December 5

"Christmas Strength Finder - A gift for yourself!"

Christmas is not just about presents and glitter, but also about taking a moment to appreciate what we have already achieved - and what we are capable of. At this special time of year, I invite you to open a gift... for yourself!

This gift is nothing but your strengths.

Why is this important?

Because your strengths are your best allies in lifestyle change.

If you recognise and use them, you can create opportunities that simply fit you.

Without knowing our strengths, it's very difficult to change our lifestyle and form new habits, because the little elf in our head is always pushing us towards less resistance, whether we want it or not. Therefore, we need a very high level of awareness in order to develop a new healthy lifestyle.

Our brains prioritise our familiar and comfortable lifestyle habits because then the energy invested is less, but to trick ourselves into starting and then implementing new habits, we need a little trick.

We must use our strengths

Christmas strength finder

Ingredients

• A mug of hot tea or cocoa (healthy kind😊).
• A piece of paper (can be Christmas patterned).
• A pen.
• If you feel like it, light a candle or put on some soft festive music.

Discover your strengths:
Please take 5 minutes now and write down what you are good at, what you are proud of.

For example

• I'm a good organiser.
• I can easily understand what motivates others.
• I solve problems creatively.
• I am persistent when I set my mind to something.

Now let's create your opportunities by building on your strengths.

Creating opportunities:

Think about how you could use these strengths in your lifestyle change to achieve your desired goals.

For example:

• I'm good at organising -> I prepare a weekly diet in advance and make a shopping list.
• I can easily understand what motivates others -> I start a joint exercise programme or challenge with my friends.
• I solve problems creatively -> You create a new healthy habit (e.g. I create a recipe collection).
• I'm persistent when I set my mind to something -> I set a goal to lose ... (e.g. x kg by March 2025).

Close task - Give yourself a gift!

Write down your listed strengths on a nice sheet of paper:

My strengths that have created opportunities:

• my strengths + my potential

I am proud of them, and I vow to use them by Christmas!"

Put this message in a nice envelope and place it under the Christmas tree.