Goal Planning with Soul: how to make goals that match your soul and not your “shoulds” || with Kate House

What do you honestly think about goal-setting? For years I was averse to the idea, driven by the fear of failure if I couldn't accomplish them all perfectly. Now, I set goals differently by keeping my season, my values, and my wants at the forefront of my planning. Together with today's guest, Kate House, we dive in to how you can do that, too, by setting intentions and crafting goals with soul.

Kate House is the host of The Live By Design Podcast, a health coach, and online educator. Her purpose is to help women develop the lives they want with intention, not overwhelm.

About a few other things...

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TRANSCRIPT

Monica: Kate House, welcome to About Progress.

Kate: Oh my gosh, it's such a thrill to be here with you.

Monica: We need this. We need this because it's the new year and it's a pretty loaded and charged time.

I know I'm feeling it too, even for someone who was always working on progress outside of perfectionism. I still feel that tug of like creating this massive goal list that are very perfectionist driven and very all or nothing based, very should based. And I'm feeling that. kind of ick factor inside, but also like the temptation to go down that route.

And many are like me and they feel those feelings and they either lean into them, like so far that they make that massive list that seems actually unapproachable and they lose sight of them by February. It's okay if that's been you in the past, or they're also like me because both versions are true where they just don't even get started because that intimidation factor.

So I just want to start by hearing what you think about this and what our relationship it's like with goals and

Kate: why? Yes. It's, it's so complicated. There's so many layers, but I'm so excited to dive into this with you today. I think there are a lot of external, um, external pressures that make us feel like we quote should or have to set these big goals for the year.

You know, there's this mentality of like new year, new you, which like gives me all the ick feelings. Like I want to be new year. Same me. Still growing, you know, like I, I don't want to just throw out all the work that I've already done. Right. So for me, when I think about setting goals for the new year, I like to first think about how far I've already come.

Like, how can we congratulate ourselves and celebrate the fact that we've made it through all of our hardest days and all of our best days and all the things that we've. Not just accomplished, but experienced. Right. Um, and then I like to think about how do I want to feel this year? You know, that just feels so much more expansive and abundant than like you said, this, this tendency to just list out a ton of goals, right.

And, and how often are those goals? Something that we feel pressured to do something, feel like we should do that. Um, someone else wants for us, but if it doesn't light you up, then the pursuit of that goal probably isn't going to let you up either. And you know, my show is called the live by design podcast.

We're all about living by design and not by default. And for me, living by design means. Exploring goals and setting intentions that are in alignment for me personally. And it's okay if it doesn't resonate with somebody else. And, um, all that matters is that it comes from inside of me.

Monica: You're already reframing so much for me.

And even just the word about it being the word goal can be more about intentions and being in alignment and something that resonates with us deeply. And I'm, I'm assuming that you had your own path to getting to this place where maybe you felt this way about the goal. So before we kind of share more about how women can follow this reframing and practical ways to apply it, I want to hear more about your story with goals.

Kate: Yeah, absolutely. I love this question. Thank you. So, so for me, it really goes back to, so growing up, I was very much like the straight A student. I know we have this in common, um, the high achiever, you know, if I, if I was on a team, I wanted to be the captain. If I was in a club, I wanted to be the president.

Right. And I did all of those things and it was kind of exhausting and not that there's anything wrong with those things inherently, but I was always doing them for external validation. Right? Because it was expected of me or somebody wanted that for me. And I was really good at performing and doing those things.

But eventually that translated into, you know, a very strong academic career in college, into what looked like a dream career from the outside. And I had incredible colleagues in the work that I was doing, but I felt really unfulfilled. And I remember feeling so stressed in just in my life in general at 25.

And I remember sitting on. It wasn't sitting on like the edge of my couch when we were living out in the Midwest, my husband and I at the time. And I remember just crying because I was just so stressed and so overwhelmed and I just felt so out of alignment. Like I felt like there was so much, friction in my life.

