2023: The Year I Reclaim My Power and My Life

2023: The Year I Reclaim my Power

2023 will be the year I take back my power. The year I find myself again and start to live my life to the fullest.

For the past few years I’ve been struggling both mentally and physically.

Somewhere along the way I’ve lost who I am to depression, anxiety, chronic illness and fear.

I’ve let it run my life to a point I never want to go anywhere that’s even slightly busy nor do I feel comfortable in my own body.

It’s affecting all areas of my life and quite frankly, I’m sick of it.

I’m sick of feeling less than, powerless, fragile and scared.

So, I’m making changes, big changes.

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2023 will be the year I reclaim my power

In 2023 I plan on taking back my power, reclaiming who I am and being unapologetic about it.

No longer will I let fear stand in my way of life.

A big motivation for this is my son because I never want him to look at me and see someone who doesn’t have any motivation for life.

I want him to grow up in a household that values life and all it has to offer, to see a mum who tries her hardest and shows him that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Parental figures are the first and longest teachers in a child’s life. They pick up on so much without us realising it which helps shape them into the person they will be.

So, I want my son to grow up around a positive role model who shows him that there are no limits on what you can do. And I want to be that role model.

My 2023 Goals

Over the past few years I’ve fallen away from passions I once had and let myself be guided by fear and lack of motivation.

Things I once loved no longer spark joy in me and that has to change.

This year I’m determined to get my love for life back and start partaking in my hobbies again.

I’m going full force with it all and letting nothing stand in my way.

With that in mind, I’ve curated smaller goals for 2023 that will help me achieve my overall big goal of finding me again.

It’s all about the little steps that will help me make a path to the end which ultimately will be more sustainable and sets me up for success.

Work on my Instagram

This past year hasn’t been my most consistent year with the platform nor enjoyable either.

I don’t know why, but my heart is not in it like it once was.

I could blame the algorithm, the changes, the glitches (as annoying as those things are) but really it’s just not been a priority for me and I’ve lost touch with that spark of passion I once had.

It’s sad knowing that I let my Instagram slip and stopped working at it. I finally felt like I was getting somewhere and my account was growing.

So, I’m making a promise to myself that in 2023 I’m getting my act together and reigniting that spark of enjoyment.

I want to work on it and get back to sharing content that I genuinely enjoy whilst connecting with the amazing community.

Priorities my health

I’ve not been very good at making sure my health is a priority.

Although my chronic illnesses have gotten worse along with my mental health, I haven’t actively been trying to do something about it.

I’ve been turning a blind eye to it and hoping it would all improve on its own, only that’s not been conducive to my longing for improvement.

I can’t sit and do nothing while expecting my health to magically get better on its own.

So, I need to start advocating for myself and actually taking steps that will improve my quality of life.

My plan consists of:

• Working out regularly
• Seeing my GP to work on changing medications
• Looking into natural remedies
• Educating myself on my chronic illnesses
• Actively taking steps to improve my mental and physical health
• Changing up my diet
• A lifestyle overhaul
• Using my Lifestyle Change planner

I’m hoping that by putting in the work and finding a balance in my life whilst also implementing different things that are positive for my health will help me achieve my goal of better health.

I know there is no quick fix and I know that I probably won’t find the magic cure, but if I can find ways to help improve different aspects of my life, I’ll be over the moon.

Find a morning routine that works for me

The past few months I’ve been playing around with different morning routines to see what works for me and my life.

Although there are some things I’ve found that help, I’ve still not got it *just* right.

I want a morning routine that nourishes me inside and out. One that helps me stay focused, alert, energetic, positive and motivated.

So I’m on a quest to find one that fits my life perfectly whilst allowing me to be flexible for those days where my chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia are just too draining to fight against.

Lose some weight

I was in two minds whether I really wanted to add this to my goals for 2023 or not because I hate the idea of anyone taking this as an insult.

I’ve seen it happen before on people’s blog posts, there’s people in the comments condemning them for wanting to lose weight as it’s been taken as an insult.

