Choose Your Winter Arc: Hibernating Bear versus Hungry Wolf

I’m writing this sat in a coffee shop in London. Outside it’s dark (at 4pm) and it’s cold. Christmas music is on the speaker, and a video display is showing me images of delicious festive foods: sugary, chocolatey treats, drinks topped with whipped cream. It’s all very tempting.

I am not a fan of winter - the early darkness and the cold affects my mood and makes me feel lazy. It’s easy to reach to food for comfort, and the motivation to work out and for activity in general is low. All the adverts, the shop displays and festive music don’t help. So many signals and cues to tell us it’s time to indulge, to take it easy, and to stay inside.

And maybe that’s exactly what you need to do. A season of recuperation and recovery. Of slowing down, or indulgence. And if so, I encourage you to enjoy it and make the most of it. Take the way of the hibernating bear.

But maybe, like me, you don’t want to slow down.

You want to end the year with hard push, all set for the next year. What can you do to keep the motivation going, when the environment is working against you?

How can you walk the way of the hungry wolf? How you tackle a winter arc?

I’ll be sharing what I’m trying, whats working and not working for me in a series of blog posts.

If you want to end the year strong, to resist the urge to hibernate and indulge, then stay tuned and buckle up!

We’re going to have our best winter arc to date…