Real Food Whole Life Turns 4: Here’s What I’ve Learned
Real Food Whole Life turned 4 this week!
Which seems crazy and also totally right.
What started as an itty-bitty baby blog has grown into a website + instagram + podcast; and, more importantly, a brand + community + mission-based platform.
In the past 4 years of trial-and-error, experiments, and growth, there’s been a lot of learning.
Here are a handful of the biggest takeaways.
1| Process Over Goal
It’s easy to chase outcomes, numbers, followers, pageviews–all those big shiny goals.
But really, it’s about the process.
Because those shiny goals never matter as much as you think they will, and goal-chasing has a way of stealing the joy right out of the moment.
Focus on today, this moment, showing up, making it count.
Less someday, more right now.
2 | Be You
The quickest way to slip into comparison spiral is to spend all your energy focused on what everyone else is doing, then counting on all the ways you don’t measure up.
Instead, be you.
Create your own lane. Then rock your lane.
Not everyone will get it. That’s fine.
Lots of people will. Those are your people.
The world needs more you.
3 | More Joy
If it’s not fun now, it probably will never be.
Have fun now.
Chase joy today.
Show up, work hard, do what you need to do.
But don’t forget that this is your life–your one and only–so, you know, make it a party.
4 | Gentle is the New Perfect
Beating yourself up it turns out, does not, in fact, make you any more successful in the long term.
Do you know what does?
Self-compassion. Gratitude. Gentle.
Living by #gentleisthenewperfect has been a game changer these past 4 years, and is how I’ll be navigating the next 4 as well.
5 | Small Equals Big
When I first started blogging I wanted everything right now.
Better at photography, better at recipe development, better at growing an audience, better sharing this message.
And I wanted it all right now.
But really it’s the cumulation of hundreds of small steps that are what matters.
Nothing has to happen right this very minute.
As long as you’re taking small steps every day.
Keep rolling the snowball down the hill and gaining momentum.
Growth will inevitably happen.
But Mostly, Thank You
After 4 years, I mostly just want to thank you.
Thank you for being here, for being part of this community.
Whether you’ve been here for 4 years or 4 days, I appreciate you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Want more like this? Check out RFWL turns one, two, and three).
Woo-hoo!! Happy birthday, Real Food Whole Life! So glad that you started this blog and use the platform that you have for good.
Lori, thank you so much. So grateful to have you in this community!!
Sharing #4 with my daughter tonight. We would both be well served taking this to heart!
Love that, Laura. Grateful for you!