26 Dec Not Resolutions…More Like a Midlife Inventory 📝✨
in Notes with NJ
💌 Notes from Natalie
End of year is such an interesting time, right?
I don’t know about you, but even when I do not intentionally sit down with a journal and a candle and say “let me reflect,” my brain does it anyway. It’s like an uninvited pop up window that says:
What did you love this year?
What did you not love?
What would you do differently?
What would you keep exactly the same?
What do you wish you could change?
Not really resolutions…more like an inventory. A casual audit. A mental closet clean out where you decide what still fits and what needs to go donate itself quietly.
As I’m writing this, I’m in San Diego, where I lived for over 20 years, staying at my best friend Allison’s house. She’s at her other house in Mexico right now, which I know some people might read and go “must be nice” 😂
And yes, it is. But that’s not actually the point of me mentioning it.
Allison is in her 60s, she’s my best friend, and we are those friends who sometimes show up wearing basically the same outfit. We joke about our ADHD constantly because one of us is always forgetting our phone, losing our keys, or doing both at the same time. We are so similar in so many ways, except she’s about a decade ahead of me…which is honestly one of my favorite things.
She’s also a nine figure earner. Yes, nine. I said it. And no, she did not start that way. Quite the opposite actually.
As I’m staying at her house and looking around her beautiful yard, I keep thinking about the story she’s told me a hundred times. She visualized this house long before it ever existed. She did not know how it would happen. She did not know when it would happen. She just got very clear on what it would feel like to live here, and then she worked backwards.
Same thing with her place in Mexico. Same process. Vision first. Logistics later.
You might read this and think “well of course she can do that, she’s a nine figure earner.” But she wasn’t when she started visualizing any of it and that’s kind of the whole point.
Everything she has created in her life started with clarity around how she wanted it to feel, look, and be. Not just grinding harder. Not just hustling more. Vision first. Action second.
I actually did a quick video about this on my Instagram and Facebook this week, and I also recorded a full podcast episode with her not too long ago if you want to go deeper into that conversation. It’s one of those listens that sticks with you.
Another realization being back here in San Diego, and maybe this is because it’s been cold and rainy which is honestly rude of San Diego 😂, is that Arizona is really growing on me!
If you followed me a couple years ago, you know I was miserable when I first moved there. Like truly miserable. And now I’m appreciating the dryness, the sunshine, and the fact that it’s basically sunny every single day. (Even though I heard it’s raining there this week too, apparently the weather is just doing whatever it wants everywhere.)
I’m realizing I actually love both places. 🌵 🌊 Different vibes. Different energy. Different chapters. And I kind of like having both.
I also got to spend time with my daughter and some of my California friends this week which was really nice. I hope you found some pockets of down time too, even if it was small and imperfect and involved hiding in the bathroom for five minutes of quiet. 😅
One more thing before I go.
This week on my podcast, I released a really interesting episode about depression and anxiety. What’s fascinating is how much the conversation has shifted over the years. First it was depression and anxiety. Then adrenal fatigue. Then cortisol. Now nervous system dysregulation. Sometimes I’m like… are we talking about the same thing with a new outfit on? 😂
I interviewed Dr. Gravino and we really unpacked what’s happening underneath all of this. You can watch the episode on YouTube or listen to it on the Midlife Conversations podcast on Apple here or Spotify here.
As we wind down this year, maybe this is your gentle nudge to check in with yourself. Not to judge. Not to beat yourself up. Just to notice. What worked. What didn’t. And what you want more of next. 💖
And if your only clear intention right now is “less chaos and better sleep,” honestly same.
Talk soon,
Natalie Jill
