Mocktails + Motivation: Workbook Goals with Functional Living

0:00 If you do have your book from previous years, it's in there, but there is a virtual tracker that we have. Yep. It's on the screen and it's in the description. Go ahead and get the virtual your virtual copy. Follow along. Yep. So, yep. You don't have if you don't have your book, but you should keep them. There's the the digital copy and you can follow along from the link in the description or hit up that scavenger hunt when you first meet your client. So, you someone reaches out to you and say, "Hey, April, I need your help." And you hear their problems. So, you talk to them about their problems. How can a living space get in the way of a person's emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual things in their life? From a personal standpoint, but also as well as with helping others. I have found that when you sometimes action brings clarity and maybe you're feeling stuck or maybe you're feeling

0:46 overwhelmed, you know, there's just so much and you don't know where to start. Sometimes just starting small can be really helpful. And one of the things I find helpful is kind of being a guide with person in their home when they're not sure where to start and to ask questions on, you know, what's important to you, what do you value or being there alongside as you're going through this journey. I think that can be really beneficial. One of the things that I found when you start going through your things, your home is like an extension of you. It's almost like how you are on the inside is reflected in your home environment. At the same time, your home environment has this impact on your inside. So it's like the relationship of the two kind of working together and when you affect one area impacts the other area and one of the things that I found especially when you're grieving. So whether it's a loss of a loved one or maybe a relationship ended or maybe you

1:32 just kind of went through an overwhelming experience that when you start to go through some of your physical belongings and things, you start to address some of those emotions that kind of come along with it versus just kind of putting it in this pile until you're literally tripping over that pile. when you start to go through it, you you have to face some of those things and that can be hard, but there's something so therapeutic as you're going through that. There's this healing experience that comes with it as well. When we're talking about so the intellectual I think sometimes we can maybe overthink things and get stuck in this perfectionism that it has to be this way that can kind of almost block us just getting started and it's more about progress not perfection and really like making home this place where you can truly live in not just survive

2:19 there. I was thinking too with like even the physical aspect of going through the things but maybe you have some health problems where it's physically harder to move some of the things in your home or maybe you've acquired a lot of items now it's harder to take care of them so it's physically impacting your ability to get through and navigate in your home that can certainly have an effect as well so I think it's not just about letting go of the things that are overwhelming you guess that's a big part of it what do you want home to be you know to kind of fill you up like I always like to focus on like the living places, the places where you do things, like the living room. Yeah. Living room. Your dining room table. Like it's a place usually where you eat together or maybe you play board games together or do art projects. But when we start piling all this stuff on it, then you turn it into a storage space. My favorite places are really

3:05 looking at those living places and trying to help families and individuals to be able to enjoy their home. The whole thing does have a big spiritual impact on you. you know, especially when you're thinking about who who you are, a spiritual aspect, like I believe in something more. I believe, you know, being able to embrace that in your home. I think that's kind of a special thing with it. Yeah. I think when you have clarity with your home and your inward self, that helps you gain clarity on other things, which should be spiritual. I think that's great. Yeah. I was helping this person. They had recently moved into a new home. So, this was a little bit of a different project. So, I feel I can help people whether they've been in their home for like 30 years or maybe you just moved into a new location. You're like, "Well, now what? How do you make this house home?" And it was just really fun to walk with them

3:50 and as we're like I was helping them unmove, you know, we unpacking some of the things and their favorite things and I'm like, you know, I see so much joy in your eyes about like, you know, the even like your dishes sometimes you be like, "Oh, I'm I'm only going to save these for, you know, that special occasion like something special every day." Enjoy. enjoy some of those things, you know, have them on display instead of like in a box hidden underneath all the other things. Like, cheers to celebrating now. Yeah, celebrate now. Don't wait. That was me, you know, in my early 20s living alone. I'm like, "Oh, I got this really cool dish set from Pier 1 or whatever it was called back in the day. I'll just save it when I have a dinner party." I didn't have one dinner party. And then I I remember moving and moving again and that dish set came with me and I'm just like so I end up