Like I just didn't feel like I was living into who I wanted to be and I didn't know how. And I just remember having this like ugly crying session with my husband and I had this moment where he was rubbing my back and he was like, I wish I could make this better for you. And in that moment, I had this, like, not all of us get to have like a light bulb moment, but I had this moment of clarity of like.

I am the only person who can change this for myself. I'm the only person who can claim agency in my life. And when I'm not changing, I'm choosing. And I was like, well, I wouldn't choose to wake up and feel stressed and overwhelmed and. Like I'm, I'm living up to everyone else's expectations, but my own, right?

So it looks good on the outside, but I don't feel fulfilled in my daily life. Right. And so at 25, I had this kind of like quarter life crisis right at 25 and drastically changed my life. And my goal is to help women so that they don't have to get to that point where it's like a one 80, right? Like, how can we make these little course corrections along the way?

So you don't have to have that season of burnout. But for me, it looked like, um, changing careers. It looked like changing my health habits. It looked like, uh, leaning into my mental health. I mean, there's, you know, we're all holistic self, right? Mind, body and soul. And so I did a lot of work in all of those areas over the past.

Oh my gosh. Well, I'm 34 now. So the past 14 years. Um, and so that's really what's at the heart of what I do is that I want to help other women. Live by design and not by default to set their own goals with soul, um, that are important to them personally, so that they don't have to have that experience of waking up one day and realizing, I feel out of alignment.

I've and, and, and in that season, I didn't even have that vernacular. I didn't have the vocabulary to say, like, I feel out of alignment. I just was like, I'm stressed. I'm overeating. I'm not. Exercising, like all the things that I knew I liked to do. I like to eat whole foods. I like to run. I like to do yoga.

Right. I wasn't even doing those things because I just felt so overwhelmed by everything. So how can we help women not have to get to that point and live in alignment and, and to live by design?

Monica: It sounds like you were burnt out, you know, and that's, that's something I think we can relate with. To at least some degree, and that's one thing I like about this yearly time, I actually love the new year.

I love people having some of that external pressure. I think can be good to an extent, right? Because it's a nice way to examine, like, where are we? Because there are going to always be little tweaks that we need along the way, especially for trying to avoid the massive overhauls. Like you have And as part of your evolution, you have learned to plan and to design your life, to make goals with soul.

Can you tell us more about what the difference is? And I would say that both internally and externally, cause I'm sure they're both, um, working together there.

Kate: Yes. So for me, the approach that I like to take is setting this. Intention for the year, and now there's a lot of times this idea of like a word of the year, right?

And for those of you who can see the video, I've got like this giant vision board behind me, right? So I like to set a word of the year, but my word of the year is more of like a feeling or an intention. So I've had words like ease. I've used words like abundance. this year was energy. Going into 2024, uh, vibrant is the word that keeps coming to mind.

Like I want to feel vibrant in my Heart. I want to feel vibrant in my mind. I want to feel vibrant in my body, right? In my relationships, like in my community, like vibrant is the word that really resonates with me. And so what I like to do is, is to take this idea of a word of the year or a feeling and intention, because, you know, we connect more deeply with feelings.

And so vibrant is the feeling that I'm going for. And then. When I set a goal with soul, um, I want it to tie back to that intention. So if I'm setting a goal for myself, um, like I really want to run my first postpartum half marathon. I haven't run a half I've run like many, many races in the past. I am not fast.

I am like the tortoise and the tortoise in the hair, but I love the process of training for a run and the person I get to become throughout that training process. And, and so like, if that's one of my goals. I have to make sure though, that that ties back to feeling vibrant. And so for me, I do feel vibrant.

I feel energized. I feel abundant when I'm running. And so that that's an alignment for me. That's a goal with soul. Um, but the biggest thing is that these goals, they have to be important to you personally. You know, they can't be what your best friend wants for you or what your sister wants for you or your parents.

Super well meaning intentions that others might have for you, but it has to be important to you. And, and I love your idea of a, a do something, a do something list, right? This idea of action, creating clarity. And so sometimes I think a goal with soul, I mean, it doesn't have to be huge, right? It can be, um.

