If you’ve ever felt guilty for not following through on your plans – even when your body was asking for something different – this one’s for you.

The 30-Day Calendar That Didn’t Go As Planned

Last week, I made a 30-day calendar for myself.

I set intentions. I outlined three daily tasks. I was ready to show up fully and hold myself accountable to everything I said I wanted.

And then… I got my period.

My energy dropped. My emotions felt all over the place. I was disconnected, foggy, and honestly – all I wanted to do was lay in bed and do nothing.

There was a part of me that immediately felt guilty. The voice that said, you made promises to yourself. You’re supposed to be consistent. You’re already falling behind.

But there was another part of me that recognized something deeper was happening..

When Your Needs Don’t Match Your Goals

Here’s what I’m learning…

Sometimes, choosing a new beginning means we have to move through something first.

For me, that looked like slowing down. Being present with my body. Meeting my needs – even when those needs weren’t in alignment with my goals.

And I think that’s where so many of us get stuck.

We set an intention. We make a plan. We feel motivated and clear. And then life happens – our bodies ask for rest, our emotions need tending, something shifts – and suddenly we’re not showing up the way we said we would.

And instead of holding ourselves with compassion, we make it mean something about our discipline. Our worthiness. Our ability to follow through.

We carry the weight of it. We tell ourselves we’re inconsistent. We add it to the mental list of times we didn’t do what we said we were going to do.

But what if we’re looking at this all wrong?

Rest as Preparation, Not Detour

What if meeting your needs is part of the path toward your goals?

What if the rest, the pause, the softening – what if that’s not a detour, but preparation?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. How often we treat our bodies like obstacles to our productivity instead of partners in our growth. How we push through exhaustion and call it discipline. How we override our needs and call it commitment.

But the body doesn’t work that way.

When we ignore what we actually need, we’re not building momentum – we’re building resentment. We’re creating a version of success that requires us to abandon ourselves over and over again.

And that kind of success? It’s not sustainable. It’s not nourishing. And honestly, it’s not even the kind of life most of us actually want.

What I’m realizing is that honoring my body – even when it means stepping away from my plans – isn’t a failure of discipline. It’s a different kind of discipline altogether. The kind that trusts the process. The kind that knows rest is productive. The kind that refuses to sacrifice wellbeing on the altar of achievement.

The Freedom to Begin Again

I think we forget that we can always choose a new beginning.

Not in some abstract, new-year-new-me kind of way… but in this very real, grounded way where we say: Today, I’m starting again. And I’m not carrying the guilt of “disappointing myself” with me.

That’s what I’m sitting with right now.

It’s the end of the year, and I’ve been reflecting on what I want this next chapter to represent. What I want to create. Who I want to become. And more importantly – what I need to do to actually show up for that.

And the truth is, I don’t think any of it works if we’re constantly abandoning ourselves in the name of productivity.

There’s something really powerful about giving yourself permission to begin again – cleanly. Without the heaviness of what didn’t happen. Without the story that you’re behind or broken or bad at following through.

Just a fresh start. A new moment. A choice to show up now, from where you are.

Holding Both Accountability and Compassion

Here’s what I want you to know…

We can hold ourselves accountable and be compassionate when things don’t go as planned.

We can have big goals and trust the sacred timeline we’re on.

We can want more for ourselves and honor where we are right now.

These things get to coexist.

I used to think accountability meant being hard on myself. That if I let myself off the hook, I’d never accomplish anything. That compassion was just another word for making excuses.

But I’ve learned that the opposite is true.

When I’m gentle with myself, I actually show up more. When I trust my timing, I stop forcing things that aren’t ready. When I honor my needs, I have more energy for what matters.

Compassion isn’t the enemy of progress. It’s the foundation for sustainable growth.

You Haven’t Fallen Behind

So if you’ve been feeling behind lately… if you started something and didn’t follow through… if your body asked for rest and you gave it, but now you’re carrying shame about it…

I want you to know it’s okay.

You were just moving through what needed to move through you first.

And now, you get to choose again.

A new beginning. A fresh start. Not because the old one didn’t count, but because you’re allowed to keep coming back to yourself as many times as you need.

That’s what devotion looks like.

Not perfect consistency. Not pushing through no matter what. But the willingness to return. To begin again. To keep choosing yourself – even when the path looks different than you thought it would.

You’re not behind on your life. You’re not failing at your goals. You’re just human – moving through a human experience, learning as you go.

And that’s more than enough.

Bringing This Into Your Body

If your body is asking for rest, let it rest – even if your mind says you should be doing more. Place a hand on your belly, take three slow breaths, and remind yourself: meeting my needs is part of the path, not a detour from it.

Your goals will still be there when you’re ready. And you’ll meet them with more presence, more energy, and more joy when you arrive from a place of fullness instead of depletion.

Bringing This Into Your Soul

When guilt rises about not showing up “perfectly,” ask yourself – what did I actually need in that moment?

Honor the wisdom that led you to pause. Trust that your soul knows things your mind hasn’t caught up to yet. You’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be on your sacred timeline.

The path to your dreams isn’t a straight line. It’s a spiral – and every time you come back around, you’re meeting yourself with more wisdom than before.

Bringing This Into Your Business

Give yourself permission to begin again – without the weight of what didn’t happen.

Let this week be a clean slate. What’s one small, aligned action you can take today that feels supportive rather than pressured? Start there.

Your business gets to grow at the pace your nervous system can hold. And when you build from that place – from regulation, from presence, from self-trust – what you create will be so much more sustainable than anything built from force.

xox, Lauren