4:36 donating or selling her or something but I'm like that was a waste of space and that cabinet space to use that was actually functional but it wasn't functional for me. So well and having that and fun too. Yeah. Right. You know that if it's something that brings you joy to to utilize it. But you're right if it's something that you're not using and you know thinking of okay who can utilize this now. So, I love sometimes thinking of that, too. Like, okay, I'm ready to pay it forward. Blessing someone else. I love that. I love that. Like April said, like she meets people and sometimes they're not sure where to start. This page that's on your screen right now that shows the different dimensions of wellness. It's the perfect brainstorm page to figure out what you want to work on. If you're stuck and don't know what to do, it's an easy small step to brainstorm. So, we know

5:22 that you normally help people with many different aspects of their home and functionality of the home. Can you pick one common problem or goal you help your clients face? I think a lot of times people have a hard time figuring out what they want to do in the space and I think when I start asking questions or talking with people about like what's important to you or just noticing things in the home, you know, I noticed you mentioned this a lot and I think sometimes it's hard when you're so close to something that you don't always see it and then all of a sudden you have someone who kind of comes in and is newer to the scenario that just fresh eyes and bringing a different perspective that you're like, "Oh, Oh, I never really thought of it that way. Like one of the other things I really love to do too is where you can utilize something in a different way. Oh, you

6:08 know, you had this like let's say it was like a wooden box or something like that that you always stored. I don't know like your your DVDs in or something and you know you've always done that. It's okay to to switch the routine if you want to like oh what if maybe we tip it outside and now now it's a little end table for your lamp. Are you in my house right now? Just Yeah. So, it's just kind of fun to to like I love to utilize what you have and you know maybe have like some of your favorite things like let's display it in a different way or how do we make this feel cozy and home to you and the fun thing is it's all individualized to each person or family like there's no one place that's the same and that's what I don't know I think that's fun really love helping people on that journey and you know I

6:54 feel like I' I've been in this experience before too where you've lived somewhere but you never really made it you know, where you're always like, you know, you just had your stuff still packed. You never like fully lived there. And I think I just really want to help people to truly live in place. Yeah. That's that's actually really important. Yeah. Like what you're paying for this house or this apartment, make it home, not just the place you're living. The the common goal was what to do in a certain space, you know? Yeah, that's a big part. And then some concepts to help. there's some strategies and tips be like, "Oh, if you're struggling, maybe organizing might be hard or maybe there's trying to make decisions or routines or plans. Sometimes that can be tricky when when you just have so much. So, how do we simplify so that you can focus on what

7:39 you want to need to do?" Perfect timing. Yeah, that's perfect. So, there are what are two habits that a person can do to help meet that goal? We're obviously choosing a madeup person if they were going through this like a common issue for your clients and then the goal that they have and we're breaking down the goal into two supporting habits to get that goal done. Well, so one of the things that I like to do is if you pick a room, we'll start out with a living room and think about, okay, what do you want to do in a living room? So, I think the first thing is really select a certain area and then figure out what do you want to do in that space or what do you need to be able to do? Like for me when I think of the living room, um I think of like that's kind of a gathering place where you know where you hang out at the end of the day, maybe have conversations, maybe listen to music, maybe you watch a movie together, maybe

8:26 you play board games, maybe your kids bring their toys in there and you know it's the space where you live, like the living space. And if that room is something that maybe is feeling a little overwhelming to you, like what's one thing that you can do to get you closer to your goal of being able to hang out in your living room or do those things? If there's something that's blocking, just pick one little thing that will help you get closer to that. One of the things that I do is is I pick one little thing and silly, but I like throw pillows. I think they're cozy. You know, like a cozy blanket and cuddle up on the couch to read or things. Sometimes they get kind of all messy and it's just a pile. you walk in, it just looks a little extra messy. So, one little thing that I can do, it takes like less than a minute. I make the couch. You know, you put throw pillows like you make, you

9:11 make your couch and then like put your blanket on it. So, like one little thing, maybe it's your dining room and you have this dining room table and flat surfaces, you got to watch out for flat surfaces. Those usually those those are like way more often than collectors. I do too. So like one of my things that I think about so for for the dining room for me is that's a place where we want to enjoy our meals together. That's where we you know play board games or arts and crafts. I try to every night make sure that the table is clear so then it's ready for the next day. So that's like one little thing, one little habit that I can do end of the day. You know, if it's your kitchen, it's one little thing that maybe it's prepping the coffee pot the night before and setting the alarm on it so that when you wake up, the coffee is already going and helps you start the day. Or, you know, setting up for success. Yeah. Yeah. Or

