The 5 steps of living savvy are: Ask, Do, Discover, Commit & Celebrate. The Savvy Web Wrap is definitely part of the Discover step – I love connecting with information that shines a light on how we live and what’s important to us, looking into the experience of others and gaining a deeper insight into my own life. Here's what caught my eye (and mind!) recently…
Create a personal ad to meet the 'real' you
One of my favourite savvy women , Sarah Wilson, reflected on what it means to simply 'be' thoroughly Sarah:
We do stuff daily that grates with our true selves – go to gyms, meet the same toxic friends for brunch each month and remain in cul-de-sac careers – often for decades. Such sustained disconnect eventually renders us unable to access our true selves, to know what we really like.
She offered up a very practical activity to get to know the real you – fill in the questionnaire on a dating site! Love it!
Are you buying for you or for your 'friends'
I met a bunch of savvy people at the launch of Rebecca Sparrow's new book Find Your Tribe (and 9 other things I wish I’d known in high school). One of those was finance writer Justine Davies who was inspired to write this post on affluenza and luxury fever.
How much money do we waste on stuff that we only really like half-heartedly, but which we think we “must” have because others do?… And for what? To impress people who don’t really care about you anyway?
Justine kindly asked me to share some of my tips to get off the “keeping up” treadmill so follow the link to read more.
Fat crisis!
In this very honest post, Gaynor recounts that oh-too-familiar cycle of launching a big 'health overhaul' only to find yourself falling back down even harder on old habits and comforts.
None of my clothes fit me, but I don’t want to buy new ones because then I’ll only have to throw them out, because I’m going to lose weight (a period of denial that can stretch out to 6 months, before you finally accept that you are no longer a size 8, or hang on a minute, no longer a 10 either).
The story rang true for many women who shared their struggles to 'stay on the wagon' in the comments.
From the living savvy perspective, I hope that we all might think about being kinder to ourselves, and not beat ourselves up for what we haven't managed to maintain. Instead we could reflect on the things we are doing “right” in terms of diet and exercise. Then we could focus on one or two things that could get us closer to what we want. I've got more to say on this but I'll save that for another day…
Wrapping the wrap
It strikes me that this savvy wrap is (rather unintentionally!) all about comparing – whether to others or an ideal version of yourself – and how it can really bring you down. So, for final thoughts here's a link to one of my own posts: The comparing game and why it sucks.
What do you think? Join the conversation in the comments.
Related posts:
What a great article and important reminder for those women amongst us who set high expectations for ourselves which can so easily lead to the comparing game. When I am focussed on comparing myself to others and reaching out to be that ideal person I believe I would like to be, I realise I am becoming “self-centred” and blocking the flow of the amazing gifts I have to share with others. I wonder if anyone else can relate to this? Since reading this article I am going to embrace all of my womanhood with a sense of acceptance and freedom knowing that when I choose to do this I am living as I am meant to live – true to myself.
Chris McRae