Written by: Chris Janssen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
‘Tis the holiday season! For younger me, Halloween marked the start of two months of overindulging in sugars, carbs, and seasonal treats until my Happy New Year arrived. It was my holiday pattern. More was merrier—until the merry lost its sparkle.
What’s your holiday pattern? Are you happy with it? Is it the tradition you want? Does it serve you and your loved ones best? In 2021, will your pattern give you the necessary energy to be present and create precious new memories? If yes, fantastic! If not, then ask yourself:
What am I gaining from my holiday choices?
Do your holiday food and drink choices provide instant satisfaction? Do they help you connect with tradition and gain rapport at gatherings? The truth is, you’re gaining something by your choices.
I’m curious, though. Are there other ways for you to feel satisfied and connected? What are they?
Here’s another question to ask yourself:
Do my holiday choices serve or distract me?
If your holiday choices distract you, how do you want to feel instead? Your relationship with whatever goes into your body is an intimate one. You get to decide what food and drink will sustain the lifestyle, feelings, and memories you want to have. Past routines don’t have to be your future ones—unless you want them to. To break an old holiday routine, replace it with the wellness pattern you want.
Remember, whatever you decide to focus your mind on creates neural pathways in your brain. Simply put, focusing on sustainable, euphoric feelings that result from wise food and drink choices creates healthy pathways. Focusing on instant gratification from fleeting sugar, fat, or carbohydrate highs will reinforce unhealthy neural pathways. Train your brain to strengthen the paths you want instead of the ones you don’t want.
Where the holidays are concerned, I’ve learned to eat and drink what keeps me merry, because making wise choices adds sparkle that lasts year-round. So, here’s one last question to ask yourself:
This year, will I choose a season or a reason?
© 2021 Chris Janssen. No part of this article may be reproduced online or in print without the author’s written permission.
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Chris Janssen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chris Janssen is a Board Certified Life Coach with an honest, strategic style who helps her clients master habits and skills to move toward and thrive in what they love. Chris excels in working with high performers and understands the character traits associated with driven achievers. As a trained Business Coach, Chris specializes in closing the gap between where a company or individual is and where they want to be. Chris partners with her clients to access their creativity and resourcefulness necessary to achieve the sustainable results they want. She cares deeply about her clients' careers, relationships, spirituality, wellness, health, patterns, and mindsets. Chris says her clients are experts at what they do and she is an expert at the psychology of what they do. Together they are unstoppable.
