This is typically the time of year when shit hits the fan in all areas of life, amiright?! Parties. Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks from school. Sweets and alcohol everywhere. Routines are jacked up. Workouts come few and far between. We don’t see veggies for days on end. Takeout is on speed dial, you catch the drift.

But what if instead of looking at this time of year as a free for all and counting on “getting back on track in January”, we picked a few things to focus on and level up on?

When we live in such extreme cycles like this, it’s exhausting and honestly makes life pretty stressful and overwhelming. We’re constantly going hard and then giving up, going hard and giving up – and each time we give up we become discouraged and disappointed in ourselves, negative, frustrated, cynical and rebellious. Then we get tired of our own bullshit eventually, get re-motivated to go hard again and the cycle continues.

I want to encourage you to stop going to such extremes. We need to realize that it’s not only OK to make small changes, it’s actually imperative for us to be successful in reaching our goals.

Now since all of our lives look different from others, and all of our goals look different too – I want to give you some main areas that you can think about and come up with a way to level up in that area for these last 6 weeks of the year. Ready!?

PRACTICE GRATITUDE DAILY

There are so many ways to do this, you can use any blank journal or piece of paper to write things down daily (or for the ultimate multi-tasker use the notes on your phone), or step it up and use a 5 Minute Journal like I do to help prompt you – whatever or wherever you do this, the most important thing is that you’re thinking about the things that you’re grateful for in your life right now.

Getting ahead of ourselves, or comparing our lives to others (without EVER knowing the full story), or focusing on the things we don’t have – these thought patterns set us into a negative wavelength. Things are going to seem like they’ll never get better, like you’ll never have what she has, or that “if only you had xyz, things would be so much easier”.

Rise up to a positive wavelength. Appreciate everything…it literally can’t be too small and can’t be too big. A big part of this is paying attention everyday to the little things that bring a smile to your face; those moments that are essentially fleeting because they quickly get forgotten when the other annoying stuff happens.

Remember the good stuff, and the bad stuff won’t be able to take up so much of your attention and focus.

STOP AND BREATHE

Seems obvious right, but there’s a little method I’m gonna teach you and it starts with self-awareness. Pay attention during the day when your jaw is clenched and you’re starting to feel the overwhelm and stress of the day set in. This could be an hour after you wake up, the middle of the day, end of the day and/or all of the above – NO JUDGEMENT. I just want you to notice it and stop whatever you’re doing to practice some intentional breathing.

Close your eyes and take 3 deep breaths. Try to only think about the breath in your chest and nothing else. Come up with a mantra for yourself to end the exercise with: I can do this | I’m a badass | Everything is going to be OK. Whatever is, decide on it right now and after your 3 deep breaths, say your mantra.

FEED YOUR MINDSET

Nothing makes you feel more instantly like a badass who can conquer the world than listening to a podcast or book that speaks directly to your soul. Haven’t found it yet? That’s OK – it’s out there, I promise.

I know what you’re thinking, I ain’t got time for that. Or you’re thinking, how the eff do I listen to a book or podcast. Excuses! Leave them at the door. We all have time during the day where we can listen. My personal favorite other than driving is putting in my headphones while I do the dishes. You can find the time, and all I’m asking for is 10-20 minutes a day.

Need help finding something that’s right for you? Click here to download my personal favs and try some out for yourself!

MOVE YOUR BODY

Ok, hear me out before you roll your eyes – I know you ” have no time to workout” but in order to change the way your brain thinks and gets overwhelmed, you gotta get your blood pumping and release the hormones that actually help you to be happier and more positive!! 30 mins a day is a good starting point and I honestly don’t care what you decide to do…walk, run, find a workout on youtube, commit to a shorter program and make it work.

The most important piece of advice in this area is this: make a promise to yourself, 30 mins a day let’s say – then commit to it, and show up for yourself without making excuses…BUT if you try your best, and something just doesn’t happen one day…WHO CARES! Don’t allow your mind to fall into the “see, I failed again” trap, or the “well I missed one day so I might as well just quit” BS that it’s used to falling into.

Every single day is a chance to make a different choice. It’s completely independent of the day before and tomorrow.

I can’t wait to see you level up over the next 6 weeks!! And if you want to join our Holiday Survival Bootcamp starting the day after Thanksgiving, click here and I’ll send you more info.