It can be like a daily journaling practice because that feels really good for you. And maybe your word of the year is calm or centered or balanced, right? And, and journaling supports that. But this idea of a goal doesn't have to be something you're going to achieve. It can be more about the way that you want to feel and how you can take.

Small, consistent action to layer that feeling into your day to day life. Cause your life is right now. So how can we really layer that feeling? You know, for me, how can I layer that feeling of vibrancy into my day? And for you, it could be whatever word resonates with you.

Monica: That's such a shift in goal formation because, um, I've, I've learned this with habits, you know, that for me, they have to be more feeling based and because that gets me away from the shoulds that helps me step away.

Like, so when I'm thinking about the morning and I'm, and I'm feeling all that anxiety about all, here's all the things I know I should be doing in the morning in order to have a good morning routine. But instead of when I focus on how do I want to feel in the morning, that helps me weed out those shoulds a lot better, but I didn't really think about that with goal formation, because I think we so often hear about goal formation.

Smart goals and them having to be so measurable and like something, you know, like you, I can now check it off. I've reached it. And I'm wondering what the tingle is for you, because I'm sure it's not just the feeling. I like how you said that feeling drives what you actually create. Uh, so untangle that, um, untangle that for us a little bit.

What does that look like in terms of measurability or not? It might not have anything to do with it.

Kate: I love that. So I think one thing that you can, one thing is that there's no right or wrong way to do it. Right. But I like to think of stepping stone goals. Right. So, um, and it can go either way. If you're, if your goal is a little less tangible, right?

Like, so for me, if I want to run my first postpartum half marathon, right. That's a very tangible goal, right? It's 13. 1 miles. There's a whole training plan that goes with it. And I like to break it up into stepping stone goals. Right. So it's like, a long run like this next weekend, right? And I'm like, all right, that is my next goal.

That's what I'm working towards this week. And what am I going to do to set myself up for success? I'm going to make sure I'm hydrating. I'm going to make sure I'm getting good, good sleep as much as possible with little ones in the house, right? I'm going to, um, fuel my body with foods that make me feel energized.

But you might have a goal of. Of wanting to feel, let's go with calm again, right? I'm working with a client right now who really just wants to feel calm and just really centered within herself. And so for that person, these stepping stone goals might be like. I want to journal 20 times in the next 30 days.

And maybe it looks like a tracker that you keep track of for those 30 days. And each time you sit down and journal, you fill in one of the little boxes, or I like to make them hearts. Cause that, that feels celebratory to me. Right. But yeah, that's what I, and I like to think of goals as well as soul as.

How can we make it a quarterly goal? Right? Cause sometimes we sit down and a year is a really long time. We can do so much in 12 months, but sometimes what happens is we start off out the gate in January, trying to do all the things all at once. And there's a great energy to that, right? But inevitably life happens, right?

The kids get sick, you know, last year in January, like our kids got sick, our dog needed surgery. All the life things happened. And then, you know, it's national quitter's day halfway through January and you're like, yep, I'm not doing any of the things that I said that I wanted to do, and it's so hard to get that activation energy to get started again.

Right. So how can we start small? How can we shrink the timeframe a little bit? Cause with 12 months, we end up procrastinating perhaps. We're like, well, I still have 11 more months of the year. I'll get started next week or next month or after summer vacation, or when the kids go back to school, whatever it looks like.

I find that when we shrink the timeframe down to three months, the goal maybe is a little bit smaller, but it feels a lot more doable because it's not like you're climbing. I mean, I know you said you have a friend climbing Everest right now, right? Like we're not climbing Everest. Like what is that?

What's that first thing that we have to do. Right. And how can we start to layer it into our day and then build from there? So for me, for like a half marathon, I'm not even ready to start training for my half yet. So my first three months is probably training for a 5k or going out for daily walks for 45 minutes to build a base.

