The slow pace makes me feel super relaxed and holding the poses for longer releases any tension I'm holding in my body. If you're not super into yoga or you aren't sure what poses to try, you can steal the basic structure of my go-to slow flow:

Mountain Pose
Standing Forward Bend
Downward Dog
Cat/Cow
Child's Pose
Downward Dog
Low Lunge (I add an extra hip opener here)
Half Splits
Downward Dog
Pigeon Pose(I stay here for several minutes on each leg)
Downward Dog
Corpse Pose

🚿 Candlelit Shower

I know, I know this borders on cliché, but there is something really magical about it, I swear. The low light, the steam, and the water create an incredibly relaxing combination.

Something about the water flowing from over my head and then down the drain feels significant. Like the stress and chaos are just being rinsed away.

And now I'm ready to kick ass this week. You with me?

See the original atomic essay on Twitter

If You've Tried All The Things And Still Haven't Made Progress in Your Personal or Business Growth, This Might Be Why

If you're into yoga at all, you've probably heard talk about how we hold stress and emotions in our bodies.

Women especially are said to hold emotions in their hips.

I spent 5 years as a psych nurse so I'm familiar with somatic symptoms, but this is a bit different. It's more than acute anxiety causing headaches, chest pain or stomachaches.

Sometimes emotions or trauma can get stuck in your body because you don't (or aren't able to) process it fully at the time of the experience. It may not cause anything noticeable right away and other times it can cause pain and even disease.

Unprocessed emotion or trauma can impact how we show up and interact with the world.

If you've ever felt like you've "tried all the things" and still haven't made progress, you probably have some trapped emotion or trauma in your body.

It was quite a shift for me to learn that some things can't be fully processed just by thinking or talking. 🤯

I am by no means an expert in this topic and, in fact, I've only scratched the surface. I've personally experienced improvement in my stress and anxiety by doing slow-flow yoga regularly, but is that just anecdotal? I'm not sure.