One question to ask yourself

Instead of asking: “What am I doing with my life?” and this week ask: “What am I doing with today?

Journal on this - if you can take 5 minutes in the morning then great, but otherwise, tonight, carve out 5 minutes and look at your day. What did it look like? Where did it fill your cup? What took you away from doing so? How did your actions serve you and others?

I credit Brianna Weist with this question. 

Something to consider

Some mistakes have to be made, they are creative errors 

You might not consider this outside of the business sense, which is where I've been reflecting on it. But isn't a creative life a whole life? As Elizabeth Gilbert says, "a creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life". Make mistakes. Celebrate them. Make some more. 

One thing I'd tell my younger self.

"Self compassion is the entry point to accountability”

The thing is, self-criticism is the easy way out. When you punish yourself with self-criticism, you feel like shit, when you feel like shit, you make bad choices, when you make bad choices, you criticise yourself. The cycle is easy and it's endless.

Self-compassion stops this. It asks you to be accountable for your choices, to get curious. And this is possible when you're kind to yourself, because you're open to listening, to changing.  The wild thing about negative self talk is that you think that you really believe it’s helpful, that self-compassion will hold you back, when in reality, it's the complete opposite. 

One thing to try this week

The ETPHD body image trifecta. 

We use this at ETPHD - this week I'm giving it to you. Every day this week.,

• Take 3 moments in the day where you come back into your body (closer your eyes, take a deep breath, try to feel your body from the inside out - sensations, your weight on the floor, can you feel your heart beat?)

• Note 3 things you appreciate your body for (think on, sit with or write down)

• Do 3 kind things for your body (movement, sleep, rest, nourishing foods, wore comfortable clothing, moisturised, wore sunscreen, self-soothed, auditioned the finger puppets)

A few things to tell you...

Get hours of free evidence-based nutrition content with EIQ here (and when you pass, get £200 of the entire course!). You've only got 2 weeks left - stop fannying about. 

Listen to us knowledgeable pair talk about codependence and procrastination (and of course nutrition and science) here.

Katie made her first appearance on the ETPHD podcast here and we spoke so much about body connection it was v wholesome. 

Learn how to overcome comparison, find your niche and market yourself properly here.

Who's coming to IFS? It's genuinely one of the best fitness conferences of the year, where we've made some lifelong friends and genuinely so much fun. Emma, Anna and myself are all speaking this year and it's in Brighton. Highly recommend you come along for your brain and your heart. Find out more here.
 

One more thing...

Please share your favourite stuff.

I'm really trying to have a more positive impact this year (it's where this Monday email spawned from). If there's something you really relate to or know someone who'd benefit from something in this email, please share it and pay it forward. Words are magical, and if I've learned anything from writing these emails to you for years, you never know when someone needs to hear the exact thing you've got to say.