Where did the last three weeks since our last Monday Morning Pep Talk go? I, for one, was craving some downtime only to find myself, after a few days, falling into some bad habits with my routine and diet. In the moment, I wasn’t overly worried about it because I knew that I needed to completely power down, recharge, and reboot for the new year. The power-down and recharge part of the process was easy and enjoyable… but the rebooting and regaining my momentum has been anything but easy. My daily schedule was most impacted by the change of pace. Again, I knew it was necessary, but I’ve found myself paying the price over the last week as I knew I need to get back into “game shape.”
Our bodies have built in “bio-rhythms.” Your circadian rhythm is your daily rhythm that happens every 24 hours. It includes your sleep patterns, appetite, daily performance, blood pressure, and reaction times. During the holiday season, many of us are traveling in different time zones, eating foods that are native to the season, and living with a completely different schedule for two or three weeks. Our bodies adjust to that new schedule. The challenge is adjusting back to your normal schedule. It’s not easy but you just have to do it. Your brain will throw you negative thoughts like:
“Just wait until February to get back to it. By then the market will be humming.”
“What’s the rush? You deserve more downtime.”
“I don’t see anybody else really working. Why should I?”
Team, the biggest challenge with creating balance in your life is staying balanced.
You can’t work so hard that you “don’t live,” but on the other hand, you can’t become complacent. Holiday season and long vacations can be traps that can force you to take long periods of time to re-gain your momentum. In our business, just two weeks of stagnant performance can mean tens of thousands of dollars in income.
So, you might ask the question, “Jim how do you regain your momentum?” Here are a few simple ideas to use this week:
- Force yourself to get back on your schedule. It starts with going to bed at your normal time. Your body will regain your sleep pattern pretty quickly.
- Review all of the goals and ideas you set for 2020 this past fall. Start executing. Get into action.
- Go into your audiobook library and re-engage with an audiobook that you find super motivational. Get yourself fired up.
- Start executing your daily routine, including (and most importantly) your work-out schedule.
- Throw away all of the candies and cookies that are still in your environment. Improve your diet immediately. Start a cleanse.
- The late year no-fly zone is over so start reaching out to your sphere.
- Repeat. By the end of this week, you need to be back in full go mode. This will be an early market.
By doing these 7 things, your body will start to adjust. By being intentional, it will take you about three or four days to get back into rhythm.
Is this rebooting process fun? Not necessarily.
Does it feel amazing to get your year off to a fast start? ABSOLUTELY.
Remember, you earned the late-December downtime but now it is time to transition back if you haven’t done so already. Get excited for 2020. I’m as bullish going into a year as I’ve been in a long time.