9:57 maybe it's laying your clothes out the night before, you know? So, you're you're like, "Man, the mornings are a little like a little crazy." Then I find I do better when I made my lunch or help my son make his lunch the night before. So, then you're not feeling like maybe you're wanting to I don't know. I I was thinking like incorporate maybe a walk in the morning, you know, or just little things. Think about what is it that you want to need to be able to do? What do you value? And what are some little things that you can do to help you get a little bit closer to doing that? That's interesting cuz I you didn't say visual triggers, but I feel like you were implying visual triggers, right? Like to like your clothes. Yeah. For me, I am a very visual person that often times if it's behind something, I I won't always think it it doesn't remind me as

10:44 quickly. So that for me, you know, my brain is constantly thinking of ideas and like the creative side. So I find having my environment set up for me to help support that lifestyle is really beneficial. And so sometimes I have to flip over to my whatifs in my brain and be like, am I using my system? What can I do differently? Like, oh, where did that cluster pile come from? So it's like I'm like, oh, okay, this is all right. Whoops. Whoops. I took on a little bit too much this month. Like, okay, what what was helpful? And really like I think it's building that awareness and very mindful to be able to like reflect and think that did I take on too much, too? Right. Yeah. And some tough sometimes you don't realize it until all sudden you're like why am I so like edgy or why am I feeling this way?

11:29 But I think I did too much having some of those moments that it's in those quiet moments that we tend to notice that more and how often are we having a quiet moment you know and I think that's what for me like when I do art that's usually I'm I don't know you're focused on that but then all of a sudden it it just is very calming. So maybe it's a mindful walk or you know maybe you're in your car and you know you're listening to a calm song to kind of just get into that moment and really I think getting back to you know feeling centered or grounded. Yeah. I don't know. So those are just I don't know if that if I answered your question you totally are like there's no right or wrong. We're just we're just kind of like we want to talk about what you do as well as demo

12:15 for people how to use the workbook like different ways. Um and I feel like it's almost like the workbook's almost aligning with like the steps you go through with your client which is kind of great. That's perfect. Right. Right. Like so the habit of or like the goal of wanting a specific space to be cleared, you would um choose two to three like easy attainable. I want to I want to make sure I have this cleared off at the end of the night to set myself up for success. Yeah. And even if it's looking I I so three of the areas that I talk about is like function simplify and let go. And um so looking at what's the function of the space that you want, what do you want to and need to be able to do and incorporating some fun and play and you know that playful side of you. So when you come home it can be

13:00 this sense of I'm home, you know, and you're excited to be home. And then simplify like the simplifying systems and routines. What what are and that kind of leads into letting go. What what are some things that are not moving you towards the life that you want to live and what and maybe it's am I taking on too much? What can I let go of that that mental to-do list, you know, we don't have to do it all alone, right? I think I think sometimes we feel like we have to, but I'm really grateful like my husband, he helps out so much with the household tasks. Like I'm really grateful for that and I try to, you know, be like, hey, like we take we do the laundry together, we take turns team doing it. It is a team and we're like if you have kids having them help be a part of it and also finding too like

13:48 sometimes I know not everyone has like family support but maybe even looking at what are some different services out there to help if if like home management types of things maybe they're getting physically harder for you or it's just am in this season of life where you're at. it might be a little bit more challenging to take on another thing. So, you know, maybe maybe it's something like having someone help with housekeeping or, you know, there's um the laundry gal that's what I was thinking like. Yeah. Or maybe like meal prep types of things. So, which actually there I if you go on my website I hope this you plug away plug away. Yeah. If you go on functional.life life.

