What’s In Your Go Bag?
*This post was first published by me on Medium.com on May 6, 2020
What’s In Your Go Bag?
May 6 · 8 min read
Go bags are often associated with Federal agents and the like that maintain a cloak of mystery around their whereabouts and careers. However, Go Bags is a term I use with clients in life coaching sessions as it relates to a combination of mental practices, material items and daily habits to keep yourself on track and preventative of disaster. That particular disaster might be exposed in the form of emotional, mental, physical or financial, all of which can be prevented, if planned for ahead of time.
Developing a set of daily habits, knowing your trigger points when in an abnormal or uncomfortable scenario, on vacation or just wanting to make some positive and productive changes to your life, can make all the difference to your health and quality of life. A day’s example of good habits can look something like this:
Waking up at 6 AM every morning to meditate, journal greet the morning sun with a cup of coffee or some other grounding and rejuvenating activity. The time you wake up isn’t as important as the routine you curate around it, and the consistency of maintaining it.
Drinking plenty of clean, filtered water each day. Bonus: put your intentions to your water, make moon water, or purify it in a blue glass bottle in the sunlight.
Consuming and eating cleanly, mindfully and intentionally. What we consume, in food and drink form, in what goes in and on your body (think: medication, body products like lotions, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, etc), and the content we consume on a daily basis. Consume higher vibration foods, drinks, products and content, and dismiss anything that doesn’t benefit your body, mind and spirit. Watch your life change at an exciting and positive pace!
Moving your body each day, whether a daily walk, lifting weights, yoga or another sustainable exercise routine. We, as a species, are meant to move, walk, sweat and physically utilize our continually flowing energy supply. We are not meant to remain stationary, sedentary and immobile. That’s the exact space where stress and poor health thrive.
Keep a journal — of any kind. Whether pen and paper writing your feelings and thoughts each day, a sketch book, notes of ideas that come your way, a commonplace book, recipe book, or similar. Writing by hand engages the part of your brain that is tied to being more mindful and intentional, and there is a wide body of research that indicates writing by hand can make you smarter. I’ve been keeping a regular journal for years, and now have about a dozen completed books I can go back to for reference of what I was going through in life at any given time. I really started keeping one as a companion and daily practice after a challenging relationship ended, and I worked through redeveloping my sense of self, confidence and sanity. Typing is faster for most people, and while it certainly has its time and place, putting pen to paper is really something special. Some of my favorites are Best Self journal, Moleskines and Field Notes, but there are a plethora of options available to choose from. My advice on buying a journal, or any material items at all: purchase the one that makes you feel something.
Love yourself, and love others. Love is a verb. Love is a daily choice, intention, and actions of caring for yourself, for nature, for animals, for your fellow humans, for your home, for your possessions, for your work and passions, for your energy, for the environment around you.
Get plenty of quality sleep. This may be 6 hours, or 10 hours. If you don’t yet know what your nightly sleep need is, you might try doing some experimentation with going to sleep and waking at various times, and listening to your body will yield the best results for you. Also, having an optimal temperature, clean, comfortable bedding, and a dark environment with no distractions nearby — whether light, noise or clutter, will be massively impactful to the quality of your sleep. Don’t discount naps, if you’re the napping kind.
Keep your space clean and tidy. Clutter isn’t something that contributes positively to our health or happiness, so it’s always best to keep your space clean and tidy. One method is to take 10 minutes to pick up once a day. Another is to put everything away in the moment, and you’ll know what works for you. (Example: Use a towel, pop straight into the laundry basket. Use a dish, rinse and put in the dishwasher instead of leaving in the sink for later. Finish a bag of crisps, toss the bag in the bin.) Keeping clean and tidy is one of the simplest forms of self love anyone can learn and practice.
Spend time doing something you enjoy. Whether it’s already been listed above, or something I’ve not yet covered, like: playing a musical instrument, painting, hiking in the woods, swimming, gardening, listening to live music, roasting your own coffee beans, or anything else that provides some enjoyment in your life, it’s deeply important for our good sense of well-being to spend time regularly doing what makes us feel joy, excitement, elation and happiness.
How do these habits, actions and practices tie into the term go bag? Easy. They can all be taken with you wherever you go, with some planful creativity. If you’re completely comfortable at home, in your own environment where everything is within your sense of control, the next challenge is to figure out how to incorporate these good habits into your daily routine when you’re not in your home and usual environment. Example, a business trip or frequent travel poses a myriad of irregularity in availability of clean eating options, the physical space and place for filtering and charging your own water, a consistent sleep schedule and environment, and the time to maintain a regular exercise routine. However, re-forming these habits into a go bag type of strategy can absolutely transform your life.
