Fresh Starts Week 3

It’s week three of our four-part fresh starts series and we are talking today about all the ways we can take a fresh start in the content we consume. The thing is, we can make significant changes and improve our lives in more ways than just starting a five-day-a-week exercise routine or eating Keto for the next two months.

In my mind, one of the quickest ways to improve your life is to feed your mind well. Everybody takes in content, and honestly, it might be the thing you do most in a day. Whether it’s instagram stories or New York Times articles or a cat video, there are a million ways that we will consume content. So what if the small and critical shift you make this year, is to try and invest time into mostly high quality and enriching content.  Here are three ways you might approach that: ​
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1. Taking on a Reading Challenge

There are countless ways to do this, but I’m going to boil it down for you into two. First, Anne Bogel puts out a reading challenge (with lots of cute printables and a hashtag you can follow) that will help you to diversify your reading. You can also make your own specialized list of books that will enhance your actual life. For example, if you’re a parent, read that parenting book you keep hearing about. If you’re a teacher, improve your practice by reading that education research you’ve been meaning to get to. Regardless, make a list of the things that matter to you and choose a book list that will help you dive a little deeper. Set an intention now to get through them all in 2019.
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2. Download and Stock your Podcast App

The Apple podcast app is automatically downloaded on your phone and honestly that’s still the one that I use, but I’ve heard Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast are great options too. Once you have a podcast app you like, download podcasts that help you deepen your work in all the areas of your life that might need a stretch. If your spiritual life needs some love, I recommend Five Minutes Daily Prayers. If you want to learn more, download the Ted Talk podcast, and if you want to improve your business sense and intuition, try Jenna Kutcher’s The Goal Digger Podcast. It’s a little like taking free classes from the experts whenever you want to!

3. Get an Influencer

An influencer is anyone who influences the choices you make about what you buy, consume, or participate in. In order to get good quality content, you need someone whose taste you trust to recommend it to you. I use The Skimm to get my news, newsletters from my favorite bloggers or podcasters for articles, and specific friends who are true movie buffs and have really good tastes influence what I see in theaters. There is way too much good content out there for you to see it all, but having good influencers help you not miss the really good stuff.

That’s it for this week! Take some time to overhaul the kind of content you consume. Don’t get so busy with the so-so content that you miss the good stuff and when you do find something good, tell us all about it! Next week we are wrapping up our fresh starts series. See you then!