4 GOALS I AM SETTING FOR MYSELF ON MY 32ND BIRTHDAY AND WHY I’ve been 32 for a month now, but there are some goals and intentions I have for myself this year. PRIORITIZE REST OVER TO DO LISTS: I am as Type A as it GETS, but I realize it is coming at a cost to myself physically and mentally. I am working to reframe rest as necessary instead of being lazy. I recently saw a quote on rest that said, “Instead of asking, ‘Have I worked hard enough to deserve rest? I’ve started asking, ‘Have I rested enough to do my most loving meaningful work” and it has stuck with me ever since. DITCHING THE APPLE WATCH & CHOOSING STRENGTH AND LOW IMPACT EXERCISES OVER HIGH-INTENSITY CARDIO: This decision is overdue. While physical movement is vital to my mental health, I’ve been known to overdo it and focus on high-intensity workouts with little to no rest days. That isn’t being very kind to my body. I found the Apple Watch metrics to be a source of shame and, honestly, just UNHELPFUL, so I turned it off and put it away. I don’t need a random metric tracker to tell me “how good or not” my workout was. I need to focus on how my body FEELS and exercises that support it without keeping the cortisol high in fight mode all the time. INCREASE FINANCIAL LITERACY: For as long as I can remember, I have viewed investing and my financial future as “something I will do in the future.” At 32, I decided I wanted to attack and unpack money thoughts, shame, and insecurities and LEARN how to set myself up for financial wealth and success moving forward. I’ve been diving more into relatable financial content through deeper.than.money and even signed up for her 12-week Wealth Accelerator program to hold me accountable to achieve these goals. I never thought learning about money and creating plans for the future would be exciting, but it feels empowering! JOURNALING EVERY DAY: As a therapist, I know the benefits of journaling but never found a sustainable practice. I bought an insidethenout journal at the end of 2022, but truthfully I NEVER opened it. I told myself 32 was the year I was going to make time to journal at the end of each day, and I can proudly say I am accomplishing this goal