Staying Motivated As The Weather Turns Colder!
We all have those moments when we wake up and take a peak out the window and all we can see is a cold and frigid landscape with chilling wind whooshing around, and all we want to do is run back to bed and dive under the covers! It can be so hard to drag ourselves up and out of our warm cozy beds, especially when we feel the cold air wrapping itself all around our bodies. If you find yourself brimming with energy and motivation in the bright warmth of summer, but more lethargic and low energy once that cold weather hits, don’t worry, you are definitely not alone! As nice as it may sound, unfortunately we can’t just curl up and hibernate through the winter like a bear, so here’s how to stay motivated and engaged as the weather turns colder!
Love Your Mornings
Yes, really. By Creating the best possible morning routine you’ll give yourself something to look forward to and soon you’ll be jumping out of bed in the morning! The idea might make you want to roll your eyes, but seriously, once you start doing it, you’ll get what we’re trying to say. Come up with an energetic and luxurious feeling little “self-sequence” that will be a quick daily way to boost your mood and get you immediately in the right frame of mind to take on the rest of your day. Try out some different options! Put on your favorite song, maybe brew yourself a cup of delicious coffee or tea, dance around the house, and soon you won’t even notice the weather outside, let alone let it affect you! Remember that like it or not mornings set the tone for your whole day, so make that tone one of joy and mindfulness.
Warm Up By Moving Your Body!
Bundling up in the colder months is all well and good, but it’s not your only way of staying warm. It’s tempting to let ourselves just sort of “nest” during the winter, but getting up and moving can be a great way to get your body warmed up and get that energy circulating inside. You don’t have to spend hours at the gym, either; short bursts of activity, such as a short jog, brisk walk, or daily yoga practice, can be an effective way to get your blood flowing. If you’re asthmatic or have any lung sensitivities breathing in the cold might be difficult for you, so find a way to stay active in the house. Maybe create that home studio you’ve always dreamed of, or even a small sacred little nook! Take the time to make a habit of exercising even in the winter, and you’ll soon see how much of an impact it can have on how motivated you feel.
Break Up Big “To-Do’s” Into Bite-Size Pieces
Tasks that can be a little daunting in the summer can feel downright impossible in the winter! We get less light, it’s cold, and we really just want to curl up into a little ball. However, regardless of how we feel about it, we have to continue to function, and a great way of doing this is to break up big things into smaller, more actionable items. When it comes to work, even our biggest obstacles are rarely more than the sum of their parts, and it will do us well to remember this at all times, but especially in the colder months. It’s important to continue making slow “bite-size” progress, so that we don’t end up feeling stuck, and letting our tasks snowball out of control. So, breakdown your daily work 9nto achievable bullet points, map out a schedule, and feel that rush of excitement and motivation as you go through your day checking each one off!
Eat Well!!
Like any animal, we feel the need to eat more when it’s cold out, and there are physiological reasons behind this. Since our bodies stay warm by burning calories, we are naturally compelled to eat more and heartier food. Add to that the availability of seasonal goodies and holiday treats, and we can quickly be getting those extra calories from the wrong sources that won’t give us the proper energy and make us feel sluggish in the long run. You shouldn’t feel bad about a little indulgence here and there, but you should also make the responsible choice to eat healthier options as much as possible. Even in the winter, there are seasonal fruits and veggies, or you might be lucky with a local hothouse that sells out-of-season foods. Things that are both nourishing and comforting, like hearty soups, can also be a fantastic approach to satisfying that winter appetite. Follow your instincts for cozy and warm food, just make sure that food is nutrition dense and not packed with sugars that will boost you up temporarily, but then set you up for a big crash later!
Incentivize Yourself
Setting goals is always important to success. It allows us to take the bigger picture that we want to achieve and break it down into smaller bits that we can take on one-by-one. However, these cold and dark months can really wreak havoc on our ability to stay focused on our long-term goals. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what’s immediate like the dark and the cold and lose sight of all of our amazing plans for the future. For some people, intrinsic motivation is difficult to maintain anyway, because it doesn’t tend to come coupled with rewards. That said, there’s nothing wrong with adding little incentives to your goals as a way to #treat yourself when you meet them. Experiment a little and find the right balance of how often you need to reward yourself in order to stay on task, and then when you hit your goals treat yourself to a cute new matching activewear set or even a massage! You’ll definitely feel like you’ve earned it and be driven to move forward!