So many people made such a big deal about the end-of-the-decade. I resisted the fuss.

On New Year’s Eve, at dinner with a friend, she asked me what I was thinking in terms of 2020. I rattled off what I’ve been saying for weeks…shouldn’t we be living each day with intention?

Then, I woke up on New Year’s Day and had a Scrooge-sized change of heart.

Yes, I want to go to bed every night and know that I did my best. AND why not take the opportunity of a new year/new decade to reflect?

On New Year’s Day, instead of being jaded about resolutions, I asked myself…”What do I want more of?”

I want to exercise more. To read more. To drink more water. To stretch. And to pick up clutter every day instead of letting it accumulate into bigger piles.

Specific goals are better than vague ones.

I’m going to:

1) walk two miles to a favorite coffee shop each morning, read at least one chapter, and then walk two miles home.

2) fill four pint glasses with water every morning and make sure I drink at least those throughout the day.

3) do yoga (or stretch with my foam roller) for at least 15 minutes every day.

4) spend at least 15 minutes a day tidying/organizing.

Even as a coach, I’m continuously figuring out how best to keep my own goals.

I know I do best with outside accountability. But I don’t want a walking buddy and, when I’m single, no one else cares if my laundry goes on the floor.

I made a chart on my computer. It has each date this month and each task: exercise, stretch, read, drink, clean. I taped the chart to my bathroom mirror and have been checking off boxes each night.

In these first seven days of 2020… I’ve walked 6 days/24 miles! I’ve read 7 chapters. I’ve practiced yoga 5 times: a couple of classes at the gym and a few shorter YouTube videos. Seeing pre-filled water glasses on the counter has helped me hydrate. And I’ve been picking up daily instead of waiting for the weekend (while rocking out to fun music).

I haven’t checked every box this first week. Knowing my schedule, there will be days when I struggle to cross off any of them. But it feels good to think that every box I can “X” is a little life improvement.

What do you want more of? And how can you (simply and specifically) incorporate that into your day?

I wish you all the best today and in the next decade.

With love,

Sheila

My name is Sheila Devi.

It’s amazing to think about all that happened in the last decade… Professionally, I graduated from culinary school, realized I didn’t want to be a chef, flew through the ranks of the concierge industry in Chicago, asked myself what was most important to me, and became a certified life coach. Over the last 4.5 years, I’ve built an international coaching practice and have transitioned from career coaching to focusing primarily on executive coaching and speaking. Personally, I’ve fallen in love and had my heart broken four times – and am grateful for what each of those relationships gifted me. I’ve also traveled to a lot of amazing places, including six weeks writing a food blog in Spain at 31 and eight weeks coaching remotely from Mexico, Japan, and Bali at 41.

Nowadays, as an Executive Coach & Speaker based in Chicago, I offer big-picture coaching to clients all over the world, helping them to be more successful at work and in life. I also lead workshops and talks on Resilience, Decision-Making, and Personal Leadership.

For more information about how to work together, email me at sheila@sheiladevi.com.

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If you want to read about accountability and how to know what works best for you, check out this blog series.

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