Last week, after I shared the news that my memoir will be published in October, I almost did what I always do: move on to the next thing. “The next thing” is everything related to launching a book—basically a whole new project.

Just as I was about to get going, I stopped myself. I noticed that I was in a unique place in the month—as February rolled into March—to allow space to reset. I knew it was time for a reset because lately, so many things about my daily routine just don’t work anymore. Things that used to give me energy and fill me up just don’t.

• Lately, I’ve caught myself polling a few close friends about their daily routines, as if searching for the secret sauce.
• As much as I love working from home, I realized that I’ve become bored and a bit lonely.
• I’ve noticed that I’ve lost my motivation to exercise, which rarely happens.

This week, I decided to switch things up. Which is why I wrote this newsletter from a (new to me) coffee shop while my car was getting worked on next door. The music overhead and muffled conversations in the background didn’t distract me as they typically do. The collective energy fueled me, and I needed that.

I also experimented with working out and running errands at different times of day. One morning, instead of opening my laptop, I went to the gym and then to Costco. As I stood outside my car at the gas pump, I closed my eyes, turned my face towards the sun, and allowed myself to breathe.

Next week, I scheduled a lunchtime beach walk with a friend.

I took some time to make some areas of my house more functional. I decluttered and organized the entry, very small laundry room, and overflowing/disorganized linen closets. As a family of five, the kids are growing but the house is not.

Last year, I wrote about how it felt to shift my identity from someone who is writing a book to someone who has written a book. And, now, I’m in the process of becoming someone who has published a book. I am an author.

It’s funny when you arrive at the place you always imagined and realize that along the way, you became someone different. I’m not the same person who started on this journey—a young mom who decided on a whim to go to her first writing retreat when her second child was still in the womb.

I feel like the new student at school, inside the cafeteria, searching for a place to sit. I’ve become the new girl inside my own life. I’m ready for new experiences, new routines, and a new way of living.

Or maybe I’m not ready at all. But it’s happening, and the door is open. I sense that it’s time to walk through.

Something to consider:

If the old way of doing things just doesn’t work anymore, look at how you can switch things up. Do you need a reset?

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