So, let me say this before I dive into why this is on my list of goals.

No-one on this planet should ever be defined by their size or number on a scale. I don’t believe in shaming anyone for their weight, EVER!

I also don’t look at myself and think I’m worthless or less than because of my size. It doesn’t matter if I’m a size 2 or size 22, what counts is if someone is a good person or not.

I also believe that no one should ever have comments made about their body or be made to feel like they don’t belong because of their size.

Why losing weight is on my list of goals

The reason I have this on my list is because I’m not healthy and it’s starting to impact my overall quality of life.

I can’t run around with my son like I used to and I find myself using food as an emotional crutch.

This isn’t what I want for myself.

I want to be able to go do all the activities my son wants to and have fun doing it without feeling like I’m going to pass out.

So, I’m going to work on my relationship with food, start working out more and try lose a few lbs. I have made a planner that will aid me in this which is also available on my Etsy – Lifestyle Change planner

Say yes more often

Again, fear has kept me from saying yes to things that generally interest me and I want to do.

In 2022 I’ve turned down a lot of PR events, days out with friends, family get-togethers and more.

I look back at those moments and wish I would have said yes because I’ve missed out.

This year though I’m pushing myself to say yes to more offers that come my way when it’s something I genuinely want to do.

I don’t want to see everyone else enjoying it and feeling lonely and sad because I held myself back.

Don’t let fear rule my decisions

It’s only fitting that I add in this goal around fear as it’s  been so prevalent in my life.

I can’t keep letting fear rule all of my decisions or plague my every move.

Although this will be an integral part of reclaiming my power, I’m still unsure how I’ll approach this.

My plan now is to look into different techniques that will aid in changing my mindset and overwriting this autopilot I seem to be on.

Get out with my camera more

I used to LOVE getting out and about with my camera.

There would be days where I’d go out in the morning and come back at night with SD cards filled with photos.

It’s always been a passion of mine as I love the feeling of getting lost in the magic of capturing the world.

But, I stopped doing that and I feel sad about it.

I miss the days where I would go and do it just because.

This year I’m going to make a point of seeing new places and falling in love with photography again.

Put myself first

Although being a mother means that you no longer only have yourself to worry about, it shouldn’t mean that we stop looking after ourselves altogether.

Lately I feel like I’ve lost myself to motherhood and I can’t seem to see a way out.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being a mum! It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I was born to be a mum, I feel it deep down and I’d have a whole football team if I could.

But I also need to take care of myself in this

I can’t expect to be the best version of “mum” without putting in the groundwork to fully know who I am outside of that.

There’s a lot I don’t do because I’m constantly switched on to mum mode but I need to step back and take care of myself as well.

Although I’ll never truly put myself first over my son, ever, I do need to begin making changes that allow me time for myself to fully recharge.

Work on my sense of self worth

In 2020 I finally felt like I belonged in my body.

I was gaining confidence and that voice inside my head that would hurl insults at me was being locked away in a dark corner of the mind.

It felt great to finally feel like I belonged in my body and not picking it apart every chance I got. I worked hard to get to that place and realise I was enough, exactly as I was.

Then the pandemic hit and my relationship with food changed.

I began binge eating again to the point I was vomiting from over-stuffing myself.

This then meant my clothes weren’t fitting quite as well as they were and my confidence was knocked.

I’ve always advocated that someone’s size does not define who they are nor is it important, and I stand by that. This wasn’t and never will be a weight issue, it’s a psychology issue that’s deep rooted in childhood trauma.

I’ve let it fester for far too long now and I think it’s about time I got help for that.

I don’t want to look in the mirror and loath what I see looking back at me anymore.

Life is too short!

It doesn’t matter what size I am, I always end up back here at this same place hating everything about myself from my hair to my skin.

And I don’t want this for myself, I want better.

More days out

Because I’ve let fear rule my life and given into the anxiety over going days out, we’ve missed out on a lot of memories to be made.

This stops now.

