16 Ways to get Into the Holiday Spirit
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The holidays are almost here! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Get into the holiday spirit. Be jolly, merry, and festive.
If you’re having trouble getting into the spirit, here are 10 jolly, merry, festive ways that you can.
- Put on some holiday tunes, sing along, and dance. Get some friends and some instruments, and make the loudest, craziest holiday party ever.
- Wear a Santa suit and go around shouting “Ho, ho, ho!” and wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. Yes, it’s to be done in public so you can lift everyone’s spirits, not just your own.
- Appreciate the winter, the snow, the biting cold, the slicing wind, and even the soggy socks. Try to appreciate every single thing about winter.
- Give out candy canes and chocolate. Hand them out or put them in a basket for everyone to take. Spread the sweets, spread the spirit.
- Drink hot chocolate, the drink of winter. After a cold hard day, get into your pajamas, make some hot chocolate, then relax and drink.
- Bake cookies, bake cake, bake anything! Get out those tools, get out those ingredients. Mix it up and put it in the oven. It’s fun, smells good, and tastes delicious at the same time.
- Deck the halls of your house, both inside and the out. Hang up the holly and the lights, put up the Christmas tree for a holiday that’s bright.
- Get together with family and have fun! Play board games, bake cookies, make crafts, do whatever you like.
- Go for a slow walk down a lane of holiday lights. They can be found anywhere this time of year.
- Go shopping. You know, for presents. Gift shopping doesn’t have to be stressful. Just go in a few weeks before Christmas with some good friends. Enjoy the music that is put on in the store, and shop and chat away!
- Plan. Plan meals, plan parties, plan gifts, plan guests. Plan anything for the holidays.
- Read a book, a good book. Sit by the fireplace with family and have an awesome reading fest.
- Go out to eat. Come on, it’s the holidays. Go ahead and cheat on your diet and use up your money. And don’t just go to some fast food restaurant. Go to a real restaurant and make sure to eat slowly.
- Wrap gifts, write cards. And think of the happiness your presents will bring.
- Do a holiday workout. Don’t forget the Santa Claus jumps and the reindeer climbers.
- Spend many late nights (or early mornings) watching holiday movies. Holiday movies are the best.
7 Good Habits to Adopt
The habits below are habits you need to know about and adopt in order to live a happy and successful life. Without further to say, enjoy!
- Be grateful. No matter how bad things are for you, there’s always something you can be grateful for. Be thankful for what you have. That’s one of the secrets of insanely happy people. Everyday, write down three things you are grateful for, and I can guarantee that you will become a happier, more optimistic person.
- Drink smoothies. Smoothies are one of my favorite drinks. It is full of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy stuff, and it is also extremely delicious and easy to make. Just throw some fruits, vegetable, nuts, basically whatever you want in any old blender, and there you’ve got it. A tasty healthy snack. I try to drink more smoothies and eat less processed foods, which after I started doing, I feel much more energized and healthy.
- Take cold showers. They don’t have to be taken everyday or in the winter (if you live somewhere cold). Heck, they don’t even have to last the whole shower. Just get in the cold water for a few minutes and spend your rest of the shower in warmth. Taking cold showers have many health benefits such as increased blood flow and a stronger immune system. It also lifts your mood and makes you feel energized and alert. It may be uncomfortable at first, but hey, you’ve got to feel discomfort in life sometimes. Just try it for a week (I’d recommend trying it after the weather warms up a bit) and if it’s not for you, then it’s not for you. All I know is I like my showers cold.
- Wake early. Become an early riser and develop a morning routine. Get your most important things done before most people are even awake, and you’ll spend the rest of your day happy and feeling like you’ve just conquered the world. Many things can be done in the morning, like exercise, meditation, and planning, and it really is the most productive time of the day for me. You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm.
- Take days off. Occasionally, take a day off. Spend the day doing what you want, eating what you want. Don’t think about the work you have to do. Don’t think about anything. Just relax, have fun, and party your head off. And soon, you’ll be refreshed and ready to work again.
- Create task lists. Every morning or the night before, write a list of your most important tasks. Don’t put too many because that just defeats the purpose. Three to five will do nicely. Next, you’re supposed to follow the list. Those tasks that you listed are your focus for the day. Work on one at a time, and work hard on it. Get those things done!
- Read. Just set aside a few minutes a day to curl up with a book, any book. I’ve always liked reading, but these past few years, I’ve been really busy. Then I tried just reading for 30 minutes a day. I found the time to do it and it’s been enjoyable.
Tips for the Holidays
The holidays are almost here. We get to stay home, relax, and spend time with family and friends. I hope you’re all getting in the holiday spirit. There are colorful lights on the roofs, the Christmas tree is up, and we’re already planning parties. I’m awaiting a much needed winter break after stress, stress, and more stress from homework. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
It is great, but it can also be hectic with all the parties, and shopping, and holiday meals. It’s going to be a wonderful holiday season, that’s for sure, but here are some tips to make your break even more wonderful.
1. Don’t wait until the last minute
This applies to many things, from gift shopping to planning to deciding who to invite. Last minute shopping, we are all probably familiar with, is stressful. That’s one of the reasons some people don’t like the holidays. To avoid stress, do every single thing ahead of time. That includes planning meals for a party, buying gifts of course, and deciding who to invite as well as actually inviting them. Remember, never wait until the last minute for anything.
