4 Ways to Enjoy the Holidays to Fullest
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Let’s be real, sometimes we sabotage ourselves and prevent ourselves from enjoying ourselves to the fullest…especially through the holidays. The holidays are supposed to a magic time of year, but for many of us, they aren’t. So, how can we change that? How can we ensure we are actually enjoying our holidays to the absolute fullest? That’s exactly what I’m diving into in this episode of Embrace Your Real.
What I discussed:
Be present.
Focus on what makes you happy, too.
Continue to honor your body with movement and nourish your body with what it needs.
Let go of expectations.
Link mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript:
Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Rail with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real. Let's get it. Let's go. Hello and welcome to another bonus episode for ways to enjoy the holidays to the fullest. Let's be real. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves and prevent ourselves from actually enjoying things to the fullest, especially through the holidays. The holidays are supposed to be a time of magic, but for many of us they just aren't. So how can we change that? How can we ensure that we're actually enjoying our holidays to the absolute fullest? That is exactly what I'm diving into in this episode of Embrace Your. And as you are listening to this, I am likely on a plane going to New York City and this is a bucket list item for Joshua and I. We have wanted to go to New York City during Christmas forever, and we're finally doing it. And I'm so excited to take you along, so be sure to follow along on my personal Instagram. Julie A lot better. I'm excited to take you along and show you the magic of the city. Before I dove in, I wanted to share. This review comes from a threat level midnight 37461937 deal to give a five star review and a great practical podcast. I love your podcast. I've been following you on Insta for a few years but just jumped on the podcast bandwagon recently. I love how practical it is, especially the bonus episode where you talk about secondary protein sources. Keep it up. I am so grateful for you. Thank you so much for leaving your reading interview. They really do mean so much to me and they just help us out so incredibly much. So if you could go to Apple Podcasts tape and embrace your role. First, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode. That when we release them on Monday and Thursday, you get it automatically downloaded to your library. So you don't need Wi-Fi to listen to it. And they're just right there waiting for you to tune in. But also liberating interview. Once you're on that page, they really do help us out and they also help other people who stumble upon the podcast, kind of know how this podcast is helping other people, and that's how we can increase our listenership. So thank you so much in advance. Let's dove into the four ways to enjoy the holidays to the fullest.
Number one be present. Please remember that in 50 years you're going to look back on these days and wish that you were more present. You're going to wish that you really put an effort in to enjoy these days to the fullest with the ones that you love and to avoid future regrets. Please, please, please make sure this is the year that you are present. Not just physically present, but mentally present. Emotionally present. I don't want you to just be scrolling on Instagram or TikTok while you're celebrating the holidays with your family. Really try to challenge yourself to put the phone down and engage in conversation. Focus on creating real memories with your loved ones and not just memories that were posed for Instagram. You can even set a limit on your phone. And these have been a total game changer for me, especially just in productivity. But you can actually preset the time that you want to spend on like a certain apps, whether it's Instagram or Tik Tok. You can say like okay, 15 minutes for the day or 30 minutes for the day, and once that time limit is up, then it will actually close the app out on you and it will say like time limit and it's just really convecting. And then it just reminds you like, Oh yeah, I got to put my phone down and look up and experience all the beauty around me. If you're a workaholic like me, I will be the first to tell you I struggle so much with boundaries. It's really important that you prioritize that and I'm in this with you. I am just as much guilty of, you know, over crossing boundaries, especially when it comes to working man. I feel like I could work all day, every day. And it's just not healthy. It's not healthy for me. It's not healthy for those around me. And also, like I mentioned earlier, when I look back 50 years from now, I'm going to be so bombed that I spent and wasted so much time on my phone in front of these people that I love so much. So please, please, please set boundaries with your work. So if that's something that you need to let your clients know about or your boss know about, it is important. Let them know that the holidays are important to you and really use this time to enjoy it with your friends and family. Phone Free. Work Free.
