Got a B.H.A.G.?

Take one deep inhale. 

And ….exhallllllllle. 

Remove any pressure from yourself. Take one more deep breath if you’ve got some extra weight on those shoulders today. 

Congratulate yourself for surviving quite possibly the toughest year of your life. You freakin did it!  

Happy New Year! 

I know we’re all hoping 2021 is significantly calmer, safer + feels more like a warm hug than the punch in the face that 2020 brought our way. 

The truth is - we all know a new year on our calendar isn’t going to change anything. It’s up to us to do the changing.

Cue Ghandi! 

So, when you close your eyes … what’s the one change you wish to see in the world?
 

How could you take part in righting the wrong? What’s one small tiny step you could hold yourself accountable for this week or month or year? 
 

Have you heard of the quickest way to identify passions? It takes only about 60 seconds. 

Sit down and write out the things that really piss you off in this world.

Boom! 

There’s your list. 

At the top of my (passion) list??

Because our country allows + promotes pumping thousands of harmful chemicals into our food, personal care products and environment ultimately winding up in (y)our bloodstream creating massive disease, chronic conditions, cancer, infertility, and the list goes one...

We tend to trust what our authorities tell us causing us to believe lies ("of course this is safe. It wouldn't be sold if it's not." ). Unfortunately the number of toxins that've been manufactured in the past few decades is so great our bodies are on overload - wrecking our well-being. 
 

So.... 

my B.H.A.G. (big hairy audacious goal) in 2021 is to personally support + educate 100+ women and their families to remove toxins from their bodies so that they can have the best chance of truly enjoying their life longer.
 

How am I gonna do this? 

Using my platforms to educate my community so that they (you) can identify their (your) toxins in their products + foods. Then, the second step is to swap to safer cleaner higher performing products. 

---

So, for now I’m asking for your help to do just one simple task (in three easy steps): 
 

• Round up your 10+ “go-to” products (hair care, makeup, skincare, soaps, perfumes, lotions, cleaning products, hand sanitizers, etc…)

• Pop over to the EWG Skin Deep Database to check out the toxic levels of your products. (Just enter in the brand name or specific product to find out the level of harm it's causing on a scale of "EWG Certified to 10".)

• Then, reply to this email or DM me (@wellthier_with_laura) ...whatever’s easiest to let me know which product is most toxic in your routine. And that’s it!

 

I challenge you start small and consider swapping just one product in January that isn’t serving your well-being. What an amazing ROI for your health in 2021 and beyond!!

If you want recommendations or wanna sample cleaner safer products, feel free to respond back to this email. I’m committed to helping you live a cleaner healthier life to improve your well-being in every way. (Seriously!)

And please share this challenge with 2-3 of your favorite friends + family members who you love and want to see live a long healthy life. ❤️ They’ll thank you for it. 

With love + gratitude,
Laura

2018 Resolution: "No More Shopping" Month One

With January coming to a close, its time to check-in with those resolutions and how they are coming along. Still on track?

I landed on my 2018 resolution after my husband read me a New York Times article one night as we were packing for our holiday travels. The article, My Year of No Shopping, really struck me! I had just been thinking about how much stuff we'd accumulated since Olivia was born and how I wanted to just clear out every corner of my house.

The article is about a woman, Ann Patchett, who made the decision to stop buying stuff for one year and what that experience was like for her. Of course she allowed herself the necessities like food/drink, travel, toiletries once she used what she had, but no new stuff.

After reading about her journey, I just loved the idea of no more stuff and challenging myself to stop buying. There's no quicker way to accumulate "stuff" than having a baby. We just have an abundance of bright plastic toys that clutter our home's once serene color palate and empty spaces.

I agreed right then and there that I was going to give this a try for the entire year. This means no more stitch fix, no manicures, no buying makeup (unless I used every last drop of what I had), no clothes, nothing for the home, no budget for luxury items. I'd only spend money on the bare necessities: bills, toiletries, and items that fall under family well-being. Similar to Ann, I was confident that I had enough half used or unopened products under my sink to last well over a year.

So I’m one month in and you may be asking what's transpired from such a challenge?

First off, I've had to become more resourceful! After taking inventory of our drawers and closets, I found a ton of items half used with many duplicates, like Chapstick, toothpastes, bath products, office supplies, etc.  This lead to my next task of decluttering our home and incorporating the "toss, keep or donate" rule.

After organizing all of our drawers and closets to see exactly what we do have, I was able to toss so much “junk”and donate useful things that no longer serve us. Win-win!

Another advantage, is a better sense of community. We’ve lived in our neighborhood for almost a year now, but until this challenge, I’d never visited our local library (just one block away). After almost hitting the “buy” button on Amazon for a book I’ve been excited to read I checked the local library and there it was, for free!

The advantages far outweigh the fact that I still don’t have that lamp I want or a new cellphone case that doesn't have baby bite marks on it. I’ve been able to clean out corners that needed the attention, donate clothes and toys we don’t need, and utilize the beautiful community library!

The one area I do still splurge: the grocery store. And I do buy things that are for the wellbeing of our family (diapers, house plants, and electronic tooth brush, etc.) and experiences. We're taking a trip to Park City next month and that counts for wellbeing and creating new family memories... all part of living a full healthy life! Can’t deny myself of that! :)

Besides saving money, getting to know my community center, and feeling happier with less, this process has bled over into other aspects of my life. I've noticed that I'm more aware of waste (especially food), getting more creative with the food we do have before resorting to shopping and being more conscious about recycling. By being more mindful about what you bring in and out of your home, you start to treat your space a little more sacred and value the items you do have so much more.

Hopefully this inspires you give that next purchase a second thought before adding it to your cart and your home. Do you really need it?

If any of you want to challenge yourself to "no more shopping" in February, let me know! It will be fun to see how you enjoy the process and what things you stop yourself from cluttering your space. :)

- Laura

More info on my process: I’ve been tallying what I wanted to purchase, but didn't and surprisingly there's hardly anything on here that I still want today.

Total NOT SPENT in January 2018: $758.00