February is traditionally considered the “heart” month, mainly due to Valentine’s Day falling in the middle of the month. In honor of the theme of American Heart Month, combined with the focus of relationships, I have put together a list of suggestions of things you can do to nurture your relationships and your health! These two themes are so closely aligned, it’s a no brainer, and a great way to enjoy another month of winter!

I am trying something different for this new year. Rather than setting the same “New Year’s resolutions”, I am setting monthly intentions. An intention is a chosen theme that allows you to create alignment in your life. Whereas a resolution can be a hard and fast goal for a desired outcome you wish to attain at some point in the future. Intention setting is less about achieving a specific goal, and more about a shift in mindset to achieve a goal. My hope is that this monthly approach will help me be more reflective, allow for a keener focus of my energy, and create flexibility with my actions.

Every year I pick a “word of the year” to focus on as a guidepost for the year. For 2021, I selected the word “acceptance”, not realizing at the time, how this word would serve me throughout the year.

Your identity is at the core of behavior change. Good habits can make sense, but if they are in conflict with your identity, your belief about yourself, chances are you will fail to put them in to action.

Seasonality can be applicable to many things, not just the weather. We also feel the pull of the season of life we are in. Whether we have a young family, are busy building our career and exploring new opportunities, experiencing an empty nest, or transitioning to retirement, we have to consider the impact this time in our life has on our habits.