Monday Memo| Detail No.166|August 11, 2025|

August is progressing gradually, and apparently, it’s here to ask us some serious questions about our lives like, are we actually living in a way that matches what we say we want, or are we just winging it with caffeine and Wi-Fi? Let’s talk about alignment. Not the kind your mechanic worries about, though if your car shakes above 60 mph, maybe handle that too. I mean life alignment when your values, goals, and actions all point in the same direction instead of wandering off like a distracted toddler in a toy store.

The thing about August is that it’s this awkward middle child of the year. January’s New Year’s resolutions are a distant memory, and December’s holiday chaos is still months away, but there’s just enough energy left to convince yourself you could totally get your life together… eventually. It’s the perfect time to pause and check in. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself you value work-life balance but somehow find yourself answering work emails at 11:47 p.m. in bed. Or maybe you talk about healthy eating while keeping an emergency stash of cheese puffs in the nights. Or you dream of calm, mindful mornings but manage to hit snooze until your second panic alarm. It happens to the best of us.

Realignment doesn’t have to mean completely overhauling your life. You can start small. Write down your top three values and see if your week reflects them, if “health” is on your list but your water intake has been replaced entirely by iced lattes, you might have some adjusting to do. Trim the noise by saying no to something, even if it’s just that group text you dread. Make micro-moves like journaling for five minutes, taking the long route to the fridge, or resisting the urge to doom-scroll until your thumb cramps.

When you’re aligned, life doesn’t feel like pushing a boulder uphill; it feels more like rolling it downhill… maybe still heavy, but at least you’re in cute shoes. So, this August, pause, check in, and realign. Even if you veer off track, you can always course-correct preferably before your car’s actual alignment goes bad.