A go bag, in the more mobile sense, requires a bit of creativity and flexibility, and can yield a massive benefit. Let’s take the above set of habits, and shift them into a go bag type of scenario:
Waking up at 6 AM every morning to meditate, journal greet the morning sun with a cup of coffee or any other grounding and rejuvenating activity you’ve developed an affinity for. The time you wake up isn’t as important as the routine and energy you curate around it, and the consistency of maintaining it. Go bag option: Wake up at 6 am, no matter the timezone you’re in, spend a few minutes meditating, journaling or doing yoga as normal, find a good coffee option — whether your hotel, Starbucks, or a local coffee shop, and start your day with a grounded and confident approach for your day.
Drinking plenty of clean, filtered water each day. Bonus: put your intentions to your water, make moon water, or purify it in a blue bottle in the sunlight. This can prove quite challenging when traveling, especially flying and taking business trips, but there are certainly solutions for every problem. Do your research and procure a sustainable water bottle with a filter option. Either a simple charcoal filter, or a more engineered one. Always set your intention into your water and offer it gratitude, just as your meals deserve. Some religious folk pray before eating, and this is no different, just an altered message. Intention and gratitude go a long way in life, especially with what goes in our bodies.
Consuming and eating cleanly, mindfully and intentionally. What we consume, in food and drink form, in what goes in and on your body (think: medication, body products like lotions, shampoos, conditioners, makeup, etc), and the content we consume on a daily basis. Consume higher vibration foods, drinks, products and content, and dismiss anything that doesn’t benefit your body, mind and spirit. Watch your life change at an exciting and positive pace!
Moving your body each day, whether a daily walk, lifting weights, yoga or another sustainable exercise routine. We are meant to move, walk, sweat and exhaust our energy supply. We are not meant to remain stationary, sedentary and immobile. That’s where stress and poor health thrives. Doing this while traveling is as easy as taking a walk, doing some body weight exercises in your hotel room, or utilizing the hotel gym. Whatever your preference, keeping a
Keep a journal — of some kind. Whether pen and paper writing your feelings and thoughts each day, a sketch book, notes of ideas that come your way, a commonplace book, recipe book, or similar. Writing by hand engages the part of your brain that is tied to being more mindful and intentional, and there is a wide body of research that indicates writing by hand can make you smarter. I’ve been keeping a regular journal for years, and now have about a dozen completed books I can go back to for reference of what I was going through in life at any given time. Typing is faster for some, and has its time and place, but putting pen to paper is really something special. Some of my favorites are Best Self journal, Moleskines and Field Notes, but there are a plethora of options available to choose from. My advice on buying material items: purchase the one that makes you feel something. Go bag style: never be caught without a pen and journal. Never. Keep a set in your briefcase/backpack/purse/suitcase/car/wallet/pockets. You never know when you’ll need to write something down.
Love yourself, and love others. Love is a verb. Love is the continual set of choices, intentions and actions of caring for yourself, for nature, for animals, for your fellow humans, for your job, your car, your home, your material possessions, for the environment around you. This is and can be done in every moment of every day, everywhere.
Get plenty of quality sleep. This may be 6 hours or 10 hours. Doing some experimentation and listening to your body will yield the best results for you. Having an optimal temperature, clean bedding and a dark environment with no distractions nearby — whether light, noise or clutter, will be massively impactful to the quality of your sleep.
Keep your space clean and tidy. Clutter isn’t something that’s healthy or happy, it’s best to keep your space clean. Whether taking 10 minutes to pick up once a day, or to automatically in the moment put everything away in the moment. Example: Use a towel, pop in the laundry basket. Use a dish, rinse and put in the dishwasher instead of leaving in the sink for later. Finish a bag of crisps, toss the bag in the bin. Keeping clean and tidy is one of the simplest forms of self love anyone can learn and practice.
Spend time doing something you enjoy. Whether it’s already been listed above, or something I’ve not yet covered, like: playing a musical instrument, painting, walking in the woods, camping, swimming, gardening, roasting your own coffee beans, or anything else that provides some sense of enjoyment in your life, it’s deeply important for our good sense of well-being to spend time regularly doing what makes us feel joy.
So, I ask again, what’s in your go bag? How can you build yours, or re-configure it for your best next step?
How has this year shown you that what was working for you, no longer is what’s needed to move forward, to take you to the next level of life? We’re in a new decade, there is absolutely no mystery or secret about that. 2020 has started off with a series of shocking bangs, to put it lightly. No longer can we continue doing what we were doing and expect positive results of our insanity. We were over-scheduled, over-committed and overly broke. Insurmountable piles of high interest debt, and very little savings. Never-ending stress inducing scenarios are now gone for thousands. The world is different, so our go bags and tool kits must shift with it.
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