Yescessary is the newsletter you want in your overflowing inbox. Full of honest personal stories and helpful strategies, I share what I’m learning as I build a meaning-full, content life. You can subscribe and follow me on Instagram @yescessary​

I call it DO-cember…

Because this month is festive and frenzied! Could we jam more into 31 days?

I hope you’re finding lightness and brightness at the most wonderful time of the year.

We celebrated a milestone birthday for my dad, and I’m still zonked. Almost 90 guests, DJ, singer, poetry reading, catering, photographer, decorations, program, keepsakes. It was joyous!

A year ago, we had a scare, so it made my heart so happy to celebrate.

Go Pops!

​

I promised to come back with part two of “A short guide to doing what matters” and here I am. Part one was about my process to figure out what matters to me (you can read it here if you haven’t yet) and this post is all about how I’m learning to DO IT.

As we cross over into 2026 (and as we’re navigating the busiest time of year!), I thought it might be helpful share forward what’s been working for me.

Read on, dear reader. Read on!

Browser is best, but you do you!

The latest YEScessary newsletter is LIVE ​ ​This post is about how I’m learning to do what matters and leave behind what doesn’t. And this is my first two-parter as it was too much to cram into one! Read this puppy (or kitten!) in your browser for the best experience. I am right stoked you’re here!

• Pt. 2 - A short guide to doing what matters
• Ten ‘End the year’ questions

I had a squishy, “look back” timeline for this intro but I cut it! I’ll save it for my next fireside chat…

​

Let’s shortcut to my recent realization - I was conditioned to be a high achiever, but

I was not doing what mattered to me.

That hit hard.

This year, I set out to strategically investigate what the heck matters to me so that I could DO IT.

Radical, right?

I still have AUDACIOUS! BOOM SHAKA! DAMN SIS! goals, but hustler AG is tempered now, and my wellbeing is paramount.

I’m doing a much better job of building days that support my physical, mental, and spiritual health and feeling excellent about how I spend my precious time.

I can certainly fill a day (it’s berserk), but I feel more in control and content overall.

Here are a few tactics, choices, battle-worn practices that I employ to do what matters to me. Adding some questions for you to chew on, too.

I hope you find it helpful, especially this time of year!

1. I use my Head Heart Body Metric

I broke this metric down in a previous post, but essentially, I try to do one thing a day, a yescessary, that engages my head, a yescessary that lifts my heart (I’m a feeler; my heart suffers the most) and a yescessary that invigorates my physical body.

I find that no matter how bananas my day is (and they are stooopid jammed this time of year), if I’m able to touch these three components of me, I’ve won the day.

HHH helps me feel like my best self. I feel more in control when I work long hours, when my responsibilities surge, when I’m looking for lost long johns or heeding evening requests for my Chana masala for lunch. It’s the curry leaves.

Always curry leaves…

No pressure! I have that in spades. This checklist/metric reassures me that I’m fitting in what matters.

So how do I shoehorn in my yescessaries? Let me tell you what’s been working lately.

And I mix it up! Sometimes I get to the gym, sometimes I go for a brisk morning walk. Sometimes I slip in some reading or visit a friend.

HHH is my numero uno system to do what matters.

Yescessaries help me feel supported, respected, genuine, conscious and strong. They matter to me, so they go on the to-do list now.

2. I Limit and Lock in

​

Just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should.

I understood this concept, but I didn’t practice it. DO-ers just do. Now, I’m learning to be much more selective with what I put my energy into.

What does “Limit and Lock in” look like?

Purposeful reduction. Instead of ten personal goals, I now have three.

For example, my swimming endurance is a work in progress. My goal is to hit ten lengths without stopping. I realized I was spending two plus hours each swim visit and not making progress on my other goals. So, I’m shelving my Olympic swimmer bod ambitions for now. Emphasis on “for now.” Still getting in the pool when I can.

“Limit and Lock in” has been the hardest tactic to implement; however, I’m seeing movement where I want to.

To table goals feels like I’m not succeeding. But that’s false. Too many goals split my focus and I don’t see progression.

Doing what matters (to me) means doing less.

3. I’m working on being consistently consistent vs sprinting

I can crank up to fifth gear, rally, and inspire our team to hit a deadline, but when we’re done, I switch lanes and ramp up for the next biggie. This has been a life pattern and super handy for leading productions.

But sprints are not effective for building healthy, helpful personal habits; good habits don’t have deadlines.

