All Gussied Up

Creating your own future is such a powerful concept, and what a perfect time to do it!

I created this worksheet for you kind of for a selfish reason: I need it myself! After hearing Gary Vaynerchuck talk about happiness in one of his recent Ask Gary V Podcast episodes, I was struck with the inspiration to write down all of my goals with the WHY being HAPPINESS (see the second and third boxes on this worksheet). Here’s the gist of what Gary had to say: Everyone is happiest when they are doing what they want to be doing. It’s pretty damn simple.

It’s important to define success on your own terms in order to live a happy life. Do not go out to set goals based on someone else’s life, goals, or what you think you should be doing. Do what makes you happy.

Alright, now let’s talk about using the worksheet.

1. Start with your goal, and use multiple sheets for each goal. 

2. Ask yourself how accomplishing this goal will make you feel

I like to work in reverse when setting goals by asking how I will feel once something is accomplished. If I feel energized, excited, accomplished, and HAPPY, it’s worth working on. If not, no thanks.

Tony Robbins says: “your mental and emotional state colors your perception and experience of everything in life. If you feel afraid or insecure, it’s hard to make a big change, but if you feel like a million bucks, you’re ready to conquer the world.”

3. WHY?

After writing down how you will feel once you’ve accomplished your goal, ask yourself WHY this is important to you.

4. List actions

Lastly, develop your strategy…specifically the actions that you need to take to complete your goal. The best way to create a strategy? Look at who else might have succeeded with the same goal and outcome that you have written down. What did they do to accomplish it? Modeling actions after other successful people who have already accomplished this will give you some inspiration.

I hope this has been helpful for you! I am personally so excited to use this worksheet as my own goals and thoughts have only been an inner narrative until now.

xo, Lynn

Let’s talk coming off BIRTH CONTROL. Awkward? Maybe. But I’m going to talk about it.

This blog is all about honesty, and if you’ve been a reader for awhile, you may know that I’ve written about other taboo topics such as negative people, anxiety, and divorce to name a few.

Taking birth control is such a personal decision, and at the end of the day, you need to do what is best for you. I am here to share my story with it.

I started taking the pill in high school for horrible period cramps. You know the ones. I took it pretty much continuously for 15 years. Crazy, right? When I started taking the pill, I was in amazing shape as a swimmer on the high school team, but I did notice some weight gain after I started taking the pill. Nothing crazy, and TBH, as a teenager, I didn’t pay close attention to my body at all. So I continued to take it.

I did not experience any other issues with the pill other than having zero acne. It was smooth sailing.

A year or so ago, I got a nagging feeling that I should to reconsider taking the pill. Simply because I didn’t like putting synthetic hormones into my body, and after learning about Natural Family Planning, I decided I was done with the pill. We’ll get into NFP another day because that is a HUGE topic. And I’m still learning.

So here I am, sharing the changes I’ve seen in my body since going off the pill. I hope that it will prep you for what’s ahead if you have chosen to go off the pill and help you feel not so alone.

MY 5 THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO MY BODY AFTER COMING OFF BIRTH CONTROL:

1. Acne. Just to be clear, I have never struggled with acne. Not before taking the pill, and not during. I would get an occasional zit every once in awhile, but nothing crazy. Now? I get zits around the time that I get my period. They’re not bad, but little ones pop up around my chin area, which is the spot that women have hormonal breakouts.
2. Oily hair. I used to be able to go over one week without washing my hair. Welllll…my hormones paid me back, big time after going off the pill. I had always had a VERY dry scalp and very dry hair. I still struggle with psoriasis on my scalp, however, my hair becomes greasy if I don’t wash it every day. That party is over!
3. Thicker hair. This happened super fast, like within 2 months after no more pill. And the change has been very noticeable. I color my hair, so it requires extra TLC, and I haven’t been using any new treatments. It is healthier, thicker, and longer than ever! Not complaining about this one.
4. Regular periods and ovulation. To be honest, I was really terrified that I wouldn’t get my period again (I know, I know, paranoia at its best, but after YEARS of not having it, I was scared) and when I got it within 20 days of coming off the pill, I was SO excited. Since then, I have gotten it every month like clockwork. I’m learning to track my cycles and it is so amazing how our bodies NATURALLY work. I was so clueless to the signs that my body was clearly showing me before I started taking the pill because I was never taught how to read certain signs. Again, more on that when I talk about NFP.
5. Weight loss. I have lost 8 pounds since going off the pill, with no other changes to my diet or exercise routine. Much of this weight loss was around the hip and thigh area.

I really spilled my guts on this post, and I hope that you found it helpful. Please feel free to email me, DM me on Instagram, or leave a comment to let me know about your experience.

xo, Lynn