Holiday Shopping Guide to Keep You Lean and Happy
Dec 04, 2019
The way we do one thing is the way we do everything.
Nothing has been more true.
And the best places to witness this for yourself is in our eating and shopping behaviors.
- Do you put yourself on budget restrictions until you just can’t take it anymore and splurge on a big purchase?
- Do all the coupon/sale notifications in your inbox tempt you to click?
- Do the offers of free shipping and discounts with purchase seduce you into staying engaged with a store month after month?
Hello yo-yo dieting, environmental control and free food syndrome!
The way we feel about food is just an extension of the way we feel about everything.
To be more accurate, the way we feel about ourselves is the way we deal with everything.
I bring this to your attention now because we’re heading into the gift-giving holiday season. We’ll continue to speak about strategies for keeping the calories under control, but today I want to give you a heads up on your spending.
For many, it’s a time of stretching our finances too thin in an effort to impress or appease or feel better.
To be clear, there’s nothing evil about spending money or giving gifts. Just like there’s nothing evil about eggnog. It’s when we get out of control and do it for the wrong reasons that we get the hangover.
Just like with food, there is a number you can afford. Staying within that parameter means you get to enjoy yourself AND feel good the next day.
The first step, as always, is awareness.
Here’s a simple process for feeling great about your gift-giving this holiday season:
1. Make a list of all those you’ll be buying gifts for.
2. Now go over that list and ask yourself for each person, “is this out of love or obligation?”
- If it’s love—go for it, just make sure the amount you’re spending reflects the love you have for yourself, too.
That is to say, leaves you feeling only good and not used.
- If it’s out of obligation, re-think it.
Either figure out a way to feel love for this gifting or consider not doing it at all.
I understand this can feel radical. But you know the definition of insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
If you want to lose weight, that’s radical.
If you want to have better relationships, that’s radical.
If you want to get out of debt, that’s radical.
In order to change how you relate to food or people or money you have to change your behaviors.
Base those new behaviors on how you really feel.
The only way to do that is stop and ask yourself. Then be honest with the answers.
It may be uncomfortable at first, but the long-term effect will be worth it.
It always is.
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