14:34 Um, I have a community partners page and those are actually two of my partners. So, there's a special gift if you go check that out that um Yep. special gift through there. So, I'll let you check that out. But yeah, and then even just kind of being creative like what can I let go of? Sure. I like that. So, speaking of what can I let go of, is a weekly habit tracker. So, we talked about the goal of let's say turning your living room into a functioning living room. Um, and then what are the two habits that we can do to do that? So on this weekly habit tracker with those two goals, how would you tell someone to fill this out to show them, all right, on Monday, Tuesday, or whatever day we could do this, and then this would this

15:20 here over here is like the check mark like, oh, I did that thing today. So, how would you show someone on the habit tracker um how to obtain those goals or what would be some healthy things to put in here or a pattern or Well, essentially, we're just moving those two or three habits that we talked about um from just before like if if we're deciding that we want to try to make the dining room Yeah. make sure to clean a table every night. So, we're just picking two or three or stick with two two habits that would support your main goal. And I know we're just narrowing it down to one example, right? She's so much more than just one example. Yeah. No, no, no. Well, I think the biggest thing is well defining what is what is the thing that you want to do? So like

16:07 if I say um I'm going to clean the kitchen, what what do you mean? What does that mean? And so for me, when I walk into the kitchen, having the dishes done, that helps makes it feel feel clean because I want to grab a clean coffee cup and have a cup of coffee in the morning whenever my husband. But but then even going further like what does doing the dishes mean? You know, does it mean does that include washing and drying or all the things? Does it include putting it away? Does it include the countertops? So maybe picking one small thing from that like if you're you because those day-to-day tasks like those are things those are daily things that you usually need to do and when you say on top of it it makes it easier because then you can enjoy your coffee if that's what you want to do or then

16:53 you don't have to wash your dishes before you make supper and or before you eat your bowl of cereal like it's it's already clean. Yeah. So I think thinking of that outcome um but picking maybe one small thing if maybe it's that well first of all I also think less having less dishes actually makes it easier because then you're not having to fumble through the cabinet. That's how I know when I need to do clutter when stuff starts falling. Oh you mean like quantity right? Yep. reducing kind of your inventory can be helpful of things that you don't use because it'll be make those day-to-day tasks a little bit easier. So, if I had to use this, I might pick one small thing. So, maybe it's um you know doing the dishes and things like did I and this could be

17:40 something you could even do if you have kids, you know, like oh check or maybe maybe one person's role is to put the dishes away. Um, or maybe it's a thing you do together as a family, like you know, one person washes while you dry. Um, I don't know if I I feel like I would pick one small thing. Just do yes or no. Did I complete it or didn't I? Perfect. And for me, I'm And it is one thing like this is one way to help with building awareness. Yes. Because I think sometimes we don't give each other so much credit. Really aware of what we're doing. But it's also this balance of you also don't want to just have your whole life being like check check check. So this is a nice tool that you can get to get started. Yeah. With Yeah. If a person

18:26 has an issue with doing something I think you know having a checklist or something like oh I should do that as a reminder or you know make themselves feel good about it. They put a sticker on it like oh I did that you know. Well, and maybe it's um there's a really good book called Atomic Habits that I highly recommend reading, but to you there's something called habit stacking. So, where you pair one habit with a habit you already are doing. So, like I want to do like squats, you know, or something like maybe you pair it after, you know, you get dressed like I'm going to do 10 squats after I get dressed or that I don't know that was just an example or something that you're already doing like hey I while I'm making supper I'm going to make my lunch for tomorrow too cuz the stuff is already out you know then then you're like doing it two

19:13 things two things in a sense but you already have the things out so might as well do I'm doing this well this seems like a natural thing to go. I think having something that feels more like similar or if it's something that maybe maybe a substitution. So, let's say like, ah, yeah, I've been binge watching a lot and, you know, this really good show, but I'm finding like, man, that's like two hours a day. Like, I really want to start reading more or something like maybe substituting part of that time like I'm going to listen to an audio book. Yeah. Or, you know, where I'm just the time that I would be doing this time, I'm going to do this instead during that. Sometimes that can be helpful, too. I like that. Okay. I love the um like going back to the dishes, the concept of

