A 15-Minute Alignment Audit

For when you need a quick recalibration without questioning your entire existence

WEEKLY NOTE: I’ve decided to experiment with adding a “weekly note” section at the start of each week’s post to share any exciting updates or announcements. This week I’d love to tell you about a digital resource I’ve just began working on, dedicated to helping you either start your brand from scratch, or refine your brand, guiding you through every step from idea to launch. This resource will be helpful regardless of what type of project/brand you’re bringing to life, incorporating my 8 years of building my own brands and helping clients to build theirs. More details coming soon, but if you’re interested, be sure to join the waitlist to receive a discount once it launches! Also, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out:) Now onto today’s post…

Doing a self-audit of your life is no novel idea. It’s what we’re advised to do each time a new year or season rolls around, or when life just feels hard. It’s a task we can spend hours, days, or even weeks on, for once you go down the rabbit hole it can be difficult to re-emerge on the other side without feeling a bit in despair of all of the things you need to change within your life. And while I do see the value in these more in-depth planning and reflection processes, sometimes a quick recalibration will do just the trick.

Lately I’ve been repeating the same guided meditation on an (almost) daily basis, which includes identifying and releasing things that are out of alignment. Each time I come up with a loose understanding of what habits or behaviors need to change in my life, but I felt the need to go beyond the meditation and put pen to paper to create some sort of actionable plan.

Last week, after feeling particularly low for a couple of days, unable to focus or be “productive,” I sat down at the library and started jotting down a quick list of the main areas in my life that felt out of alignment. I didn’t think about it too much. Didn’t go into much detail or let my mind spiral into everything I need to “fix.”

I simply wrote about 10 or so one sentence bullet points, pulled them into varying categories, then linked them to habits and behaviors I was doing on a daily basis. At the end of this little exercise, I came away with six action steps that I could do that week to begin feeling more aligned in my life.

Here’s a breakdown of what I did in case it may be of value to you too:

STEP 1: Write out one sentence bullet points of areas in your life where you feel like you’re consistently compromising on your alignment. In other words, what daily things are you saying “yes” to that should be a “no?”

For example, one of mine was: The way I dress, never feeling completely confident or comfortable in what I put on everyday.

Another example was: The amount of time I spend on screens/scrolling social media.

STEP 2: After you’ve gathered a quick list, categorize them to get a more clear picture of what areas you need to focus on. For me this included:

HOME & ENVIRONMENT

ROUTINE & TIME MANAGEMENT

WORK & CAREER

PERSONAL STYLE

TRAVEL

ATTENTION & FOCUS

The point isn’t to try to tackle every single category now, but instead, give you an overview of what areas you’d like to improve upon.

STEP 3: Finally I looked back through my list I created in the first step and the categories from the second, then I chose a few small actions that I could begin making meaningful progress on immediately. Like today.

Going off of the two examples I mentioned above, here are the action steps I planned to do:

Example 1: Out of alignment in the way I dress

Action: Go through closet and give away anything that doesn’t feel good to put on.

Example 2: Spending too much time on screens/social media

Actions:

• Buy an alarm clock so I don’t have to rely on my phone to wake me up, which I know leads me to checking things like email, social etc first thing in the morning.

• Put my phone in another room during focused work time

I can report that at the end of the week, I followed through on going through my closet, but didn’t order the alarm clock as planned. Without being too hard on myself, I will simply move the actions I didn’t get done last week to my agenda this week, and re-evaluate what other tasks feel manageable for the week ahead.

When is a good time to do a little alignment audit?

• Anytime you feel in a funk or have a lack of clarity/focus

• Are entering a new season or chapter

• Have made meaningful progress in some areas of life and want to identify where to focus next

• Or even at the beginning of the week/month for a quick reset

For me personally, when I’m feeling conflicted or “blocked” on what to do or create next, I’ve been reverting my attention away from my work and back into my life. As much as I feel the need to force clarity or inspiration, I know that’s not for the best and nothing substantial will come from it. While it may be challenging to step back and focus on areas where I do have control, I know that aligning my daily habits will create space for more magic to unfold in other aspects of my life.

I’d love to hear from you: When you feel uninspired or lack clarity/direction, do you have any go-to exercises or practices to help?

As always, thanks for reading and until next week,

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P.S. If you’re currently navigating your next steps or have an idea you’ve been dreaming of turning into a reality, I would love to work with you! You can learn more about my “Roadmap” offerings below where I help guide creatives and founders (aspiring or established) from vision to tangible results.

Also, we will be sharing all the details about our fall retreat in Paris soon. Be sure to join to waitlist (or subscribe here) so that you don’t miss it!