Day 1 - Breaking Free: My Leap Year Resolution to Live Authentically

Journal Entry Day 1: Gain insights into overcoming life's challenges, balancing responsibilities with aspirations, and finding resilience amidst adversity

Hello! If you're new around here, my name is Krystal and I've committed to journaling every day for a year. I write these raw journal entries. What is unique about my style of writing is that I don't necessary follow the rules or writing. My aim is to write as closely to how I talk. What you will also find in my journal entries is transparency. I give you front row seat to my inner dialogue. That inner critic who shows up from time to time, I show you exactly when it shows up and how I shift. My hope is that I inspire you to keep on going despite what your inner critic is telling you in the moment.

Let's Jump in!

February 29th, 2024

Hi There, 

My name is Krystal and this isn't necessarily my first blog post, but it is my first journal entry. 

And! what an interesting day to kick this off as it is February 29th.

Now this isn't necessarily planned. I figured now was as good as anytime to start. Because life is now.

The inspiration for this comes from the iconic movie Julie and Julia. Where Julia starts a blog by sharing her experience of cooking from Julia Child's book. 

There are many things I love about that movie. The grit. The determination. The fortitude. The Creativity. The Ups and downs that came from committing to doing something like that for a year. 

With that, I’ve been rolling around the idea of doing something similar for quite some time. Heck, I think that movie was my original inspiration for starting a blog in the first place. 

To put my journey thus far into perspective…

I’ve written several other blogs. 

Yougottadreambig.com -- which was a self development blog about inspiring people to have the courage to do the things they have always dreamed of.

Thepipelinestrategist.com -- teaching sales techniques. And sales consulting

Letterstoyou.community -- a place where readers are encouraged to write letters to people to show appreciation. In return, people will form greater connections with each other.

Thehappytimesaver.com a productivity blog for busy moms.

As you can see I’ve attempted to do this many times before. All decent ideas and as I write them out Im feeling a bit sad at the fact that I had so many ideas and never really followed through on them. I do, however, have a bit of awe for myself, because I have come up with so many ideas. I have no doubt that no matter what the idea was, I probably would have been successful if I just stuck with it. 

Yet, I didn’t stick with it. And there is some shame and guilt associated with it.

Looking back now, I know now that it wasn’t the right timing for me. 

I had a lot going on in life. And eventually those websites became more of a hassle and a chore. Causing me more anxiety to keep up with it while juggling a full time job, being a mother of two, wife, and not to mention a relentless inner critic that would not let up. Reminding me constantly that I'm not cut out for all of this.

So here I go again. Attempting this yet again! 

The thing I'm doing differently this time is I am just not going to care about all the rules. I know there are frameworks, and best practices, but at the end of the day, those things just give me anxiety and make me want to give up. So I'm doing things my way this time. 

Also, life is too short. I just hit 35 a week ago (at the time of this writing) and all of us are going to die anyway, so why should I care or worry too much about the rules of how I write this blog. 

The thing that is most important is that I just write.

Consistency is what makes the difference.

And if you happen to stumble across this blog, maybe it will inspire you to drop all the red tape you’ve got around you and just do something you love.

I personally love a lot of things. There are many joys in this life (now I haven’t always felt this way, but more on that later I'm sure). I love to read, draw, create, run, blow bubbles with my kids, cook, eat, take naps. I also love movies and watching elimination shows on tv like Masterchef, Next Level Chef to name a few. 

And the focus of this is that I'm just going to share my life. Journal. Be transparent about what I'm going through and the inner critic thoughts that come up in my life. 

 Because sharing one’s life and unique journey is what the original intention of blogs were any way. Right?

I don't think that they are dead. There are many people still crushing it online.

Would I personally read someone's blog like this…eh maybe not. But I definitely watch people's youtube channels that are similar to this. 

And maybe it's just because I haven't quite found a blog that I love reading. I think every blog I’ve come across is just ok. Not one has ever really hooked me.

And as I'm reading back through this, I do recall a blog that did change my life. It’s called strategjoy.com. I stumbled across its pages and it changed my life forever. So my hope is that this happens for some who come to read my blog as well.

For me, I’ll be using this platform to practice my writing. And I'm sure over time I'll get feedback and tweak. And really, I just get to start somewhere.

I see writing as such a foundational thing that so many other things hinge off of. Script writing for videos, script writing for movies, Writing letters, writing books, writing articles, writing helpful blogs. Writing content in general.

It is a skill that needs to be honed. And I'm dedicated. And I’m committed to practicing. So here we go. This is day one. And let’s see what things looks like this time next year. By February 28th 2025, things may look a lot different around here. 

Can’t wait to see you tomorrow! 

Love Krystal