20:00 um and this is what we're doing too, like we're essentially breaking down one goal into smaller chunks. So if you didn't want to do all the dishes, just do some of them or like April was saying, just um wash and have somebody else dry. Just break up dry rack. Yeah, that can be applied to so many things. Just breaking things down into Yep. Yeah. Like if you're endurance or if you have health problems that maybe standing for long periods of time is hard. So breaking it down to okay, I'm going to wash and then put it in the drying rack and I'll rest for a moment and then I can come back and put it away after. So really figuring out like where is that person at in their in their life and helping them with that. Yeah. And you're

20:46 correct. It would be exhausting to track like this all the time every day. But if you're toilet, right? But if you're stuck on if you're wanting to make a change in your your stuff and you're wanting to make a new habit. Yeah. This should be a good helpful. Yeah. And it Yeah. Yeah. I think it's nice if you're someone who like benefits from having that visual visual and to help build that awareness like, oh, go me. I did before I was starting at zero times of doing this habit. Look at that. I did it twice this week. a visual representation. Look how darn good I did. Yep. Or like I need to work on this. So, also a good opportunity to reflect. Yeah. And I don't know about anyone else, but like you know, if you realize you walked into a house and you're like, "Oh my god, all these things need to be done." Some people can

21:32 get overwhelmed about the amount of things that has to be done, right? Then you find yourself just walking in circles and you're just like, I've been walking for an hour and nothing has gotten done. So, um, yeah, I like to start section and just work my way around and but yeah, I like that. I like that. I mean, April, you are so wise when it comes to these things. I still lots to learn. Yeah. I mean, I feel like a lot of it should be like, oh, duh. Like, it's not so much common sense because everyone's brain doesn't work that way. Um, but you have a lot of tools and and tips on like, oh, let's just start with this corner and then do you need this, you know? You got 50 coffee cups and you're a single person.

22:19 That was me. So, I just threw a lot of them away. And April is not judging judgment, right? And that's the good part. And I think that's the thing, too. Like, so I was thinking about this with art, you know, you have um there's some art that's people would classify more of as like maximalist art. where you like lots of color, lots of vibrant patterns, collections on display and then you have like more then a lot of times people think of it then there's this there's minimalism where it's like more open spaces simple a lot of things you can use for more ways than one and you know less out and the things that are out are you know maybe very specific to that person neither one is right or wrong it's really to a personal where where

23:04 you are and what I think it's It's not like a this or that. It's just a a range. Yeah. You know, like I would say I love color. I love books. I am not minimalist when it comes to those things. But like some things I recognize if I have so much out then it's almost like it's camouflaged for me and I if I need a reminder or having like the the vision board or white board like oh this is my my task that my appointments today or whatever my outline for today. I do better with outlines cuz I like some spontaneity in there but some structure but not too structured. But some people might might want more structure and some people might want it on the day, right? So it's not a this or that and and you could be like in different ranges throughout seasons of life before children and then during children and

23:50 then later with emptiness nest it just changes. It fluctuates whatever wherever your life is at that time. It just it changes. I know I was a avid planner person. had a planner, kept it in my purse all the time and I'm just like, I've got this and this and this and that and now I'm like I got things going on but it's on my phone now. Yeah. What are you doing today but you know I also still have that structure too like oh no I know I have to do this at 9:00 and I got to do this at 10. So it is a balance. It is a balance. You got to find that balance. It's a good thing and having grace for yourself and goal setting. It's okay to not meet your goals. Try again. Always try. That's life period. Like I thought oh I thought I was going to do that and it didn't happen. I I think sometimes we get almost this all or nothing. If I can't do it all at this perfect this way, then I might as well not even try not do it. But really like when you look

24:37 at what makes progress, it's that consistency. little things build up through time and you know over and over like when you're running for a marathon or whatever you don't just like you don't just like do it all at once usually like training for right like even with like your home like whether if you're working fixing it up like with an interior designer or something a lot of times you don't do it all at once but maybe picking incremental areas and that's okay like it's okay to get done yeah I love that what we have you guys in the audience, all of our people, we need you to put we heart April in the comment because we do. This makes sense. Tell us that this makes sense. This is great. Does this all make sense to you guys? Do you have questions for April or for us? Drop a

25:24 comment. Put a heart for April. Feel free to tag her, too. Yeah. things.