Episode 180: Questions & Scenarios to Consider to Highlight What you Really Want
It becomes so easy to get caught up in things that we think will make us happy, or what society or even friends and family pressure us to do or feel in order to create and facilitate joy in our lives. But I think that it's important to remember that it can be a lot more simple than we give ourselves credit for. And that feeling how you want to feel and living a life that truly brings you joy can be a lot more attainable and manageable than we may often think.
So in today's episode, I want to share both some creative scenarios and some lovely questions that you can answer in your head as you listen along or journal with later that will help you figure out what comes next and hopefully serve as some powerful and lovely reminders to ensure that the year ahead is more in your control than we think.
Transcript:
Welcome to episode 180 of the Mindful Productivity Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Steckler. And in this week's episode, I wanted to run through some questions and scenarios that are so worth worth considering to really Hone in and focus on what you want, not only for the year ahead, but for life in general. I think it becomes so easy to get caught up in things that we think will make us happy, or what society or even friends and family pressure us to do or feel in order to create and facilitate joy in our lives. But I think that it's important to remember that it can be a lot more simple than we give ourselves credit for. And that feeling how you want to feel and living a life that truly brings you joy can be a lot more attainable and manageable than we may often think. So in today's episode, I want to share both some creative scenarios and some lovely questions that you can answer in your head as you listen along or Journal with later that will help you figure out what comes next and hopefully serve as some powerful and lovely reminders to ensure that the year ahead is more in your control than we think.
So let's go ahead and dive into today's episode.
Welcome to the Mindful Productivity Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Steckler, and this is the place to be to live a more mindful and productive life. If you're ready to turn daily chaos into calm and start your days with intention, then get ready to join me. As we dive deep into mindful living and personal productivity. It's time to connect with your true self so you can live the life you want to live. And it all starts now.
Welcome back to the podcast, Friends. If you're new around here, I'm so glad you're here. And whether you've been listening for a long time or this is your first time, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to the very first episode of this podcast. Episode one. It's all about starting from where you are. That is an episode that I really feel is important and really culminates the true meaning of mindful productivity in a lot of ways. It can also be a really lovely episode to come back to if you're feeling overwhelmed or you don't know where to start or you need kind of a mindset refresh. So that's just your reminder for today. I also want to take a minute before we jump into this week's episode to remind you to take a deep breath, check in with yourself, breathe in through your nose, exhale through your mouth. It can be very helpful to do this, and there may be stress in your body. Most likely there is. So just taking a minute real quick. Wherever you're listening to, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, let your tongue fall to the bottom of your mouth.
A lot of times we hold it at the top of the back of our mouth without even realizing it. Just relax where you can. I've been needing to remind myself that a lot lately. Now that we are right now. At the time of this podcast, two years into at least where in the United States the pandemic started, I noticed myself feeling a lot more stressed. I have a hard time focusing on what really is reality. And what I mean is sometimes everything that's going on in the world can feel like so much and can feel so heavy that I find myself wishing I could wake up from this dream. But I also try to remember that there's still a lot of amazing things happening in the world and still a lot of good, but sometimes it can be hard to focus on those things. It's also been a little bit difficult for me, especially in the past few months, to hold on to hope. And while I don't want this episode to feel super depressing, I would be curious to know how many of you relate. It's hard to think about the future or plan for the future, or really get a grasp on what time has felt like lately.
So in today's episode, I thought it would be fun to walk through some fun and powerful both questions and scenarios that might inspire you to live your best life yet, to get more organized and to really start carving out time for the things and the people and the experiences and the activities that truly not only facilitate joy, but also create coziness, calm, peace, and tranquility within your life. Something that I have found a lot more of in my home the past couple of years. So I'm going to bring up I have a little notion Doc with some of these questions. So get cozy, grab a cup of tea, and let's go ahead and get started. So the first question and I think about this a lot. I think I think about it because I want to prepare one because we have forest fires here where I live. It seems like every summer possible earthquakes and tsunamis, and everyone's always telling me, you should pack a go bag. Now what is a go bag? Well, a go bag is a backpack or a bag that you can grab that has essentials in it. Right? Things that you need, emergency preparedness stuff, anything that you would need.