Right. And so making it smaller and then building each quarter of the year on top of the other and always going back to that initial Feeling or word of the year or desire or intention that you have for yourself is the approach I like to take

Monica: So I can be a bit of a how girl here. So I'm going to try to sum up what I, what I feel like you said so far and ask another followup question.

So we're starting with setting an intention, which is feeling based. And then from there we set goals that at the end of the year we would like to have met that go in alignment with those feelings or feeling. And then we create stepping stone goals that are just about. The first couple of months that we can start with that will lead us there.

Um, okay. So, I have a lot more questions for you. Let's start with this one. If there was one thing you wish you could undo that people have in their minds about goals and goal planning, what would that be?

Kate: Ooh, this is such a great question. I feel like the one thing I would encourage people to let go of is that it has to be results based and that A goal can be a goal is worthy.

If it's on your heart to pursue, if it brings you enjoyment, fulfillment, happiness. Um, like for example, I was a fine arts major in college. I love to paint and for a long time. I didn't paint for fun because I was worried that the end result wouldn't be. I don't know what I had in my mind, what I expected of myself, what I thought my past self was capable of.

I don't know. Um, and when I was able to let go of, like, it's not about the end result. It's about the enjoyment of the practice itself. Um, I had so much more fun with it. Right. And so I, that would just be the one thing I would say is like, you can have a goal. That that is this feelings based goal, but maybe we can let go of that end result, right?

So maybe you don't have to have a portfolio of watercolors at the end of the year to like show off to the world Maybe it's just about the time that you showed up for yourself in those moments of your watercolor practice, right? Like that's kind of one example that I can give Yeah. And I think the other thing that I would just encourage folks to let go of is this idea that, you know, we have a lot of recovering perfectionists in the community, myself among them, this idea that we have to show up perfectly, immediately, like give yourself permission.

And actually Monica was speaking to this on my show recently. Give yourself permission to be a beginner, right? To not know what you're doing, to give something a try, and then give yourself permission to find that messy middle, you know, like sometimes when we're figuring something out, like it's. It's not perfect and that's okay.

It's messy. That's part of the practice and part of the process. Um, so that, that's kind of what I would share is just give yourself permission to be a beginner. Um, and maybe the goal that's on your heart this year, maybe it's a season where it's not something that's specific results oriented. Um, but it's more about the person you get to become in the practice of showing up for yourself and showing up for that goal.

Monica: That results driven side of it is something that I think is what prevented me from making goals in the past or for going out the gate way too fast, way too hard. And at the same moment, if it's more perspective driven, like it's more about the intentions and how I want to feel, I could actually pursue that more, um, tangible outcome because I know the purpose better.

It's not about that pressure. It's not about the should. It's because I know what it will lead to. Two, which is that intention that, uh, the deeper intention that I've set for myself. And, and that's the thing we've talked about in my community bench about how shoulds can be chosen, especially when they come from a place of you knowing better what your intentions are, like your deeper values.

So. Talk me through what this looks like for you. Do you start planning in December, in January? How do you get clear on what your intention is? Because in the past I would set a word for the year. And by the way, I did this year. I have no idea what mine was now. Um, and that, that's because they were still, it just was so separate to me.

Yeah. From the actual tangible outcomes. And now I'm like, Whoa, this is a definite, a definite reframe. So sorry. Back to you and your process. Tell us a little bit about how this looks for you to just when, when you start and how you get started on this. Give us some.

Kate: Yeah. I love that. You know what? You're not alone in forgetting what the word of your year was.

That's absolutely happened to me. And that's why I've kind of. Created this process, right? So the first thing is that you can do this any time of the year. So friend, if you're listening to this episode and you're going back in the archives of about progress, right. And you're, you're coming back a couple of months later.

You can do this in March. You can do this in April. But typically for me, if I'm thinking ahead to the year to come, my husband and I both take off the week between Christmas and New Year's as a family. We just love to like carve out that time to spend together. And cause we both work from home, um, which I'm really grateful for, but we have to be very intentional about the time together, right? Cause we're not having to leave and go into an office where we're like, okay, no, we're turning off the computers or being like, we are really present with our kids. And that's the time I like to kind of do this process because I'm, I'm really tuned in with my family.