2. Cheat!
For those of you on diets, or just trying to eat healthy, during the holidays, I encourage you to cheat. It’s perfectly fine to go off your diet for a few days. The holiday parties, for me at least, are all about the food. Go ahead, have some cheat days, but control your portions. Also, a common mistake is that when people cheat, they get into this mindset where they think something like “oh, since I already went off my diet I guess I can just cheat more.” Make sure that doesn’t happen to you because it can be deadly. Cheat for a few days, enjoy the good food, then pretend that never happened and go straight back to your diet.
3. Exercise
With the big cheat meals, you’ve got to exercise to keep away the holiday pounds. You may be really busy with holiday stuff but even five minutes of exercise will work. Just do High Interval Intensity Training (HIIT). It’s short but intense and can really burn off the calories. There are many good HIIT videos online.
4. Plan
Plan in advance for your winter break. Gather with family and friends and decide together on activities, trips, and whatever things you want to do. Planning ahead ensures a wonderful holiday for all.
19 Awesome Challenges You Should Try
Do you think your life’s too boring? Want to live a better life? Want to take on a challenge? Just want to have some fun?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, then this post is for you. If you answered ‘no’ to all of them, well, this posts for you too. Try one of these monthly challenges, just one. I challenge you to, and you’d better accept. Let’s see how well you do.
It’s your choice, you get to choose any of these challenges. The basic rules are, do what the challenge tells you to do and do it every single day for a month. Easy enough? Here is the list of challenges:
- Take one cold shower each day
- Do 100 push ups each day
- Write down your three most important tasks every morning
- Go for a run every day
- Spend five minutes decluttering each day
- Do 30 minutes exercise each day
- Eat no processed foods
- Write down three things you are grateful for
- Save five dollars a day
- Do intermittent fasting
- Read for 30 minutes
- Watch no TV
- Live without internet (Only using internet for work related purposes is allowed)
- Write one blog post each day
- Write a poem each day
- Give one compliment
- Take one picture
- Wake up at 6:00 am or earlier
- Get at least 9 hours of sleep
Those are your 19 challenges. Seriously, try one and complete, don’t wimp out. What challenges are you planning on trying and can you think of any other challenges?
Five Benefits of Waking Up Early
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin
Waking up early is a good idea. There are tons of benefits to it. Rising early has definitely made me a healthier, happier, more productive person.
I understand that some of you might prefer staying up late and waking up late. That’s perfectly fine too. But I used to be a night owl and I changed. And I like being an early bird now. So I would recommend you give it a try and see what you think. Plus, you don’t have to wake up too early. Rising at 6:00 am or maybe even 7:00 is good enough for most. It all depends on when you have to leave for school or work.
Here are some of the many ways waking up early has helped me:
1. Great start
My mornings used to be full of rushing. I would wake up, have a quick breakfast, pack my bag, and leave. Sometimes I would even skip breakfast. I was worried every single morning about being late, and was practically half awake. It was chaos.
Now, I can slowly and peacefully get out of bed knowing that I’m far from being late. I even have time to do things other things, such as homework and exercise. When leave, I am already refreshed.
2. Peacefulness
When I wake up, no one else in my house is awake. Almost no one’s driving around outside. It is the most quiet and peaceful time of the day. I can enjoy it. Curling up with a book and having a nice healthy breakfast during sunrise is more enjoyable than you would think. It also is definitely more enjoyable than scarfing down something as fast as you can.
3. Exercise
Exercise can be done anytime but I find it most enjoyable when I do it in the morning. You don’t even have do head to the gym for a workout. I usually go for a run (and it is beautiful outside!) and sometimes do bodyweight exercises or HIIT at home.
4. Productivity
I do homework that’s due the next day at night but if I still have extra homework, I find some time to do it in the morning. My mind is just more clear right after I wake up so I take advantage of that. I also review all my notes and study. Other than homework, you could do tasks that also need to be done such as chores. I can’t tell you how good you feel the rest of the day after you complete your most important tasks.
5. Plan the day
I take some time in the morning to plan my afternoon. I list the most important things I need to do and make a to-do list or a schedule.
5 Bodyweight Exercises That Can Be Done Anywhere
Don’t have access to a gym? No problem. Bodyweight exercises can be done anywhere. They can be effective if done properly and contrary to popular belief, not all bodyweight exercises are easy peasy. They are a good training option when access to a gym is limited or when you just feel like staying at home. Plus, no equipment is necessary – only your own bodyweight is needed.
1. The pushup
You can’t beat the classics! This is a simple and effective exercise that works the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
If you find them too hard, start out by doing them on your knees and work your way up. If you find the standard pushup too easy and are looking for a challenge, there are many other different varieties of pushups such as Hindu pushups, dive bomber pushups, and diamond pushups.
2. Bodyweight squat
It’s basically a squat without extra weights. They develop your glutes, hamstrings, and quads. It’s pretty simple, but many people still do it wrong. Common mistakes are leaning the upper body too far forward or leaning the knees over the ankles.
If it gets too boring to do the same squats over and over again, like all exercises, there are different variations. Different bodyweight squats include the pistol squat, hindu squat, and the side-to-side squat. You could even do jump squats to add a little plyometrics to your routine.
3. The burpee
It’s a squat jump and a pushup all in one.
The burpee is definitely a killer total body exercise.
Works your core and certain parts of your arms and legs.
Variations include side planks, reverse planks, and plank jacks.
5. The tricep dip
The tricep dip is an great tricep toning exercise.
Try them with your arms elevated on a bench first and if that gets too easy, try doing them on parallel bars.
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