Simple Living: A Slow Shift Toward Micro-Goals

When I first wrote Simple Living: Redefining My Goals and Foundation, I was taking an intuitive leap into what I wanted to do differently when it came to planning and living simply. That post marked the beginning of a shift—an internal decision to redefine what simple living really looked like for me.

Since then, I’ve realized that clarity and specificity are essential. I had to ask myself: What actual steps, within my current reality, resources, and capacity, can I show up for consistently? Most importantly, I had to be sure I was doing these things for the right reasons—not to showcase, not for content creation, and not to meet anyone else’s expectations. These had to be choices that genuinely felt aligned with my heart.

Because when things inevitably get challenging, I need to know that the why behind my goals is rooted in something deeply personal and joyful. Here’s how I’m continuing the journey with micro-goals under the same foundation.

1. How Can I Begin Building Sustainable Habits?

In my original goal setting, this centered around improving my relationship with food and food sustainability. It included starting a garden, learning to grow my own food, and exploring herbalism as a practice.

Where things are now:

While the garden is still small and slow to bloom, it already feels like a quiet triumph. I’ve brought seedlings to life using recyclable materials as starter pots—experimenting with everyday items I would normally toss, giving them a longer life and new purpose. I’ve harvested a couple of peppers and some basil, and to me, that’s a beautiful accomplishment. I’ve also noticed a cucumber bloom that may actually produce before fall. Whether it does or doesn’t, that’s totally fine. I’m content with my progress this season and simply knowing that I can grow from seed feels like a huge accomplishment.

What matters most is how I’m allowing myself to approach it. Not with pressure to produce or compare, but with curiosity and care. I’ve been documenting the process in a journal, tracking progress, missteps, small surprises. Getting acquainted with what it feels like to grow things from the ground up.

It’s not about fast results. It’s about building a relationship with the land, the process, and myself while learning to meet each stage with patience, presence, and creativity.

My next micro-goal:

(Inspired by recent journal entries) A gentle return to physical planning, by hand.

In the past, especially when my kids were younger, I used a physical planner that was often filled to the brim with activities, commitments, and to-do lists. While that season required a high level of organization, I now recognize that I sometimes used planning as a way to avoid creating margin in my life. Rest and creative freedom were often crowded out by the sheer volume of what I felt I had to manage. That over functioning mindset, while necessary back then, eventually led me to step away from traditional planners altogether.

Now, I’m making a soft and intentional return to using a physical planner, but with a different purpose. This time, I’m allowing it to be a space of trust, rhythm, and creative restoration. I'm not planning to fill every space. I’m letting it reflect ease, color, and joy with room to doodle, color-code, and make it mine again in a way that feels nourishing rather than overwhelming.

This reconnection is about healing an old habit, reclaiming something I once loved, and preparing myself gently for future rhythms of organization—especially as I think ahead to the next season and year. My physical planner is no longer a tool of overdoing but a creative companion in slowing down and being more intentional.

2. What Does Prioritizing Wellness Mean to Me in This Season?

This goal originally focused on nutrition, wellness habits, and developing a yoga routine. However, a shoulder injury changed my physical capacity, so I had to adapt—shifting from strenuous movement to gentle rest, breathwork, and using walking and gardening as my primary forms of movement.

Where things are now:

I’ve taken time to explore the emotional, physical, and spiritual connections to my injury and discovered a deeper link to healing my feminine energy. I noticed how often I placed pressure on my left side—both physically and metaphorically—as the place where I “carried too much.” This insight led me to pause certain movements and rest more deeply, while also seeking support from a physician as I learned to listen to my body and care for my nervous system. This became especially clear during an unexpected emotional breakdown that I wrote about in this blog post. That experience reframed my perspective and served as a wake-up call—one that reminded me to make the necessary adjustments so I can be well and aligned for the next phase of my wellness journey.

My next micro-goal:

I’m in the process of creating routines and rituals that feel restorative and aligned with the rhythm of my current life. My new part-time job now shapes a large part of my week, and because it involves standing and moving for long stretches, I’ve become more intentional about how I nourish and care for my body, before, during, and after work.

This season is teaching me how important it is to build in margin not just physically, but emotionally. I’m learning to transition more gently between responsibilities and to give myself space to breathe, unwind, and be still. Right now, I’ve intentionally blocked off every Monday and Tuesday for myself (I’m not available for work on those days.)

Part of this micro-goal also includes preparing simple, nourishing meals that are easy to manage on busy days, and creating small rituals that help me reset, whether it’s a quiet moment in the kitchen, lighting a candle and enjoying its soft glow, stretching on the floor, or spending time outside on my days off.

I’m also beginning to coax my creative self back into safety and expression. That means setting aside time for creative self-dates—unstructured, playful moments where I can reconnect with the part of me that craves color, texture, movement, and meaning. It’s less about output and more about giving myself permission to show up freely again, just as I am.

3. How Would I Like to Create a Harmonious Home in This New Season?

This goal was rooted in giving myself permission to slow down the home-making process.

Rather than rushing to make everything feel “complete,” I’m allowing my evolving self the space to catch up to where I am now. My style and preferences have shifted, and I’m more interested in reevaluating and repurposing what I already have than introducing something new into the environment.

Where things are now:

I recently completed Phase 1 of making our living room feel cozy—and I did it without spending a dime. This was an intuitive challenge I gave myself: to make changes only when the energy and clarity felt healed and aligned, rather than acting from urgency or anxiety. The result is a space that reflects less instead of more—something very new for me. But I’m giving this approach room to breathe.

It’s less about creating a perfectly curated space and more about letting each phase of change sit for a while—trusting that it’s okay for things to feel unfinished, in-progress, or simply different than before. I’m learning to resist the urge to constantly improve or fix, and instead, to live with what is and see what new energy might unfold from that grounded place.

If this approach resonates with you, I’ve put together a simple worksheet and guide that you’re welcome to use called 3-Goal Simple Living Reset. I’ve been slowly exploring digital guides, worksheets, and creative illustrations as an artistic expression so if you're curious, you can check out my current work-in-progress collection, which includes both free and low-cost downloads here.

Here are some actions you can take next on this blog:

• I encourage you to check out the Simple Living, Creativity, and Community pages, where you can find ideas and resources I'm exploring this year.

• I'd love to have you join my midweek check-in email, where I share a mid-week check-in with honest reflections and updates on how I'm creating and living fully in the here and now.

• Stop by my YouTube channel @creativelifebynherie where I share life, creativity and intuitive tips connected to a stable and thriving creative lifestyle journey.

• If you need to get in touch with me, just follow the instructions on the contact page.