I'm really tuned in with myself. And it's a time of just kind of. Of joy and, and ease. And, I try to keep my calendar really open that week. And so this, that's the time I really liked it. I like to take that time to first reflect back on the past year. So I think we can learn a lot from the past 12 months.

So whether you're doing this in April or July, or you're doing this the week after Christmas or the first week of the year, think back on the last 12 months on your calendar and how did you feel in your day to day, how do you feel when you look back at your calendar at your planner? Do you feel like your time was spent doing things that felt important to you?

Did you feel like you had more opportunities or did you have more obligations on your calendar? Right? Like go through and kind of do that calendar audit because you know, how you spend your time is how you spend your life. And so, Let's look back on the calendar and let's do it in a way that's not judgmental.

That's not hard on ourselves. Like we're not going to what it could have shoulda ourselves. Like, let's just look back and just kind of like. When my business coach likes to say facts, not feelings, right? So what are the facts? How did you feel? What were some of your highlights? What are the things that you did that you're like, man, that hiking trip was so much fun.

Or like that, do something list was like such a highlight, right? Like go back and look at the things, like, what are the things that you really enjoyed that you want to pull forward? And then on the flip side of that, look back on the calendar and say, okay, what are the things that maybe served me in that season?

Then I'm ready to release. What are some things that I don't want to bring forward into the new year with me? Right? So celebrate what went well, decide what to leave behind you. Do that a little bit of a time audit. And then I like to just get kind of quiet with myself and that can look like journaling that could look like meditating.

Um, I love to walk for me. It could look like going for a long walk without earbuds, you know, just being in nature. Feeling the fresh air on my skin, even if it's a little chilly in January, December, um, and just thinking about like, what season of life am I in? Like you had mentioned, you know, this season of, of just having your fifth child.

Right. And so that means that this last year was very different for you than the year to come. Right. And so I like to ask myself, like, what is my season? What is my capacity? What would be nurturing for me? In past years, I've needed, uh, years where my word was ease, right? Um, like my, my brother passed away unexpectedly last year.

And so in the time following that, I needed ease. I was like, I, I like, that's all I have capacity for. That's what my, soul needs right now. Maybe you're in a season where you're like really energized and you know, maybe, things have shifted and you have more time and space or capacity or financial means, whatever it is.

And you want to invest that into yourself. And so what season of life are you in? What is that desired feeling? And then I do like to look at the year ahead and block off time for the things that I loved from the year before that I still want to prioritize. So like. You know, that trip to visit family out of town or, um, that date with myself to the, you know, you had mentioned on my show, uh, to the art museum, right?

 Let's put those things on the calendar proactively, cause we know they're important to you. So let's get them on the calendar proactively. And then think about, you know, here's the feeling I have, here's the desire that I want. And then what is a goal with soul for you? What does that look like? And then I like to set those quarterly goals and then I distill those quarterly goals down into daily and weekly habits. And so that's what we do a lot in my group coaching program is like, if my goal for the year is to feel vibrant and the first three months of the year, I want to focus on my physical health and wellness while then I might spend a month prioritizing my sleep, right? Like sleep was a big one for me this last year.

How can I get my whole family to sleep through the night? And I might spend a whole month where like my stepping stone goal is focusing on our sleep habits and our sleep hygiene. And everything that has to do with that. And then I might spend the next month really dialing into like, okay, now that our sleep routine is set and we have habits in the evenings that support us getting good rest, what is a morning routine that I want to then layer in to build off of the good sleep that we just had.

Right. And so, and I know you're a fan of habits, right? And, and so how can we take this? Big feeling this big word of the year distill it down into some quarterly goals. And then how can those quarterly goals then inform our daily habits on a month to month basis? Cause that's where we start to see those kind of one degree shifts.

Like we learned about from like James clear and atomic habits, right? These one degree shifts. Or 1 percent better each day. So this idea of just a little bit of growth, a little bit of growth and how it compounds over time.

