My 2022 Word Of The Year: Reclaim.

My 2022 Word Of The Year: Reclaim.

I had to. I had given enough of myself, too much of myself, over the previous two years. It was time to reclaim my time, my energy, and myself. Like so many of us, 2020 and 2021 was a blur, like everything was out of control and the pace of life felt unsustainable. On the surface, everything was great. Work was good, programs were selling, and clients saw the best parts of themselves even as the world looked bleak. 

But my days were without feeling. I was on autopilot. I started the day on my laptop preparing for meetings and responding to emails and ended them on my phone while I addressed hundreds of messages that flowed through my inboxes. 

I was supposed to be the boss. I was in charge. But it felt like everything else took charge of me.

As 2021 rolled over to 2022 I set a resolution for myself: wash my damn face. No goals about going to the gym or eating better or reading more books. Nope, just wash my face before I got to bed. Over the span of 2021, I got into a habit of falling asleep on the couch every night with my makeup on, only to stumble upstairs directly into bed. I was running myself exhausted. I needed to reclaim my days and reclaim my life. 

I gave myself the gifts of flexibility, time off, and travel. Instead of diving right into work in the mornings, I tried to do just about anything else - even meditate! (this is still a work in progress). For the most part, I stopped tracking my macros. I went to Hawaii in February. I didn’t do a damn thing for “work” in July. I went to Vegas in August to have my photo taken by Kai York. In September I went to Florida for Disney and a hurricane. I joined Patrick on a work trip to Eugene, Oregon  and visited Huntington Beach in December. Some of these trips were week-long, no-work vacations. Florida was our first official family vacation and we made sure it was an epic and memorable one. I have to say there is nothing I love more than spending time with just the three of us.

But the year was not without its growing pains. Struggles had, lessons learned. This April I felt the effects of perimenopause kick in. At first this was a change in my mood (read: ANGRY KYLIE) and extreme mood swings. Then I started seeing changes in my physique and my PMS worsened. I refuse to mess around with this sort of thing, so I started working directly with Dr. Jen Horton to get the symptoms under control and get to the root of what was happening. In time, I healed my gut and set off a positive chain of reactions for everything else that was going on inside my body. 

The Elemental Coaching continued delivering results. I expanded my team, but I noticed the size of the groups was waning. This had me seconding-guessing myself and what I was doing. It’s always been difficult for me to separate my self-worth from the number of people who signed up for my programs, or the size of membership for my VIP community. In retrospect, I know the groups had to get smaller so I could reclaim my life. This was the room I needed to grow other areas of my life and my business, and it was how my coaches were able to take more ownership of the program. 

Plus, smaller groups make for a better client experience. 

This was the year I reclaimed my worth by deciding there wasn’t anything wrong with me. For the longest time I was addicted to personal development (ironic, I know). When most of what you read and listen to is content that says “hey, you could be better,” you’re never quite at ease with who you are. The thing is, I LOVE coaching and personal development books, but I had to step away from some of it. Constantly analyzing everything I did and looking for ways to continuously improve started to bother me. Instead, I invested more in my personal therapy and stepped away from the personal development content. I’m still evolving and growing as a person, but I’m doing it because I want to - not because something is “broken.” 

There’s nothing wrong with me. There is probably nothing wrong with you, either. 

Then, sometime around the middle of November, the doubt set in. I felt unstable and started to worry about the future. I was worried about what people were saying about the economy and wondering how it would impact my business and the people I worked with. I was getting into my own head - this was very unlike me. I took the issue to therapy where I discovered the self-doubt and anxiety was me adjusting to how I was reclaiming my life. Working at a slower place after being in high-gear for so long can really shock your system. 

For example: I’m not working on Saturdays. For the past 15 years, I have worked pretty much every Saturday morning teaching yoga or spin or checking in with my Lift To Get Lean groups. Now, I’m learning how to be OK with not working on Saturdays. It is a strange feeling even though it is exactly what I’ve wanted all along. 

With the year coming to a close, I’ve felt a renewed sense of purpose and passion in what I’m doing. I’m ready to start a new year with these valuable 2022 lessons in my back pocket: 

1. Don’t just have a team, use your team.

1. Your worth is not tied to the success of your business, just like it is not based on your productivity or looks.

2. Only the universe grows exponentially forever. 

3. Don’t compare yourself to past versions of you.

4. If you believe in what you are doing and you are truly enhancing other people’s lives, you will be fine.

5. I’m doing better than most people. 

6. There’s nothing wrong with me. 

7. Express what worries you. Don’t let it marinate in your mind. 

8. Find people who can lift you up, especially if your job is leading others.

9. Just keep going because most people quit.