Don't Let The Holidays Steal Your Progress - Finish Strong Instead of Completely Starting Over On January 1st

But if that happens, you're gonna end up feeling so bad about yourself. And then you're like, see, this never works. See, now I'm just getting to January 1st and I'm like, well, I'm gonna start again next year.

Hey there and welcome to let's Talk about it with Laurie Streeter. A space to talk honestly and get real about mental health, therapy and all things wellness. I'm Laurie, licensed therapist, speaker and your host, here to bring you insights, tools and information you can actually use. Whether you're navigating anxiety, healing your relationship with food, or trying to figure out which techniques will work for your life. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in and let's talk about it.

Welcome back to another episode of let's Talk about it with Lori Streeter. Let's talk about habits because we are approaching. Thanks. Well, we're in Thanksgiving week now and we are approaching the time of year where things kind of fall apart for multiple reasons. Not bad, not good, not right or wrong. Life is happening. There's maybe some family stress, there's a lot of food temptations, there's busyness, there's social commitments, there's work things, there's deadlines. I mean, there's a plethora of things happening this time of year for a lot of people. And when a lot is happening in life, for women especially, the first thing to go is our own self care. Sleep especially is a big one. We get up earlier, we stay up later. Even though that's like paramount to our well being and health and sanity and all of that. I really want to address the idea of habits this time of year. And if you have already started to fall off, this is for you. And I'm going to give you a very simple way to, to address this. Think about the things that make you you, that make you feel like you, that end your day in a positive way or start your day in a productive manner. A lot of times we wake up for everybody else. Again, I'm speaking to women here, but this could apply to anyone. We wake up, we hit the ground running. We wake up to get to work. We wake up so that we can get our kids ready for school, whatever it might be. I want to encourage you to really start thinking about what your first thoughts are when you wake up and if they are things like, oh my gosh, I have all this stuff to do today, I gotta get the kids ready. Oh, I got a meeting with my boss at, you know, first thing in the morning, 8:00am, whatever it might be, at least give yourself 30, 60 seconds to breathe. Maybe think about some gratitude and run through a mantra, something simple that you train your brain to think. Oh, we wake up for us, right? I wake up for me. Then I can hit the ground running and get to what everybody else needs. But start to train your brain to realize that you wake up for you. Then it's off to the races. Okay, fine. That is the first thing, especially this time of year when there are so many demands on us professionally, socially, personal lives, family, all of the things, right? So really think about how you're literally starting your day before your eyes even open. Then what I really want you to think about, if you already have habits that have started to fall off and you're like, well, I was going to the gym three, four or five days a week and now I may be making it once and I'm lucky if I get there at all. Really think about what's causing that because a lot of times you, yes, there is more to do and again, more demands this time of year, but you're probably also letting things infiltrate that time. And so what happens is if it's not on the calendar, or if you're waking up and you're like, am I going to get to the gym today or every Sunday? You're like, well, I'll just see what the week brings. If it's not in the plan somehow, maybe you can't continue to get to the gym three, four, five days a week. But not having any kind of plan, especially not having movement at all, we need it, but not having any kind of plan, you're going to just be winging it day to day and the last thing you're going to make time for is yourself. That's really what I want to drive home. Today is everything always, but especially this time of year is for everyone else. Everything is happening for your kids, for your family, for this event, for work, for deadlines, for your neighbors, for your community, whatever it might be. And you have to realize that if you don't figure out a small way to also prioritize yourself this time of year, you're gonna wake up on January 1st and you're gonna expect something magical to happen, like a lot of us do every year. I really want you to think about what's currently missing or what's currently falling apart or falling by the wayside and what is like a low hanging fruit you can get so that you can get through the rest of this season feeling okay, feeling like yourself, still doing things for you. Because the most important thing that's happening right now, the thing that's gonna have the biggest impact if everything totally falls apart, whether it's quote unquote, your fault or not. But if everything falls apart, you're gonna feel so bad about yourself. This is the time of year where things fall off and we're just like, fine, I'll just wait till January 1st. And then you get to January 1st, and you're like, wow, I can't believe I worked so hard all year. And then the last month or two, everything just fell apart. Everything just went to hell in a handbasket. So that's the biggest thing. When I work with my clients, yes, their health matters. Yes, their mental health matters. Yes, if they're working on weight loss or their nutrition or their relationship with food, all that is important. But the biggest thread running through everything is the idea that if they're not doing the things that are good for them, that make them feel good, that make them feel like they're living up to at least a part of their potential, they get down on themselves. They start to lose the trust in themselves that they've built all year. When you have habits and you're doing things, whether you feel like it or not, you're going to the gym, you're making it happen, you feel good, you can trust yourself, you build confidence. But the biggest part is that trust aspect. I do what I say I'm gonna do, when I say I'm gonna do it, how I say I'm going to do it. So it's not about being perfect. I tell my clients all the time, it's not about being a robot. But if we go from having a habit and then life getting in the way, or the season happening and everything falling apart, the thing that impacts us the most is how we feel about ourselves. So I really implore you to think about anything that has been let go of anything over the past month, or that you can anticipate that you are not going to have time for, or you're not going to want to make time for, or that is going to be taken up by other things. I know this time of year can also be incredibly challenging for people who have lost loved ones who are. Or the holidays aren't their favorite season. All of that is super important and needs to be taken into consideration. But this is the time of year where I see time and time again. People work hard all year round, and then their goals and progress sometimes completely fall apart. But a lot of times fall apart a Little bit. And the biggest fear frustrating piece is how they end up feeling about themselves as the holiday goes and then again when they get into the new year. So really think about the impact that your habits have had all year up until this point, the progress that you've made, the things you've worked on, and how easy it is to let all that stuff go, to let life get in the way, to let deadlines take over your schedule or all of those things. It is very easy to not do the things, especially when it comes to taking care of yourself. But if that happens, you're going to end up feeling so bad about yourself. And then you're like, see, this never works. See, now I'm just getting to January 1st, and I'm like, well, I'm going to start again next year. So you don't have to keep everything going. You don't have to stay running at a breakneck pace. If that's what you were doing all year prior to this, pick something. Say, you know what, my water intake has really fallen apart. I am going to get back to that. And if I'm going to focus on that for the rest of the year, so be it. At least I did that thing. Or maybe you say, wow, my workouts have really been suffering and my sleep or my deadlines at work are causing me to not spend time with my family or whatever. All of this stuff needs to be taken into consideration. But you are going to not feel great about yourself. You're gonna not be as good throughout the holidays to everyone else if you are not doing the things that you set out to do early last year, that at January 1, 2025, you set out and you're like, here's what I'm gonna accomplish this year. Here's my goals, here's my intention, and yada, yada, yada, this is amazing. And you end the year with things just slowly dropping off because life starts to get in the way. I just don't want you to feel bad about yourself. And that is the biggest piece I see with my clients. And that is why I drive home so hard. The importance of habits. Because it's always easier to not do the thing. It's always easier to not get up early, to not go to the gym, get to not stretch at night, or to forget to do skin care at the end of the day or go a few days without showering. Like, it doesn't matter what it is, it's easier to not do the thing. But the impact it has on us mentally and emotionally is Very significant. And then it is hard to get back into it. And then we're like, oh my God, now I gotta start over. And yeah, like, it's just this huge slippery slope. So I really, really encourage you to think about where you're at this time of year, how you're feeling, where are your habits, where is your health? Do a little assessment. How am I feeling physically? How am I feeling mentally? How am I feeling financially? How am I feeling in terms of my friendships, in terms of my family relationships, in terms of my partnership or my marriage or my romantic relationship? How am I feeling in terms of my relationship with myself? How am I doing with my free time? How am I doing at work in terms of getting things done and being productive? Think about all of those categories and you're bound to find some place where things have started to maybe kind of like dwindled. So again, you don't have to go balls to the wall for the rest.