I need to get over this and do something that will improve my mental health so that I can stop worrying about all the things that *could* go wrong.

The plan is to go out every month to build up my confidence again and hopefully by the end of the year we will have gone and done all sorts of things.

Do more of what makes me happy

Falling away from my hobbies has left me feeling a little empty.

I’m no longer going and doing activities I enjoy because I’m very self conscious about how I look. Not only that, my anxiety makes me feel like I shouldn’t be doing them.

My depression seeps in like a bad smell and feels all consuming to the point I lose the flicker of interest I even had.

Then the Intrusive thoughts win and with that my motivation swirls away like the water being flushed in a toilet.

I’m not longer accepting this

As I mentioned in prioritising my health section, I’m advocating for myself this year.

This means that I’m going to make a Dr’s appointment to get help managing my anxiety and depression as well as looking at more natural and holistic methods.

Leave my comfort zone more often

As I’ve mentioned already, these past few years of my life have been ruled by fear.

I’ve let that control how I live my life and I’ve been firmly rooted in my comfort zone.

No more.

This year I’m not letting that happen, I’m going to break this cycle.

Instead of fearing the “what ifs” and thinking the worst, I’m going to embrace them and change the narrative.

The “what ifs” will be seen from a new perspective of “what if it’s great”.

I don’t want to be on my deathbed, old and grey and have a mountain of regret over not pushing myself to do more.

We never grow if we don’t leave that comfort zone of ours and I’m keeping that at the forefront of my mind.

Work hard on my blog

My blog is sort of like my digital baby. I’ve nurtured it and poured a lot of love and time into it over the years.

But something in my mind switched and I fell out of love with it for a while.

I loathed having to write posts or keep on top of blog maintenance. I suspect it’s because other areas in my life were in a dark place and I let that affect my blog without realising it.

My motivation was practically at 0 and I did nothing to try to rectify it.

Thankfully in the last quarter of 2022 my motivation and love for the blog began to return.

With this came the energy and passion to start working on my blog again and built it up to be even better than it once was.

Here’s what I’ve been working on with my blog so far:

• Updating old posts
• Learning more about SEO
• Optimising posts
• Fixing images
• Working of affiliate marketing
• Writing more content
• Prioritising quality content
• Creating seasonal content

Although I’ve been putting in a lot of work to the blog already, I’m determined to up the game for 2023.

There will be more of everything and my time will be spent making it the best version of itself.

Connect with the blogging community again

As my passion for the blog slipped away, I stopped reading as many blogs or commenting on them.

I’ve also found myself withdrawing from the blogging community online due to feeling like an outsider.

That self saboteur in my head convinced me I’m not good enough nor worthy enough to feel like I belong anymore.

What was once a positive and uplifting space for me where I could connect with all my blogging friends and support one another became tainted.

I no longer felt like I could engage with others or try to create connections because that little voice told me I wasn’t good enough, that no-one wanted to associate with me.

But that needs to change!

I don’t want to feel like this anymore, to feel like an outsider in a place that was once my safe space.

So, I plan to work on that this year by engaging more, commenting and reading blogs, cheering others on and getting back to a place where I can be social online again.

Put more effort into my Etsy

Although I’ve been doing bits here and there with my Etsy, it’s always been down to when I had the motivation.

I’ve not been consistent nor have I really given it my all.

That’s going to change though.

This year I’m determined to build my Etsy store up and really go all in. I’ll be spending more time learning as much as I can about the platform and how I can grow it.

I’ll also be working on new and improved products to make them the absolute best they can be.

I want to look back at the end of 2023 and say “I did that, I really did”.

Final thoughts

2023 WILL be my year, I’m sure of it. Nothing will stand in my way of making it to the end goal and if anything tries, it better watch out.

No more living my life to please others, no more worrying about other people’s opinions, no more self criticism and no more hiding in the house.

Life is for living and that is what I intend to do, live.

I’d love to hear what some of your goals are for 2023! Let’s chat in the comments.

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