Week One: Creating Your Travel Map

During the month of January we are going to kick off a campaign of self-love and becoming your most powerful self. Food, Confidence, Magical Practice, Mental Exercise, and Manifesting your Dreams are just some of the topics we'll divulge juicy secrets about. Join in with #WholenessChallengeMagic on Instagram.

You’re about to make 1000 little changes. Not all at once, of course! That would be unrealistic and I don’t recommend doing that to yourself all at once. Evolution takes time and little steps. But not all of us take the same size steps. Some of us have worked out that achievement muscle regularly and can take a huge leap and decide to completely change your way of doing a few things. Others of us have been so wrapped up in that daily grind that we have to try & remember who we even are and what that person needs. That’s okay! It doesn’t make you any less powerful than those people you see who seem to have it so easy- you’ve got a lot going on. But it is time to become aware of yourself, again.

“What does that even mean? Of course I’m aware of myself. I know when I get hungry or overwhelmed. I know when I want something, or when I’m just done with a situation.”

This is only the surface of being self-aware. We all know these basic things about ourselves. What I’m talking about is deeper than that. It’s becoming aware of your own needs before they’re a red flag that's smacked down in the middle of your day. Let’s be real: we all know by now what kinds of events or feelings get in our way. Like being at work and realizing you’re damned hangry, deciding to answer the phone to talk to someone who you already know is going to ruin your mood, or realizing that you’ve not prepared yourself for the day and now you’re feeling stressed out of your mind. The truth is, love, all these things are in your control.

“You’re going to teach yourself how to be the Empress of your life.”

Being self-aware is more than just knowing what’s going on inside your mind or body. It’s about understanding what kinds of interactions you’re going to be having with your environment and preparing yourself for them. We cannot avoid the stresses of that daily hustle entirely, but we can be armed with the tools / the physical strength / the mindset to overcome them.

So let’s do a quick meditation. Light those candles, get that oil diffuser popping, put on some music, or just pull out a pen and paper / your digital notes.

Now picture a typical day for yourself: how do you wake up & start your morning, go to work or prepare for a day off, feed your body, care for your family / friends, do chores, plan your next moves, care for yourself, etc? So now you’ve got a picture in your mind of how you live your life. Now think about and write down what your strengths are in a day and what you love about yourself / your situation. Is it the way you organize your time or deal with people. How about those problem-solving skills you have or that feeling of being a bossy hustler? Do you have a home that brings you comfort or have you created something wonderful to be involved in? Maybe it’s even just that you love the way you express yourself throughout the day or find creative small ways to practice your craft. I’ll be honest, I have to look at my own life in a bigger picture kind of way to remove myself from all the tiny details of my day and actually see my overall qualities. But those events help me to have a place to start taking a closer look at myself and how I respond to things.

This next part is going to be harder, unfortunately. It’s the part where you just go ahead and get into those gross, negative details. Think about all the things you don’t like about your day. Do you wake up tired or with dread, eat on-the-go and unmindfully, dress yourself in clothes you don’t like, have to fight through messes, deal with emotional roller coasters, or just have a bleh feeling of discontentment everyday? Whatever it is, write it down. There is power in physically capturing these feelings. I do want to mention, though, that this is not to be an attack on YOURSELF. You are focusing on your day and the events / feelings. You see, you are who you are, but sometimes we have a skewed perception of that because of the things that we choose or that happen to us. This doesn’t define who you are.

“Who you are is defined as how you respond to and perceive the events in your life.”

Guess what you just did? You created a map. “The hell kind of map is this??” It’s a map of things to leave behind and routes to get where you’d rather be. Well, almost. Those negative points you wrote down are the things you are leaving behind or the roadblocks that you’re going to learn new detours to avoid. The good points are the routes you are going to use to your benefit. Now you just need to plan the rest of the journey.

The last thing you need to write down is where you’re going specifically and how you’re going to get there. Do you want to have a cleaner home, a more regular magical practice, lose weight and get into shape, just feel more content with life, have more genuine energy, etc? You may want all of these things, and eventually you’ll master them all. So go ahead and write them down, but just know that you will be starting small. So figure out where your most critical starting point is. As you go through your journey to live like that goddess you’ve had within all along, you can refer back to this map. Maybe you skipped waaay ahead and did a whole lot at once. Maybe you need to go back to work on an area some more. Just go with that flow of how you live and understand when you are presented with an opportunity in your day to walk on that path you wish to be on.

"Health and growth of self are ever evolving, so understand that the journey is the victory and you'll know when you get there."

If you truly desire to be a badass magical queen then you have to walk that walk. But there’s no defining moment to tell you that you’ve arrived. You’re not going to wake up one day like a Disney princess with the birds singing yo theme song and there’s a crowd waiting outside your door to lift you onto your throne and take you to your castle. Understand that you are probably wanting something for yourself that you almost have to forget about in order to achieve, like an intention you put into the universe. It’s not like filling up a pitcher of water where you can see the water level and know how much longer you have to go.

Even the smallest little choices you make in a day are helping you define to yourself who you are. Literally the very moment you decide to do something that you know gets you closer to your goals, you are actually living that life. So keep doing that, keep making those choices. It’s just choosing a path and putting one foot in front of the other, all the while you should be reminding yourself “I am / I have / I do” all of those positive tiny things you’ve done for yourself in day. You chose an apple instead of cake. Well damn gurl! You are eating healthy! Own it- it’s your victory and you don’t have to wait until you get the recognition or approval of anyone else to say it’s yours.

Let’s recap:

Step 1: think about your day

Step 2: understand what your strengths / good practices are

Step 3: be aware of the experiences you want to change (eating, environment, body image, etc.)

Step 4: create your travel map

Step 5: congratulate the hell outta yourself for each victory and better decision

Step 6: BONUS! Get involved with this community for extra love, support, magical advice, and motivation

Resources for this challenge will be shared on the home page. My beautiful friend Ayodele (@bossybruja) will be my cohost on Instagram during the month of January, so be sure to follow along with her journey as she will be the sis who brings us all together. Feel free to use the ‘contact’ page on this site or reach out to me on my Instagram (@sage.skadisdottir) if you have any questions or suggestions. Remember, we are a community and we will strive and thrive together! Be sure to tag your photos / thoughts / videos / recipes or anything you want to share with #WholenessChallengeMagic