Monica: That is my kid's theme of the school here. I do remember that 1 percent better, but I'm glad I haven't forgotten that yet.

Um, two or three months in. So with the quarterly goals. Those are based off of the yearly goals, like the yearly big, okay. And, and with those, do you have separate categories that you consider, or is that still much more intuitive than maybe people are giving themselves the permission to lean into? Like, it's just about, Hey, what will help me feel at ease?

 I know your, your word you're thinking about is vibrant. So like. Tell me more about that.

Kate: Yeah, that's a really great question. Yes. So we start with that intention, that feeling for the year, we'd drill it down to these monthly goals. I, I do like to kind of have buckets. Um, but I think that we can absolutely give ourselves permission to be like, what would feel vibrant?

What two to three things I like to think of two to three goals to be working on each quarter. Um, for me, I like to have something that's like. Related to my physical self. So like my, my health and wellness, um, my movement, my sleep, my, my eating, um, and my hydrating, you know, I've got my massive water bottle here as we record together, like to think about my physical self.

I like to think about my, um, my work or my sense of purpose. Um, so for somebody that might be your career, that might be a hobby. That's really important to you. That might be your family. If you're a caretaker, you know, this. The sense of purpose can be so many different things. Um, but I like to think about my, my physical self.

I like to think about my, my sense of purpose. Um, and then I usually have some sort of goal in relation to relationships. So with my children, with my partner, with my husband, you know, with my, my friends, my family, um, some sort of thing that. It just keeps me connected with them, um, and present with them.

So moments together where we can unplug from technology and turn off the TV and just be together. So I kind of focus on, like, the family, the body, um, and my My career or my sense of purpose. Um, and that's kind of how I do the buckets, but there's so many different ways to do it. Like we're a whole holistic self, right?

So you could do like mind, body, and soul type of goals. Like what feels nurturing for your body? What feels nurturing for your mind? What feels nurturing for your soul? Um, and I think there's a lot of room for. Interpretation and feeling into this in the season of life that you're in. Like I like to have two or three goals each quarter that I'm working towards.

But if you're in a season where you're like, you know, at my capacity, I'm at like 30 percent capacity. Well then maybe it's one goal. And how do you show up in that 30 percent that you have, and then. And then you feel content with what you did in that season because life is so cyclical. It's so seasonal.

So you might have one quarter where you're, you've got multiple things going on and then maybe there's a quarter where you need to rest more. Right? And so I think a lot of this is just giving yourself permission to meet yourself where you are and to be kind to yourself along the way.

Monica: And that's why the school planning with SOLE is so different because it's not like here's the exact prescription of how you have to create your goals and it's much more intuitive base, which for some of us might be scary, but I think if we lean into it a little bit and even just start small, like you said, maybe just start with one goal and maybe just this quarter, maybe you don't have to have an end goal yet of what you want.

Be in the year, but it still is reflecting that intention that you, that you set for yourself, that, that alone can be a great way for you to experiment with this and, and see if it can work for you. Um, it's funny. I'm talking to you because this is the year that I did create my goals. And since April, I haven't even looked at them.

It's been, it's been like a 10 percent capacity year, but I'm saying this because. I have been feeling lately it is time for me to get back on that horse and to do that, I know I need to start a little bit more gently that I've even been able to do in, in most recent years. Like I've been able to have really intense goal planners and I'm like tracking every, every week and every month.

And I can't do that, I think still, but that's kind of been getting in the way of me doing it at all. So I'm going to take your advice in so many ways this year and, and kind of do this more Of an intuitive way than I've been able to in the past. And I think it's going to be exactly what's going to help me get back on this horse.

 I'm curious for you, if, if this is kind of rapid fire, I have like a couple of questions. Do you have a tool that you would recommend or a planner that you do love?

