Morning Wonderful,

I bet you're pretty busy right about now.

Some of you are gonna be loving that busy-ness. Preparing for Christmas; wrapping stuff up at work; getting ready for kids to be home for the holidays; stocking up the booze cupboard; organising bits n bobs last-minute for travelling; making, baking or buying presents.

** Here's a helpful little guide full of alternatives if you're thinking you have to do a mad dash around the shops on Chrissy eve **





So some of you are having a ball!

But quite a lot of you are absolutely exhausted and in desperate need of a break.

Unfortunately if you don't put your foot down, Christmas can be even more tiring than the whole year that came before.

Making a conscious choice around how to do things in general can be hard, at a time of year when many feel extra-vulnerable it's even more challenging.

But if you DO make things a bit more how you'd like them to be. If you DO take the time to enjoy some of your moments, then imagine how empowering that will be!

What a great set-up for doing things just a bit more 'how you'd prefer' in the new year.

Coz that's how (positive) change begins.

By DOING something just a little bit differently. And seeing how it goes. And being kind to yourself when it's hard. And trying again.

So if you're looking for some inspiration and ideas on how to have a bit more fun and relaxation over the holidays, check out this blog post from last year: 'Resigning from Christmas: 10 ways to tell everyone to stuff it and enjoy yourself for a change'.

If you are an expat/digital nomad OR you've gone through a significant change (such as a family separation), this post from two years ago with some similar themes is for you: 'Five Tips for Staying Sane on Christmas'. Another post for expats and digital nomads that will be helpful at this time (and for anyone looking to SLOW down a little) is How to be Mindful of Your Mental Health as an Expat.

You might be wondering why I haven't written a new blog post this year.

Actually i'm doing my own version of 'changing things up' which is taking up most of my time, and it's pretty exciting if I do say so myself, and you're one of the first to hear about it.

I'm in the process of creating an online course:

'From Bashful to Bold: Embracing Your Confident Self'

There will be 10 units with videos, action steps, reflective questions, creative practices, and blog posts all put together to help YOU be able to do a little more YOU.

Progressively and thoughtfully moving towards developing an inner place where you can trust yourself more to make decisions, speak up, and be more confident.

What this course isn't is a 'strategic plan'. It's not going to tell you what to say or what to think or what to do tomorrow. 

I know I know, we all love that stuff.

The problem with that stuff is that, when we inevitably struggle to put strategy into action, it becomes another way to beat ourselves up for being a big fat failure.

So we stop trying.

That paragraph with the life-changing YES moment? It fades away and we go back to doing things that feel most familiar.

This course is aiming, instead, to help you become more centred. More familiar with a place of trusting yourself. A greater investigation into knowing and naming your own version of 'solid ground' and what that connects to. When you're more connected to 'that' place, the actions you take are always more in alignment with how you most want to be. Which is what true confidence is all about.

It'll be about the price of a book and I'm hoping i'll be launching it in time for the New Year (eeek!!).

I would LOVE to know what you think about this course idea. If you have any feedback please just reply to this email and get in touch with me.

Happy holidays!!

With so much love,

Nicole

oxo