Of the year, especially if this is.

A busier time for you. But you can quickly take an inventory and do a reassessment and say, you know what? That thing has started to fall by the wayside. That thing has started to fall apart. I'm not doing that. I can do this, this and this. I can hold that strong through the end of the year and then I can pick it up January 1st where I left off. But really, really, really strongly think about how you can put things in place to make sure that you finish out the year. Not putting yourself in a place where you're going to feel bad about yourself. I just see it time and time again. I have these conversations year after year after year. I've experienced it in my own life and I'm always like, okay, I busy season. This is a rough one. Or this is going on, all of these things. I can't maintain that schedule or I can't do this. But here's the bare minimum or here's the non negotiables, or here's one thing I'm really gonna focus on so that I don't start out the new year like pissed at myself. Cause that just doesn't feel good. Think about this. Think about the aspects in your life. How are things going? Do a quick inventory. Do a little reassessment of your habits. If you're crushing it, awesome. Ride that out through the season and into the new year like the crusher you are. I'm excited and that's fantastic. And you are going to roll into the new year feeling really proud that this season didn't take over your life. But for those of you that tend to struggle or you have a pattern of these last month or two really taking over and impacting you in a negative way when it comes to your well being, think it through, do something and make sure that you start out the year feeling proud and capable and like you can trust yourself and not like you just sold out for everything that just like took over in your life these last couple months. As always, feel free to send me a message on Instagram, let me know what you thought. Tag me in a picture of you listening to this episode. It's always fun to see where people are listening and where they're getting in their information. Until next time, take care of yourself.

Thanks for hanging out with me today on let's Talk about it with Laurie Streeter. If this episode resonated with you, it would mean so much if you'd leave a five star review, share it with a friend, or come say hi on Instagram. Lori Streeter, your support will help this podcast grow and I so appreciate you being here today. I want to help people just like you feel like they're not alone and gain the tools they need to make grow. Until next time, take care.