Hand sanitizer, Band AIDS, a can of beans, I don't know, you name it. Right. Flashlights, those kinds of things. And while that's important, I often ask myself, what would I pack in a go bag if it was strictly for fun? Like if I knew that I had to get out of my house and there was only a backpack that I could grab that would have my tried and true possessions that bring me so much joy or that makes me super happy. So I've been playing around with this a lot. And I actually think this weekend that I might actually get out of backpack and actually fill one up as if I was going to bring only one bag with me, with everything that I loved. And I think why this can be a fun thing to think about is that I know for me, especially since we've been at home for a while, I have found myself finding a lot more joy and comfort in material things and think what you want of that or whatever. But that's been a real comfort to me. And I definitely have bought more things over the past couple of years.
And while I like to live a simple life, I'm not someone I would not call myself a minimalist. If you've ever seen a tour of my office, you know that I love my things, but it does get me thinking about what are the things that I really enjoy the most and that actually help facilitate joy in my life. So one of the things I like to do in the spring and summer and sometimes fall as well is I like to go on planner picnics. And anytime I go on a planning picnic with my Bulldog Bella, it's fun because I usually bring a bag or two with journals, planners, stickers, washi tape, and usually a thermos of tea or a nice coffee. And it's really fun because I feel like I'm kind of camping for a few hours out of the park. And it's so nice to bring all that stuff out into nature. And it always has me thinking about this fun go bag. So the question here is, what would you pack in a backpack? If you could bring a backpack and you knew you were going to go somewhere and it was going to contain all the things that you truly love?
What would you put inside of it? I'll give you a couple of ideas of what I think I'd put inside of mine. I would definitely bring my planners and journals. Specifically, I would bring some of my hobanichi planners that I love so dearly. I would absolutely bring my mindful productivity guide in my Brain Dump book because I use those every day and every week. I would probably bring some of my favorite Steckler packs, some of my favorite highlighters and writing pens, and definitely a lined Journal so that I could free write and get all my thoughts down on paper. I love writing for fun journaling and memory keeping. Those things bring me a lot of joy. If I was going somewhere that was like normal reality and had internet and electricity, I would most likely also bring my laptop and my iPad and things like that. But I think I would also bring some knitting or crochet materials, something like that to keep me busy. And probably a puzzle or two because I love doing puzzles. In fact, I recently bought myself a puzzle mat which allows you to do your puzzle and put it all down on a mat and then roll it up and take it with you.
Which is nice, too, because you can be halfway down through a puzzle and not have to put it all away and make room for dinner or whatever on your table. So that's been really, really nice. So those are some of the things I'd bring. I'd also bring like maybe my Kindle and a book or two, something like that. A library card. Right. But what doing this and thinking about this makes me realize is that I was thinking about how often I actually make time for all these things and how other things in my office, in my home clutter up my life. And even though they bring me joy and I love looking at them or even using them, what I actually always find myself wanting to do is Journal more. And so this exercise got me thinking, well, if those are the things you'd bring with you in your go bag, why aren't you making more space and room for them to do those things on a daily basis in your current life right now? Right. Like keeping your desk space clear so that it's easy to Journal in the evening or actually going through and organizing your stickers and making time to do that instead of scrolling on TikTok.