How am I being consistently consistent?

​

• One answer is – I’m doing things routinely. Not necessarily building a routine because my life as a producer and a parent of two sportos is too varied. But doing things routinely is working. Working out every morning. Writing five days a week. Flossing. Folks, my dental hygienist was like, “Wow.”
• Second answer - implementing (and honouring) my accountability buddy. A tracker on its own wasn’t enough. I needed someone special to ride with me.

My writing buddy and I have a spreadsheet. We check a box when we write each weekday. Having someone privy to my writing habit motivates me. We’ve been going since Victoria Day and it’s the most sustained, consistently consistent writing I’ve done IN MY LIFE. Checking that box is like giving each other a high five.

Yaaayss!

Buddy + tracker helps me do what matters.

​

4. I protect my time like a Honey badger

I think we all do a ton of talking, texting, emails, phone calls. I’m working to ensure every type of social interaction intentional.

How do I protect my time?

If anyone calls when I’m writing or exercising, I don’t answer. Unless it’s one of my kids or Step (my partner). Hard rule.

I also time my phone calls. Yep. TIMER. I noticed that I got entangled into long, windy existential chats (that weren’t beneficial) and I would lose an hour or more of prime writing, cleaning, reading, making Chana masala time.

I’m grown enough to know when to be there for someone, so I will relax this guardrail when I need to, but for the most part, I will not yap for more than 25 – 30 minutes. That’s enough time to catch up.

My parents get 40 mins. I notice the sentences don’t come out as fast when you’re older.

At work, I’m scheduling more meetings for 45 mins or 30.

Let’s power through folks.

​

5. I steal time

I bring my computer with me most places, including the kids’ hockey. Instead of shooting the blah blahs with the parents pre-game, I stay in my car and write for a bit.

Acknowledging this was not always possible. My kids are bigger now. They can suit up and tie up on their own.

If it’s a game, I’m FOR SURE watching, but I enter as the game starts. One hour in the stands watching my boos block a forward, nail a pass, slapshot with finesse, AND I fit in chits and chats with the other parents? TONS of time.

I steal pre-game for me.

Those are some of the big tactics and choices I’ve double downed on since January to help me build and sustain the habits that I said I wanted to.

Doing what matters to me really mattered to me this year.

Please tell me if you have any tips, tactics, or humdinger how-to’s for doing what matters. I’m hoooooked!

​

After the bubbles are sipped, the sequins come off, the twinkling lights dim, and the tinsel is tossed, I find a gentle post-mortem supremely healing, informative, and validating. I have crafted ten questions to look back on this year.

Just ten."Limit and Lock in" at play.

I feel these ten will do it for me.

1. Who went out of their way to help me, support me or truly saw me this year?

I made a list and sent personal, non-AI generated notes to thank them.

2. What were my three personal wins (big or small) this year?

3. What was my biggest surprise this year?

4. What did I bring from the year before into this year that worked for me?

5. What was my most memorable meal?

6. When and where did I feel most relaxed and at ease?

7. Where did I go that I’d like to revisit? This can be local or farther afield.

8. What (who) were my biggest interruptions? And how did I deal with them?

I live with three, but beyond the immediates…

9. What did I let go of this year?

10. What am I most excited about for the coming year?

C’est tout. Are there any questions here that resonate with you?

There are still a few days left in 2025. Who knows? My most memorable meal and biggest win might still be a coming!

This was a super tough year, but a supremely rewarding one as well. I’m so grateful for the ups, the downs, and the brief pauses in-between.

I hope you’re having a memorable, peaceful, deliciously sweet time with your loved ones! Happiest of holidays.

Thank you so much for your support, for reading, and for being a part of the Yescessary community.

Abrazos!

2026 best be ready for us. See you on the other side!

P.S. Y’all know DO-CEMBER will catch on.

Hello! It's me, AG. ​ I'm Andrea Griffith (a.k.a. AG), a TV exec, writer, wife and mother. Yescessary is the love child of yes and necessary, the word I use to describe my personal philosophy for living with intention, purpose and with my priorities in the pole position. This newsletter is where I share funny moments, helpful strategies and everything I'm learning on my journey to build a meaning-full, content life. ​ Andrea's Work → ​ ​​​​ FOLLOW THE JOURNEY TO YES IN MY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS.

​https://www.andrea-griffith.com/​
​Unsubscribe · Prefer​ences​