There is one thing for sure in life: your happiness makes the world a much, much better place. Everyone around you is illuminated by your happy glow and your smile sends sunbeams across the world. Unfortunately so many of us – especially women – take a back seat when it comes to our own happiness, health and well being.

At Almond Breeze we reckon it’s time to call “Shotgun!” on the new year, own your year ahead, and jump in that driving seat and power ahead (enough driving puns for you?). After all, everyone in the world needs you to thrive so we can too!

So what can you do to shine in 2019? We asked around the Almond Breeze family to hear everyone’s top tips for slaying their day, and are fizzing to share them with you. So here goes…

1. Be kind to yourself

Whether you’ve noticed or not, there are probably moments in your day-to-day life when you’re a little bit, well, mean to yourself. Ever heard yourself say “I’m so clumsy”, “I hate my cankles”, “I used to be so organised but now I’m a mess!” or anything like it? Or have you dropped a spoon, or – literally spilt (almond) milk – and chastised yourself with a “I’m so angry at myself”, or “This always happens to me”.  We say, new year, new you and it’s time to call time on that negative self-chatter and be your own best friend. You wouldn’t say it to someone else, so why say it to you? And if someone else barked at you all day with a series of unnecessary criticisms they’d quickly find themselves on the ‘Unfriend’ list. Try instead to ignore those moments – they are actually neutral events that require no attention (apart from the occasional mop up) and they definitely don’t call for you being mean to you! One of our team is on high alert for the “mean moments”, as she calls them, but we reckon it’s better to stop them before they leave your lips (and no, inside head voices need to be shut down too!).

2. De-clutter

We’re not getting on the minimalist band-wagon – we love an eclectic jazz-hands style – and suggesting you undertake a monumental overhaul and chuck out and getting in touch with your inner zen. But we do know that a twice-yearly revamp of the wardrobe and pantry / fridge clear out will add a lightness of being  and a skip in your step. Or so says one of our team, who pencils in a day in spring and another in autumn to pop away her winter/summer wardrobe and replace it with her summer/winter wardrobe, and trawls through the fridge and pantry to both re-organise the throw away expired items (come on… you know you have some skeletons hiding away that once had been food but hasn’t been fit for eating since 2006!) When you keep your de-clutter simple and guilt-free (keep that jacket you haven’t worn for two years but is sooooo cute!), you’ll feel just that teensy bit lighter and brighter. Easy, huh?

3. Create a morning ritual

Speaking of easy… while it may seem easy to push the snooze button a thousand times at the mere murmur of your morning alarm, what follows is a series of pain and frustration: You crawl out of bed LATE (again!) and start the day frantic and fraught. Then, let’s be honest, all manner of things “go wrong”. Traffic becomes a nightmare, every traffic light feels like a ticking time bomb, you’re guaranteed to miss the perfect carpark and then, you fly into work like a whirlwind of frenetic energy only to realise you’re not wearing any pants! OK, you probably are wearing pants, but you definitely forgot the cute earrings you planned to wear and your t-shirt is definitely inside out. So stop all that chaos in its tracks by starting your day your way. One of the gals in our Almond Breeze fam goes outside barefoot every morning (yes, even in chilly winter!) and does just a few rudimentary stretches with her feet on terra firma “to ground” – and it works! She thanks the planet for holding her up and says out-loud her intentions for the day. She swears by it as the perfect morning tonic because it connects her to the physical day and affirms how she’s NOT going to turn up at work wearing no pants!

4. Have compassion

Ever got titchy with THAT person who’s ahead of you in the queue and has ALL the questions? Or the car driving in front of you driving 25k mph in a 60 kmph zone? This is time, says a colleague, to pull out the Compassion Card. That is, making up stories about their life that make them more in need of attention, or going slower, than you. That is, more relatable (we are all THAT person from time to time even if your memory is a little fuzzy…). So, it could be “Oh, she has been at home all day and finally left the house and it’s the first real life conversation she’s had all day”. Or, “This person is obviously looking for an address or thinks driving slow is much safer at this time of day.” Our Almond Breeze guy says it transforms how he views the people – and himself – in the world. He says it’s great to think that other people have more pressing needs than you, or are distracted because something in their life is taking their eye off the ball in that moment. Plus, he says it’s just fun coming up for all sorts of reasons why someone is toot-a-toot-tooting behind you… “Maybe they’re late for someone giving birth?”. See, compassion… not that hard!

5. Pamper yourself

Whether it’s taking a few hours for a home spa treatment or you book in a massage or your favourite pamper from a professional, nurturing your body and skin will pay back in dividends. It’s called mind, body, spirit for a reason. An at-home or profesh spa pamper doesn’t have to cost much to make you feel rejuvenated and vibrant. Even setting aside time to rub some nourishing natural oils into your skin (one of our gals swears by sweet almond oil or coconut oil) and follow up with a gentle exfoliation (you can DIY your own sugar mask with essential oils for this), face mask (such as a clay mask to draw impurities out from the skin), followed by a deep cleanse, you’ll have restored your dewy glow and be ready to take on anything life throws at you. You can also binge-watch your favourite Netflix show while you’re at it; WIN-WIN!

6. “Choose to” instead of “Have to”

How many times have you caught yourself saying “I have to…” rather than “I choose to…”? One of our Almond Breeze fam says she loves empowering herself daily by saying she “chooses” to do, well, pretty much anything! So she says: “I choose to go to work… I choose to invest in bills aka my lifestyle… I choose to go to the gym… I choose to sit in traffic”. She says that by taking the power back she recognises her good fortune in all of those things. She’s grateful she has a job to go to, that she can afford bills to pay, that she manages to get to the gym and ends up loving it (most days!), and has a car and a purpose where she needs to be in traffic from time to time – with epic sounds blaring. So how about give the power of positive thought a go in 2019? Sounds like a plan to us!

7. Make time for people that matter

It’s so easy to get busy, busy, busy that six months fly by and you haven’t seen, let alone done anything other than the random Instagram like, for a long-time friend. We could claim “busy” for the rest of our lives, but, one of the guys in the AB fam says that does not build friendships. And he’s right! Instead he always makes special time to catch up with mates one to one. He hits the beach, takes a walk, or grabs a drink or a movie with them and makes the most of time together. Shared experiences are the foundation of longterm relationships. So whatever you squeeze in for the rest of summer, grab your best bud and that boogie board / yoga mat / movie ticket / kombucha and enjoy quality time before life gets in the way!

And we wouldn’t be Almond Breeze without an almondlicious recipe to start your day the best way. While it’s not here yet, the month of love and Valentine’s Day is fast-approaching, and while it’s nice to have a special someone to sprinkle the love on you, it’s also magical and empowering to recognise that you are a special someone and deserve all the goodness that life has to offer.

From our love of Almond Breeze almond milk to yours… Make 2019 great!

P.S….

Discover more almondlicious recipes by clicking here!