So this first question goes out to you, too, and I'd love to hear from you. You can always tag me on Instagram, Mindful, Productivity, podcast, blog, or shoot me an email. But what would you put in your go bag for fun? The next question is kind of more of a scenario. And although it's probably not realistic completely, I think the scenario of it all gets you to kind of think outside the box a little bit. And that is if you had to move somewhere or if the world suddenly changed where Internet didn't exist anymore, what would you seek to do and what would you do with your free time? I was thinking the other night and I shared this with my husband about how growing up when I was little and I was a 90s kid, how I have so many memories of laying in my bedroom at night while the room kind of grew into a dark blue shade. And growing up, my dad actually built our house. He actually built it, put every single shingle on our house and built it from scratch. I think he had a couple of friends help him, but he built it in the Seventies.
And I remember laying in my room and I had this giant skylight that was like at the end of my bed. And so at night, if it was raining or if the moon was really bright, I could hear the raindrops on it really loud and I could see the blue light of the moon shining into my room. And I have all these memories of just laying there and being really present and mindful. Now, I didn't know whether that's what it was at the time, but I would lay there and I would just think about my life, and I would think about the trees, the evergreens that would rustle outside of my window, and I would wonder what was out there in the dark. And sometimes I'd be scared. And other times I'd be curious what kind of animals came out at night the time, what kind of spirits might be out there or anything like that. Right. And I was sharing this with my husband because most nights now, to be quite honest, my husband and I get into bed and we talk and we ask each other about our day. And then we kind of both find ourselves on our phones scrolling through TikTok, and that's fun.
Like, we laugh and we share TikToks and we talk about things and we cuddle with our Bulldog. But I was realizing that there's less time that I spend just being and how a kind of almost grief or sadness kind of a wave of it kind of came over me when I realized that I didn't make time for that anymore. How lovely it really was to lay in bed and not have the option of jumping on some kind of digital device or even watching TV, just laying in bed and falling asleep. And how if I did want to do anything, it would always be reading a book. And so this question of if the Internet didn't exist anymore, what would you seek to do? And how would you spend your time? It's not so much that I'm saying the Internet is bad or that these things are bad. I think they can bring us great joy and they can bring us closer together in different ways. But it does have me thinking, and it does beg the question how much of our time is spent connected to the Internet versus just being present listening to stuff online or watching YouTube videos or even listening to podcasts.
Right. Which I also think are great. But how often are we actually allowing time for our brains to just settle? And I think part of me feels like maybe I'm kind of scared to be completely alone with my thoughts all the time. Maybe sometimes it's easier to find those distractions and not give myself that room to think. But I know that if I had to live in a world where the Internet didn't exist, part of me feels like maybe I'd be a little bit happier. Or maybe it'd be a little bit easier to not be as distracted. I think, too, the Internet brings with it a sense of just knowing more about the world, which can be good and bad. I always remind myself that we can know literally everything that's going on in the world, but what's most important is our locus and scope of control. What we can actually impact and do. And that even though I like to stay up to date on world events and what's going on around me, there's only so much any one person can do. And it's important to remember that the weight of the world does not rely heavily on your shoulders alone.
So what would you do if there was a world without Internet? And the first couple of things that you think of might be worth spending more time on? Now here's another scenario, and this one's always really fun. If you had unlimited funds to build your ideal home, where would you live and what would you build? I'm pausing to really let that soak in. I'll tell you mine, if you don't mind. My ideal future life involves my husband and I buying a decent amount of land, maybe like four or five acres or something like that, and building our own custom cabin. I kind of want to learn a little bit about actually how to build it. Maybe it's like a kit home or something like that, but it's simple and it's humble and it's got a good amount of space, which something that I have come to really love now that we live in a place that's a little bit bigger. After living. I've lived in a micro studio. I've lived in a tiny house. I've lived in a 400 square foot studio before in the winter months, when it's really dark and you can't go outside as much, it's really, really nice to have a little bit more space to move around.
