When To Start A Good Habit!

it's working now. Okay, you may have seen my chin for a while. I hope that's not the screenshot they use. Anyways, what's up cadre? This outfit is part of my vibe today because I am talking about some of my kryptonite. Some of the things I know that I struggle with. Now, some people know that hard seasons are coming. Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe you're like me and you hate cold weather and you get panicked around, you know, I call it winter madness. And, or maybe you have birthdays coming up or it's just like you struggle in spring.

I don't know. Everyone has different things, right? when it gets cold, I basically shut down. I don't go on my walks and I really rely on my walks for mental health. I don't do the things that are good for me. I don't even start going outside. I really like lock in a way that I wouldn't say is healthy. So today's like 65 degrees. It's 60. All right, 60 degrees right now. It's supposed to be high of 65. And this is where I think it's important to start doing those good habits that are going to get me through the winter.

I got to build in this routine now. So for example, I'm wearing this big sweatshirt. that I've already spilt coffee on. Don't worry about it. I got my tall socks on. Big shoes ready to go. I'm ready. We're going to start this routine now. We're even going to wear gloves if we want to wear gloves. I know it's only 60, but like I start having the options for these things so nothing is holding me back. The goal is then I will be on autopilot with this routine by the time it's like freezing out. I thought of this the other day because my kiddo, she's 44, started preschool, told me about a fire drill.

She was like, mom, we did this fire drill. There was no fire. There was no smoke. we pretended there was and we practice what we would do if there was a fire. And it really like got my brain going in an interesting way where I was like, yeah, like you practice the crazy thing at a time where everything's fine. So when things are crazy, you're like, Ready, right? And I'm like, that's what we should do for all things. I think we should all have a game plan for when things get rough. I think they said this too when first get married is like start going to couples counseling prior to the argument.

I mean, I don't know how many people take that advice, but I think it's good advice. Nobody learns the ideal escape route while the house is on fire. So the practice, the plan is pretty clutch. I know that again, I struggle when things, as soon as fall hits and everybody's in this like, I love fall. I don't do well. I don't know. It's so funny. I'm so active in the summer. I think that apart. part of like my winter madness is like I quit doing the things I know do does well. Hey junk food junkie.

So every decision you make ahead of time is 1 less thing to fight on a hard day. So you start doing mean the hard stuff now again, I'm gonna take my dogs on a 15 minute walk. Hopefully they didn't hear that because they will freak out. Right now at 60 degrees in a sweatshirt, wear my headphones that cover my ears and I'm gonna start giving myself options for warm layers. Let's I think I keep thinking like I should do this on the 1st of the month. So that's why I'm doing it this October. I'm going to try to walk every single day and not long.

Like I'm going to give myself, you want to do 2 blocks, do 2 blocks. You want to do 4 miles, do 4 miles, but like Just getting out there. I think my goal will be 15 minutes. Again, I'm starting this now while it's warm. So when things are cold, I'm ready. Now, this can be applied so much to mental health stuff. Starting a routine, start talking about your feelings now. So then you're not showing up in a state of distress and having to get all the baseline stuff done with the person you're talking.

So I'm going to kick this bad boy off. What's the call to action? First, you got to figure out your hard season or your trigger or the thing that really F's with your head. So figure that one out. You got to be really honest with yourself. When do I struggle. Then pick one small habit, not 5. Listen, I'm not. I'm not also saying I'm going to A, B, and C, and D, and E for the winter months. I'm just trying to walk for 15 minutes a day, which I'm already intimidated by because I keep my brain automatically goes to snow.

But no, we're going to pick one habit that we wanna like lean into and start practicing before times get hard. Set it up now. So your gear, time, place, like my thing is gonna be, I'm gonna try to pull out my, I know you're gonna make fun of me, but I actually walk in snow pants as soon as it gets cold because my legs are freezing. I'm a cold baby. I'm cold. So I got all the gear out. I already bought a coat this year. I bought a new coat. I know buying things isn't always the answer, but for me that helps.

I have this sweatshirt, which I'm gonna wear today. I'm already cold. We got them go. We're gonna have all that set aside, have a backup plan then. as well to kind of help you out so you don't feel like fully failure. Like if it's too cold or if like I just can't handle it, will I allow myself to go on the treadmill? Like things that make you feel less of whatever or stand outside or like, fine, I will sit on the stoop for 15 minutes. This is all about my mental health. This isn't like a fitness talk.

This is about me figuring out a way to get myself right for when those like winter months hit at a time that's not so awful. And again, I can't this enough. This applies to everything you struggle with. Like I'm an alcoholic. And so a big thing I struggle with is how many things around the holidays are built around drinking. Speaking of, I got a copy. There's holiday drinks. There's holiday, like, oh, we're going to have cocoa, but with alcohol. There's so many things about staying warm, spiked cider, all the things.

Okay, so what's my plan? Let's think about it when I'm not in a state of panic, when I'm not feeling uncomfortable. What's my plan? Making a plan while you're in a good place is so close. So fire drills are not for fire days. That's something I wrote down. Practice in the calm so you're ready for the storm. I love that. It also sounds really intense. Build that habit up before you need the habit. And gear up before you give up. That's mine because it's like, I got to start wearing layers and getting ready.

I am really intrigued. I don't know, junk food, junkie. If you're still here, but I would love to know, like, what is your trigger? What is your hard season? What is the thing you're like, I need to start thinking about the way I want to move in that environment now so that it's not so hard later. And I challenge everybody who anyone who's watching this is just name your hard thing. Maybe this week you're just naming the hard thing. Maybe it's winner. Maybe it's nighttime. Maybe it's early mornings.

Name the thing that you find hardest in your day or your month or your year and name it. Name it and try to then because once you name it, then we can start making a game plan. And it's really important to be honest with yourself. I know somebody who is grumpy in the morning. They are so grumpy in the morning. And I'm like, you need to figure your crap out. Like we can't live our lives like this. So we've had a talk about protocol, like not during the morning. We don't figure it out when they're the grumpiest, but like, oh, around that.

I think it's super helpful to start naming the things that are hard and being able to verbalize them. So I think this week, if you can, you can message me. Right, or throw it somewhere. Name the hard. Name your trigger, name your hard season. I'm really enthralled with what people are struggling with. And then we can start figuring out the one habit you want to start building now while you're not in that hard season or that hard. And then eventually we can start implementing it. So thanks so much for hanging out with me.

I am Brittany Hagan, an Army veteran, single mom, alcoholic, all the things and I'm. I'm so excited to get to talk to you today. Or whenever you listen to this.