Number two, focus on what makes you happy too. Don't be afraid to speak out for what you need throughout the holiday season. I know that we have a tendency to want to make sure everything is perfect for everyone else. But we need to remember this. That this is your holiday just as much as it is everyone else's. And you deserve to prioritize your happiness as well, right? It's not just all about making other people happy, although that is so important and it is honestly one of the most amazing times to do it. Like through generosity, whether it's time or resources, like there is nothing like the feeling that you get when you're able to help other people out or you're able to do things for other people, especially during the holiday season. But all that to say, it is important to kind of look at your holiday and say, like, what do I want to do? What do I want to get out of my holiday? Like be open and honest with those around you? And I know, you know, for me, there are certain things on this bucket list where in. York City. I was like, Hey, Josh, I want to make sure we do X, Y and Z. And he's like, Great. I want to make sure I do X, Y and Z. And we're working that list together to ensure that we're both getting what we dream and hope for out of this New York City trip. And I think that that's healthy. I think that's important to prioritize that and communicate that with other people.
Number three, continue to honor your body with movement and nourish your body with what it needs. There is no worse way to spend the holidays than feeling crappy. Who wants to spend the holidays feeling tired, sluggish, lethargic, or uncomfortable in your body? Not me. And I'm guessing you don't either. Personally, the best way that I have found to spend the holiday season and to enjoy it to the fullest is to just prioritize things in between. So whether it's a holiday celebration, it's a sweet treat, like honoring my body with movement. And I've talked about this before. Your season of movement does not have to be this season of like, pushing peers and trying to get as strong as possible. It can be a season of maintenance, like you just get in a day getting in and getting it done, feeling good, and also nourishing your body in between the treats and sweets, right? Having that balance of honoring your body really to me means nourishing your body with what it needs, but also enjoying the sweets and treats and also honoring your body with movement. Whether that is a walk, whether that's a workout, whether that is stretching or hiking or just getting creative, but not completely putting the movement on the back burner and saying like, oh, I'll start January 1st. You guys know what I will say about that? And that is that I would much rather you have three weeks of imperfect consistency, then two days for the next three weeks of perfect ness. But you're super inconsistent. Like you will just feel so much better if you go after movement and honoring your body with movement and go after it with this intention of like, Hey, I'm going to be imperfectly consistent and I'm going to be okay with that, and that's going to make me feel my best.
And lastly, number four, let go of expectations going into the holidays. We can feel like we have these huge expectations for the holidays and what they look like and what what time spent with friends and family should look like when the reality is, if it doesn't live up to the expectations that we created in our heads, we feel like the holiday was a letdown when in fact it wasn't at all right. Many times we want to like relive past moments or we want the holidays to be bigger, better than someone else's. We just have this unrealistic idea of what the holiday can be. And if we let go of these expectations and just let the holidays be what they are, you're truly going to enjoy it so much more. It's okay to have ideas of what you want to do, but don't be married to them. If it doesn't happen, that's okay. Just kind of go with the flow and enjoy the moment for what it is. Sometimes the best moments and the best memories arise when they're completely unplanned and completely unexpected. If we plan every single moment, we don't leave room for this amazing opportunity, for these moments and memories to blossom, right? So sometimes we just need to let go of our need to curate moments and instead just let them flow and see what amazing memories will be created.
That is all that I have for today's episode. There you have it. Four ways to enjoy your holiday to the fullest. Let me quickly recap those things. Number one, be present. A.K.A put your phone down, look up. Number two, really focus on what makes you happy to communicate that with those who you love. Number three Continue to honor your body with movement and nourish your body with what it needs. And number four, let go of expectations.
If you love this episode and want to get daily content from me, don't forget to check out Embrace really. On Instagram, I post Golden Nugget video clips from each podcast episode to give you a daily dose of real talk on Instagram. Be sure to follow Embrace Real on Instagram as well as my other Instagram, @juliealedbettert, my personal Instagram if you want to follow along The New York City Chronicles, if you call it that. But I'm really excited about this trip and I'm excited to share kind of the holiday cheer with you through the phone. I love you guys so dang much. I hope you have a fabulous holiday season and I will talk to you in the next episode. All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, @juliealedbetter. Yes, it's with an a in the middle for that Daily Post workout, real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember, that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace the real because you're worth it.