So I'd love that. And it would be so fun to have property that would allow for both some woods, like some forest environment, but also maybe a bigger field. I would love to have and raise chickens and maybe adopt. I know I'd like to adopt a lot of dogs, specifically elderly dogs or senior dogs, really give them a home and a life the last couple of years of their life that they could really enjoy. And maybe, too, there's more land, maybe there's more acres, and maybe we also have goats or cows or something like that, although it would be a lot of work and a lot of research to make sure we do all of that right. I also would love to have a place where we have, like, a guest home or kind of like a motherinlaw suite where my mom could stay if she wanted to or where guests could stay if they wanted to and really just a place that really had a lot of outdoor space. And I think I want it to be in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up here, and I love this area. And when I think about my happy place, that's it.
And I think it's worth thinking about what we really want. And it's interesting because sometimes I feel this pressure in the back of my head, like, dream bigger, like maybe you should want something more than that. But that's truly what I do want. And I think that's important to realize is that sometimes the things we want may not be as lavish or whatever as other people want. And that's okay. It doesn't make those desires any less important. So if you had unlimited funds to build your ideal home, where would you want to live? What would you want it to look like? What are all the rooms that you'd want in your house? I definitely would want, like a library, flash reading room with a fireplace and big, cozy comfy chairs and Ottomans. And maybe all of our dogs could hang out there, too. The next question and this kind of goes along with the first one, but if you could only bring ten things with you from your home for entertainment and fun, what would they be and why? So if maybe there's a lot more things that you enjoy that wouldn't fit in the backpack, maybe this is that question for you.
Are there certain things in your home that you really love using? Maybe it's like a craft machine or cooking stuff. What are the ten things in your home? The first ten things that come to mind that you would love to take with you and why? The next question is, what are your top five favorite meals? And I'm not talking about the most perfect healthy meals or the meals you think you should be eating. What are your five top favorite meals? Like, if you were coming home tonight and you knew that was going to be on your table with as much as you wanted enough to share with your family, what would that meal be? One of those five top favorite meals? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. I don't care what they are. Maybe it's fast food. What are those five favorite meals that you have that you just love get so excited over, and then how often are you actually having them? When's the last time you had one of them? Do you allow yourself to have those meals or those foods? And if not, why not have them more often? I think that just eating and enjoying food can be such a lovely, lovely thing.
There's a meal I make that my husband and I and my mom love, and I actually had my mom over for dinner recently, and I always make it. And it's like everyone's favorite comfort meal. It's actually a vegan recipe. It's like Chipotle Mac and cheese with roasted Brussels sprouts. You make the Mac and cheese with like, cashews and veggie broth and miso paste, and it's so incredibly delectable and savory and warm. And the roasted Brussels sprouts come out all crispy and just the right amount of salt and flavor. And every time I make it, we all are just like, oh, my gosh, this is so good. And there's something very Huga and cozy about that and sharing that with someone else. So what are your five top favorite meals and maybe consider making one of them soon. Same kind of question is who are the most important people in your life and how often are you talking with them, communicating with them, spending time with them where you can? I think that this pandemic has also made me realize because I've seen so few people over the past couple of years for obvious reasons, and it's really made me realize who the people in my life are that I really cherish the most and how often am I talking to them and reaching out to them?
I've definitely made more of an effort to get on the phone with those people more and check in with them more and hold space and write letters and cards. I love snail mail. So, so much. So who are those people for you and how can you reach out to them more? I think this is something we often overlook. The next question is a little bit futuristic and one of those questions where you get to kind of dream a little bit and plan, but what would change your life like truly change your life for the better if it happened within the next year? There are big goals and plans I have in my life and I often think that they can't happen for five or ten years when really who's to say that the timeline has to be that long? I think that big things can happen and change in our lives rather quickly and it really just depends on the actions we take and, you know, circumstances as well. But if there's something that you've been dreaming of doing or trying and you just think that you have to wait for some reason, right, or it's not possible for you yet, or you have to reach a certain age or you have to have a certain amount of experience, ask yourself, how would it change your life if it actually happened in the next year?
