Routines – Page 4 – Melissa Schlies

Sometimes, Change Isn’t the Problem

Sometimes, change isn’t our problem. I know it feels like a weird time to say this, as change is all many of us have experienced this year. Not only that, but many of the changes that have come our way, haven’t been good. The difficult part of change, isn’t always the change itself. Only the difficult part of change, isn’t always the change itself. Rather, it’s the many minuscule reactionary changes that it sets off in its wake. I’ve been feeling this especially since our move last month. As I shared two weeks ago, after eight years of trying to [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-08-08T23:28:06+00:00August 10th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Anxiety, Change, Habit Making, Health, Practice, Routines|Comments Off

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

One of the most surprising side-effects of social distancing, for me, was not feeling compelled—or at times even able—to read. As someone who can, in some seasons, put away more than one book a week, you’d think I’d have been excited for all this extra time to bury my nose in some printed pages. Only often, I couldn’t read. My brain felt overwhelmed by all the information we were getting on a daily basis. My heart was heavy for all those who were suffering, from all we were collectively losing, and—I was missing time with my dad. For all these [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-07T23:09:31+00:00June 8th, 2020|Categories: Good Books, Mental Health, Routines, Self Care|Comments Off

Three Screen-less Self Care Practices for the Pandemic Weary

Last week, for the first time in months, I went to see three people I love. There were birthdays and graduations to celebrate, so I dropped off gifts at each of their door steps. We kept our distance. Masks were worn. And—it was harder than I thought it would be. Where I expected my visits to be like little reunions, a sadness hung in the air. We couldn’t hug like we normally do. Almost everything we talked about related to how the virus has changed our lives. And being together—at a distance—was good, but strange. We kept our distance. Masks [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-05-27T12:57:24+00:00May 21st, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Practice, Routines, Self Care, Social Distancing|Comments Off

A Social Distancing Survival Guide for Everyday (Free Download)

They say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Right now, we’re all feeling the truth of this statement in a way we’ve never experienced before. It's amazing how much of our lives have changed in such a short period of time. Not only has the pandemic caused us to give up the majority of our social interaction for the foreseeable future, but it has also cost us many of the crucial components of our everyday lives. We’ve had to say a lot of goodbyes. Some forever, and some for an unknown amount of time. Some as [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-06T16:03:08+00:00March 30th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Anxiety, Change, Courage, Depression, Fear, grief, Habit Making, perseverance, Routines, Social Distancing Survival Guide, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Social Distancing: Five Tips To Working From Home

It’s a strange thing to find oneself at home interminably, when so much of your life has been at your job. If you live alone, all of a sudden everything is very quiet and still. If you have kids, it’s the opposite. And, if your home has become your work place, it is all the stranger. To do work in the place you rest feels unnatural, and terribly distracting. Yet this is where most of us have found ourselves this past week: Working from home. As I decided to pursue writing and life coaching a few years ago, this reality [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-18T23:19:26+00:00March 19th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Balance, Change, Creativity, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance, Preparation, Routines, Social Distancing|Comments Off

Three Ways to “Practice” Life

When graduating high school or college, how many of us were ever asked, “What do you want to practice?” I am guessing that unless we were expected to pursue law school or medicine, the answer is—none of us. The question was usually, “What are you going to do now?” Doing and practicing have such different connotations. The first gives the impression that we’ve arrived in our occupation. While the second, seems to give permission to explore, improve, and even, mess up. I find it funny that the only adult careers where the word “practice” is used as a noun are [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:38:50+00:00January 23rd, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Freedom, Habit Making, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Practice, Preparation, Routines, Success|Comments Off

In 2020, Let’s Use A New Word

One day, this past year, I sat in child’s pose on my yoga mat. I was in my living room, streaming a yoga class on my laptop. And like any class you’ve taken more than two or three times, I was only half paying attention. I knew what I needed to do (breathe). And I knew what I needed to do next (downward dog). But then, the instructor said something I had heard her say before. Only this time, the full meaning of her words took root. She said, “Today, pay attention to where you are at in your practice.” [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:37:38+00:00January 20th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Balance, Change, discipline, Failure, Habit Making, perseverance, Practice, Preparation, Routines|Comments Off

Three Things to Remember About Making New Year’s Goals

As I shared last week, I love a good challenge. I am not talking about an in-the-moment dare to do something crazy. But rather a thoughtfully planned, thirty or so day challenge to do something that helps me grow and change. But even though challenges are great because they jumpstart us short-term, they can still be hard. Challenges are hard, because change is hard. Whether you have jumpstarted your 2020 with a Challenge, or you’ve gone the traditional route of modifying your habits to help you reach your goals—by now, I know you are feeling this. Cutting out indulgences, or [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:36:58+00:00January 16th, 2020|Categories: Balance, Change, Courage, discipline, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance, Routines, Success|Comments Off

In 2020, Start Small

On Monday, I shared I was terrified the first time I climbed a mountain. Mostly, because I wasn’t ready. But honestly, I made it all the way to the peak that day. It felt amazing. Until, I hurt my knee on the way down. Then Tony half carried me about three miles as I wobbled back to the car. We were dating at the time, and boy did that experience solidify our relationship. But it also taught me I had to get in better shape if I wanted to do it again. Sometimes, the mountains we want to climb in [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:35:14+00:00January 9th, 2020|Categories: Calling, Change, Courage, discipline, Habit Making, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance, Preparation, Routines, Start Here, Success|Comments Off

In 2020, Start Here

The few days right after New Years are always interesting. Like geese migrating with the change of a season, some of us flock to the nearest gym, where every treadmill or elliptical machine is taken. While others of us suffer through what I like to call the Holiday Hangover. It’s that exhausted, “What just happened” feeling we get when the alarm goes off for our first day back at work. Or, getting back into our pajamas as soon as we come home from said job, because we just can’t. And sometimes, if we’re truly unlucky, the Holiday Hangover includes [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:32:23+00:00January 2nd, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Change, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Preparation, Routines, Start Here, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Sometimes, Change Isn’t the Problem

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

Three Ways to “Practice” Life

In 2020, Let’s Use A New Word

Three Things to Remember About Making New Year’s Goals

In 2020, Start Small

In 2020, Start Here

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