Mindset

Recover From The Holidays – Be Your Best in 2018

Happy New Year! Do you need some help to recover from the holidays? Whether you do or don’t, this year, we’re going to get you to live your best year yet.

Your thoughts are very important to me, and I hope you will reach out and leave a comment about your experiences.

Recover From the Holidays

In this week’s message, I’m going to share tips to help you get balance back in your life as you recover from the holidays. The sooner you take care of your health, wealth and soul, the better your 2018 will be. And it should stave off the post-holiday blues that people sometimes get as the bills roll in, and you step on the scale.

Start Where You Are

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today. There is no go”perfect” time to start, so you may as well begin today to ignite your life in 2018.

First, though, you’ll want to recover from the holidays. It is the time of excess and extremes. You may be feeling a bit blue with the end of the holiday season. Perhaps you’re afraid to look at your credit card statements. Or maybe you’re avoiding the scale.

Slow Down to Speed Up

So your first hurdle is the “I’m going to change my life completely in the next week” syndrome.

Please be sure to not overdo your resolutions. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Most people who decide to live off of air and go to the gym three times a day burn out quickly.

In fact, let’s get rid of the idea of having a resolution, and instead, let’s set our minds to ignite our health, wealth, soul and dreams.

The Best Intentions

You know what they say about good intentions. However, it’s close. Your intention may be to get healthier. However, you need a plan to go with it. You should set your final outcome, and really bring it to life in your own mind.

Then work backward. What will you have to accomplish each week in order to achieve your goal? It may be to find a way to earn $150 more or build your way up to exercising daily. Perhaps it’s finding a way to volunteer your time.

Write down your goal in as much detail as possible. When you start to get off track, re-read your dreams and recommit to them. Then ask yourself what the next step should be to get from where you are to where you want to go.

When you have things in small steps, your brain won’t stop you. You just need to convince your brain that you’re not doing anything new or different or scary. You’re just doing the next step.

What to Avoid

It’s completely fine to have really big goals. In fact, they tend to motivate us more. I just want to counsel to be careful of making your next steps too big.

They should be something you can easily do in not a lot of time. You may want to meditate for 15 minutes but can’t sit still for longer than three minutes now. So, each week, you may want to add in one or two minutes.  Before long it will be up to 15 minutes without it seeming like a big chore.

Some people meditate for an hour or two each day. I honestly believe 15 minutes daily is enough to calm your brain and get focused on your goals for the day.

Ignite Your Health

Some people give up all alcohol for thirty days. Others try intermittent fasting.  But what really works the best is to clean up your diet by eating fresh natural foods that are in season and supplement with quality vitamins and superfood blends.

One of your goals for this year could be to buy a new cookbook every month and try five new recipes from it. Or choose one day a month (and build it up to one day a week) when you try going meat-free. Or perhaps you want to try a new ingredient like quinoa to see what the buzz is all about (just remember to rinse it before you cook it).

Find a way to be playful with the process. And challenge yourself to cook from all the recipes or pictures you’ve pinned and saved.

 I totally recommend the Dr. Sandra Cabot Trio Clean and Lean Detox which can be done as a 21 day or 51-day program anytime.  If you prefer to be part of a supporting and encouraging group of people who are also committed to igniting their health you can sign for the 51-day community detox – the next group commences 8th Jan, 5th Feb, 9th April (Australia only right now). Check out this short video from Dr. Cabot.

Also, here’s some testimonials on how well it works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoga is a great way to ease back into your workouts. And hiking outside. The natural sunshine and fresh air do amazing things for your body and soul. There are apps and online websites with yoga instruction and routines.

Finally, drink lots of water and get plenty of good sleep.

Like with your finances (see below), it’s important to have a plan to move your self towards better health in 2018.

Ignite Your Soul

Sometimes being around so many people can be draining. You probably enjoy everyone, but there are times when you’re feeling “partied out” and just want some alone time.

Perhaps someone said something that unintentionally (or intentionally) hurt you. Now is a good time to sort through and release your feelings. You don’t want them bottled up inside you!

Meditate and get in touch with how you’re feeling.  Massages also help release negativity. You could take a ceremonial bath to wash away the hurt.

Another idea is to write a letter to that person telling them how you felt, and then burn it. It releases the negativity.

Journaling is a fantastic way to get in touch with your emotions. You can “think” things out with pen and paper. You can also plan out your dreams for this next year. Who do you want to be in one years time?

My favorite tip is to look yourself in the mirror and repeat affirmations of what you’re doing right and that you love yourself. It’s a bit awkward at first, but it really drives the message home that you love yourself.

Ignite Your Wealth

My hope is that you stuck to your budget. If not, then let’s take an honest look at how much you overspent, and what can you do about it. You will also want to look at your upcoming expenses and start a plan for paying them. Then there are two ways to come up with extra money. You can cut spending or you can increase income.

You’ll get on the wealth track faster if you do both at the same time.

First, you will want to stop spending like it’s December. Then look for other areas where you can cut your spending down such as buying expensive coffee and other drinks. Switching to water will help your bottom line and your waistline.

Now could also be a good time to look at your monthly recurring expenses such as insurance,  phone, and internet costs. You may be able to find a better package that’s cheaper.

Always Have A Plan

It’s important to stay on top of your finances. If you’re not where you want to be, you need a plan to get there. And it helps to have general guidelines for yourself such as not buying any big-ticket items without a plan to pay it off.

Now is also a great time to start setting aside funds for next December. Keep an idea list for next years presents as well. That way, if it goes on sale in the summer, you can get the best price.

Also, if you’re carrying a balance on your credit cards, you may want to look into opening up a new card with a special 0% interest rate on transferred balances. Make sure you hide the other card, don’t put any new charges on the new card, and follow your plan for paying off the balance.

Build Your Business

It’s a great idea to have a small side business even if you have a great full-time job. The income can pay for holidays and other special things. And you learn great life skills like presenting and working with others.

So now is a good time to plan your business if you’re an InnerOrigin advocate.  If you’re not, let me know and we can talk about it or learn more here.

Moving Forward

The best way to recover from the holidays is to be gentle with yourself and work slowly towards your ideal goal. Avoid the all-or-nothing mentality that will pull you down.

The key to recovering your balance is moderation. You want to ease into good habits rather than jumping in as you want the good habits to last. Commit to small improvements each week and you will be so impressed at where you are one year from now.

Focus on good food, good health, and making a positive impact on the environment.

Next week, I’m going to discuss how to plan for 2018. This week, let’s gather up your records and figure out how well you did in 2017. If you feel any fear around this, perhaps you did better than you thought. The only way you’ll know is to add everything up. Plus, it’s only a number. You can only get better where you monitor.

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