What if this time next year you were actually doing that thing or you'd done that thing and you'd had the experience and consider trying to find ways to start the ball rolling right. And make that happen. What kinds of activities make you feel at ease and how can you do them more? Being cozy is probably one of my most important core values for myself, and I've noticed more and more the older I get with every passing year that Huga and the forms of coziness are something that bring me a great amount of joy. So I have lots of cozy blankets in my house. I now drink peppermint tea just about every single night. It's become a little ritual. We got a new kettle this year from Costco that actually allows you to brew your tea inside of it and choose which temperature to brew the tea at. And I never thought that would be something that would be worth having, but it is so cool to be able to change the temperature depending on the kind of tea that we're making. So having cups of tea at night is really cozy, but coziness for me and feeling at ease and at peace also means other things.
So, for example, I've recently started cleaning a little bit more and creating a better cleaning routine in our home. We actually bought this was like a big investment of the new year. We bought a carpet shampoo or like you're an adult when you get excited about stuff like this. But I actually saw it on a TikTok and decided to buy it. It was like, on sale at Target and I had to order one from a Target that was, I think it's not the one that's the closest to us. I actually had to drive an extra 40 minutes because they were, like, selling out. So I spent the day driving to this different Target location and I picked it up and I brought it home and we shampooed one of the rugs at home. And it was like me and my husband were geeking out so much because we have this Gray rug with these white little embellishments on it and the white turned bright white and we had no idea it was so dirty. Anyway, we spent all this time. I spent all this time in the past week shampooing all of our carpets and I realized how much of a difference that made when things were clean and things were vacuumed and countertops were clear and I sprayed them and how I'm now in the habit of vacuuming just about every day and wiping down the countertops with spray every evening.
And those two things only take me about 15 minutes. We don't live in the biggest Department ever, so it doesn't take too long. And it's really nice to just do those couple of things on a regular basis. And we have two pets, so there's always, like, cat litter being tracked everywhere and our dog coming in and out. So as you can imagine, it's dirty. And just doing those things 15 minutes every day really adds to my ease and my peace, my inner peace. And I noticed, too, that when the home is clean and when I don't have papers piled up everywhere and when the dishes are out of the sink and things are put in their place, I don't get as stressed. I don't have as hard of a time making decisions. And I'm not sharing this to say that anyone listening that your home needs to be perfect by any means or that you have to do these things. But I've just been amazed. Kind of like the return on the investment in terms of time. That 15 minutes a day doing something so simple, it really doesn't take that much energy or time out of my day makes me so much happier, makes it so much easier also to keep up with the momentum of our household and it's really brought me a lot of joy.
So what are these activities that make you feel at ease and how can you do them more? For me too, reading is one of those things. It's always harder to get myself to sit down and read versus sit down and pick up my phone. But when I actually start reading a book, I'm always so happy I did and I enjoy it so much. So what are these things that make you feel cozy that make you feel at ease? How can you wrap yourself up in these experiences more often? How can you take time to check in with yourself and ask if you're on the path towards living the life you want, not just in the future, but right now? What are the things that you can do on a regular basis? What are the maybe morning or afternoon or evening routines that you can experiment with that make you feel at peace right now in your life? Because you don't have to wait until you make more money or until certain things happen in order to allow yourself to feel happiness right now you don't have to be living your ideal life in order to feel joy.
And I think sometimes we can get stuck in those habits of I'll be happy when or if certain things happen. And while it's important to dream and think about our goals for the future, it's also really lovely to remember that the moments we're in right now are the moments that we're living and nothing's ever promised, right? So I hope this podcast episode was a reminder of that for you. And I hope that some of these questions and scenarios and some of the things I shared helped remind you of what's possible and what you can dream and plan about in the future. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the podcast. If you'd like to learn more about additional resources and courses I offer, you can always visit Mindful Mindful productivity podcast back in your ears next Monday with a brand new episode. Until then, stay cozy, stay present and I look forward to speaking with you next week.
