Season's Greetings✨🎄❄️

An update on my two-month writing hiatus. Plus my holiday staples steeped in wellbeing.

Season’s greetings everyone,

I hope you’re feeling merry and bright as we rev up to the holidays!

Here’s what’s new with me post two-month (newsletter) writing hiatus, plus some ideas on how to maximize wellness this holiday season by keeping things simple and inexpensive.

Book Update 📖

First thing’s first, I’m still working on my book though admittedly, I’ve been cheating on writing with Pilates.

Having sustained an injury over the summer that prevented me from working out, I’ve been on a mission to get back in shape this fall. And in a bid to go gentler on my body, I’ve ditched my former HIIT routine and reconnected with my long-lost love of Pilates.

I’m a few months in and I feel incredible.

And so, despite originally thinking I’d have the first draft of my book written by Christmas and being nowhere close to that, I’m proud of my progress.

As part of my slower, steadier approach to pursuing my goals following my burnout in summer 2023, I’m pacing myself for optimal quality of life.

I love writing and don’t want to rush the process. So my revised game plan is to have my first draft written by Christmas 2025.

I’m excited to take time over the next couple of weeks to map out my writing schedule to that end.

I have missed writing to you weekly though.

So I also want to think about how I can resume writing my newsletter at a gentler cadence, say every three or four weeks. I’ll fill you in on my ETA once I figure it out.

Holiday Staples (Steeped in Wellbeing) 🍵

When I picture Christmas shopping on steroids, I remember walking down Oxford Street in London in 2014 and wandering around Galeries Lafayette in Paris in 2018.

That and my pre-Christmas visit to New York in 2021 (I ended up with COVID but thankfully, made it back across the border before testing positive).

Galeries Lafayette in all its (Christmas) glory

As fascinating as it’s been to see the world’s most famous cities take on Christmas commercially, it’s made me realize how easy it is to lose sight of what’s really important.

Thoughtfulness trumps cost when it comes to giving and receiving.

I recently turned thirty-five and my favourite gifts to give and receive are those steeped in well-being.

I especially love self-care products, journals, hand-painted mugs, seasonal teas, and sentimental ornaments (like the “Luke’s coffee mug” a friend sent me given our shared love of Gilmore Girls).

I also love writing and receiving cards. It’s a dying art and I’m doing my best to keep it alive (although the Canada Post strike is killer at the moment).

In any case, thoughtful gestures are your most valuable Christmas gifts.

Feel Good Vibes For 2025 ✨

Most New Year’s resolutions take a nose-dive in February or March once the inevitable “dip” in motivation sets in. But those who power through follow a similar trajectory to what’s known as “hockey stick growth” in the startup world.

Source: Bobby Martin

The key to “sticking” with things is reducing friction.

(Pun unintended, though totally on brand. I am Canadian after all—despite my pitiful knowledge of hockey.)

James Clear explains the impact of reducing friction in his best-selling book, Atomic Habits. (A book that fundamentally changes how you think about habits and helps you rewire your environment to make good ones easy to stick with and bad ones easy to break.)

I’ve been reducing friction around my goals and priorities since I read Atomic Habits in 2021, and getting back into Pilates this fall was no exception.

Here are a few things I did to ensure my ramp-up to three classes a week would be easy, enjoyable, and sustainable (I guarantee you can make your goals attainable if you think through similar factors):

1. Timing ⏰

The first thing I did was determine the best time to book my Pilates classes. Back when I was in my early twenties, you couldn’t pay me to get up early to workout before work. I was a night owl and opted for evening classes instead.

But now? I’m the opposite.

I’m officially a morning person and while 10 am would be my ideal time to workout (and that was my golden fitness hour during my self-employment era when I had the flexibility to make my schedule), now I have to factor in the 9 to 5 schedule, so 7:30 am classes are my go-to.

Occasionally, when I opt for an evening class due to a schedule conflict, I notice a huge change in my energy (though I enjoy mixing it up once in a while, especially to add coziness to our longer, darker evenings).

But the takeaway is more energy equates to more enthusiasm to workout and better performance. So bear that in mind when you’re planning out practices of your own. Make it easy.

2. Commute 🚎

The second thing I thought about was how I’d get to and from classes.

Reducing friction means keeping my commute short to prevent delays or lack of motivation due to a perceived “trek” ahead. Also, when it comes to morning classes, the longer the commute, the earlier you have to wake up.

In my case, I have a studio within a ten-minute walk of my apartment. Ideally, I’d do all my classes there but it’s primarily a yoga studio so they don’t have a lot of Pilates classes outside of the 9 to 5 schedule.

I had to find an additional studio to hit my quota of three classes per week.

Through a quick search, I discovered a bunch I’d never even heard of and did a few trials, which I highly recommend as photos can be deceiving and it’s best to see what the vibe is in person.

Originally, I thought a studio near my work would be the best option but upon trialling it, I learned they don’t have changing rooms and on top of that, I would have to take the metro extremely early which then poses the safety issue of going underground when it’s dark and not many people are around.

So that studio got nixed.

Instead, I found a studio that’s a six-minute bus ride from my nearest metro station (or a thirty-minute walk). It’s on the way to work too, so I can easily continue my commute to the office afterward.

3. Enjoyment 🤩

The third thing I did was take stock of my enjoyment from class to class and week to week.

See here’s the thing, you won’t know if you enjoy something until you try it.

One of my biggest takeaways from working at a startup hub is to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, you have to think of yourself as an experimenter continuously testing your hypotheses. That’s the key to validation and everything else is feedback you can use to reassess.

Picking a workout routine is no different. You may think you’ll love spinning, strength training, or yoga because “all your friends do” or it’s “what everyone in your industry does.” But until you try it, you won’t know.

So try things but be honest with yourself about whether or not they’re really your thing.

Forcing yourself to do something you know is good for you but you don’t enjoy will never amount to doing something you love that provides similar benefits, as you’ll always be motivated to work that much harder in the latter case.

Case in point, people remark how “disciplined” and “committed” I am when I tell them about my Friday 7:30 am Pilates class and it’s funny to me since it’s without a doubt one of the easiest aspects of my week (the motivation to get there that is—the class itself is gruelling but I love the challenge, most days).

Indisputable perk of 7:30 am classes: soaking in the sunrise

My question to you is, what’s something you do for yourself that has you hopping out of bed on Friday mornings when most people would prefer to hit “Snooze”?

There’s nothing wrong with the latter (TGIF and all that), but if you find the former, you’ve found your “thing.”

Make time for your thing this holiday season and beyond.

You’ll shine brighter for it.

Happy holidays,

Alexandra