Kate: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Well, I actually have created a planner. It's free. Uh, it's a PDF that you can grab over at miss Kate house.

com slash habit tracker. Um, and it's just an opportunity for you. It's a combination of a weekly tracker. A monthly intention setting practice and as well as a monthly reflection. So you can start it at any time in the month. If you're listening to this and it's like the 14th, go for it, friend. The month can start whenever you want it to, but it's just a chance to think back on the past 30 days, think ahead to the next 30 days, and then distill those intentions down into some of those daily habits that you can track.

There's a gratitude practice in there. I'm a big. Big advocate of gratitude practices to just keep us present and grounded and to, to look for the good in the day to day.

Monica: Beautiful. We'll make sure we link to that in the show notes. And then for you next year, is there already a sole goal that you know you're looking forward to creating and putting on paper for 2024?

Ooh,

Kate: I love this question. Oh man. I mean, so many things come to mind. Um, but really going back to that word of vibrant, I'm really excited to feel really strong in my body again. Like my physical body. A lot of times my goals aren't related to like. You know, I've talked a lot about running and my physical strength, but for me, my journey has been at postpartum, I was feeling really strong again in 2020.

And then the pandemic happened and I had two little babies at the time. And so just over the course of a couple of years, like I am a health coach, but even health coaches can have seasons where, you know, maybe we don't eat food that blesses our bodies so much. Maybe we're not moving as much as we'd like to.

 And I'm, so I'm really going back to basics with myself and I just really want to feel. Strong and capable in my body. Again, I'm a trained yoga teacher. Like I I'm a very physical being. And I feel like I'm coming out of this season where I was like, I needed to slow down and, and. Not hibernate, but you know, I had to slow down and rest a lot.

And now I'm, I'm finally feeling like, Ooh, I'm ready to like, I'm ready to move. I'm ready to feel strong. And so that that's where I'm starting from is this idea of vibrance. and I kind of want to just take that like a whole picture approach of like, you know, my vitamins that I'm taking and my sleep and fueling my body well, and you know, loving myself through movement and, and just kind of rediscovering that, that part of myself, um, especially now, uh, my kids just started school recently, and so I have more time for myself again. And so I'm excited to kind of, I don't know, get to know myself again in a way. So that's, that's what 2024 I'm hoping will hold for me.

Monica: Awesome. Thanks for being willing to share that.

If there's one small way women can get started on what they learned today, what would that be?

Kate: Hmm. I love this question. Choose one thing to do for 10 minutes each day that moves you incrementally towards the feeling you desire or the goal that you set for yourself. So if goals feel too scary, you don't want to set them right now, that's totally fine.

Maybe that's not the season for you. Maybe it's an intention or feeling that you desire. But just give yourself permission to do it for 10 minutes and don't multitask it. Um, I love this idea of monotasking, right? So maybe you take yourself for a 10 minute walk. Maybe you do a 10 minute meditation. Um, maybe you do a cold plunge, you know, whatever that is for you, but just give yourself permission to make your experience of life a priority.

Um, and that can start small that can start in like a 10 minute increment, but just carve out that little bit of time for yourself because you're so worthy of that time and. With repeated action of, of pouring that love into yourself. Um, it just grows exponentially from there.

Monica: Beautiful. Kate, this has been exactly what I needed to hear today.

And also just, uh, both, both, uh, an intuitive way of trying something new for me, but also still practical that like I can do this and I know my listeners can do it too. I would love to send them your way. Where do you want

Kate: them to go? Oh, thank you so much, Monica. Well, this has been such a pleasure. I could talk with you all day long.

So thank you so much for this time. Yeah. So, um, you can go over to my podcast, the live by design podcast. Monica is one of our recent guests. So you can go over there and give a listen. Um, and then my website is miss Kate house. So just mskatehouse. com. And that's where you can find all the things, um, all my different summits and courses and all of that kind of good stuff.

Fantastic. Well,

Monica: thank you for taking the time today and I will report it with you. I'll tell you how things are going. Just, I don't know if you're, I'm sure, absolutely. Let's just make this an experiment that you can say, see, it does work. And I'm happy to share that with you. Thank you again for being

Kate: on the podcast.

Thank you so much.

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