This is the seventh in our new series of emails called “How I Monk.” In this series we will be highlighting + celebrating members of the Monk Manual community as they’ve meaningfully applied our tools and resources to find peaceful being and purposeful doing in their everyday lives. If you’d like to be featured in a future “How I Monk,” share your information with us here… #HowIMonk
Name: Jessica
Occupation: Ayurvedic Health Counselor
Where are you based: New York City, USA
A bit about who you are and and how you spend your days: I’m a NYC stay-at-home mama to 3 kids (ages 7, 3, and 2), and an Ayurvedic Health Counselor. I found the Monk Manual when I was postpartum with my youngest and was searching for a way to insert more rhythm, routine, and purpose into our days. It’s been two years of daily Monking!
Practical Monk Manual Tip: I set up my weeks so that each Sunday night I prep my weekly pages for the week ahead. This helps me structure what my week looks like, and prepare in advance for things so I’m not scrambling the day of.
When you were first getting started, what part of the Monk Manual did you struggle with most?
On the daily pages, figuring out the difference between the section of “Highlights” and “I was at my best when”. Wouldn’t these be the same?, thought my brain.
But, ahh! My heart soon found out they were indeed, two very different things. “Highlights” may be the things of the day that stood out (which can fall into the camp of good or bad and every shade of gray in between), whereas “I was at my best when” is those moments that I performed and felt my personal best
When I started paying attention to the things that truly made me shine, everything shifted.
Do you have a favorite prompt or section?
In the weekly section, “God Is Teaching Me”. If I go back and look over the years, I see that he is teaching me the same thing week to week, until I actually learn the lesson.
What originally drew you to the Monk Manual?
It reminds me that the little things are really the big things, and how we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
How has your life changed since using the Monk Manual?
It’s one thing to say “it’s important to be grateful” and another thing entirely to sit every night and write out that gratitude. The Monk Manual makes me live all of my greatest values, every single day.
What suggestions would you give to new Monk Manual users?
The Monk Manual is a tool that truly has the power to change your life–if used with regularity and intention. Carve out 10 minutes at the end of each day to sit with it and jot through each section. Don’t overthink, and don’t be too precious about writing neatly or with great grammar. Just get the words down, get the gratitude into the world, and grow in your life’s purpose, more and more with each passing day.
If you’d like to be featured in a future “How I Monk,” share your information with us here.
