Start 2026 F.R.E.S.H.

You work so hard all year, knowing that your Christmas break is that one special holiday you can look forward to at the end. You plan to do so much, yet somehow every year you spend two-thirds of your break listless, exhausted, and crashed out, trying to “recover.” Before you know it, January welcomes you back to work, and the countdown jokingly begins again.

The last sprint across the line for the month of December leaves you more exhausted than the previous 11 months of the year somehow? I feel many of us can relate to this, but rarely have the time to prepare to avoid this trap when the time comes around again. I know it’s time because I stumble in my cueing and coaching, and nonsense falls out of my mouth when I’m teaching my classes at the club here in Auckland. My members laugh with me, and we all agree I’m ready for a break.

We always underestimate the mental and physical load of the month of December. The entire year has been building up to this finale, and just like the last song of any playlist is the loudest, and the last set of any exercise has you thinking, why did I even decide to get fit?, the whole thing crashes around your ears, and you are toast. The result of that is you wasting away your valuable annual leave trying to just return to baseline and get back on your feet.

I can say this because this has been me for as long as I can remember as a PD/Creative. I literally crashed into Christmas, totally burnt out physically and mentally. I would hibernate away on my own for 10 days, not seeing anyone from Christmas Eve through the New Year. Shattered from all the “peopling” (I don't think this is a word, but it's one of mine I like to use) throughout the year, I was broken, pasting a smile on my face to keep up appearances so others wouldn't worry about me. I wasn't worried about me, as I knew all I needed was a break.” 

Turns out it was a “plan” that I needed, not a break. Once I figured that out during the year of The Renovation of Rach, I built out the year with as much balance across work, rest, and play, so one didn’t dominate the others. Here are some learnings you may find useful if any of my previous utterings are relatable to you.

Wind Down Week

Starting this or next week, plan backwards from your December deadlines to include a wind-down week so that all your classes, workouts, meetings, and deadlines sit earlier, rather than later, in November and December. Wind-down week sits immediately before your annual leave begins. Your projects need to be sitting in a place that they can be left alone mentally, where you feel at minimum satisfied and at best pleased with what you have achieved.

Celebrate the Wins‍

A health hack to happy hormones is to win or achieve something – working towards something meaningful to you that you can celebrate with your team at the end of the year. If there isn't anything big that works for you or your team, dream something up that sounds doable (key word here is doable) and get it completed just in time, so you all feel the sensation of completion and winning.

Walk the Talk

Letting yourself off the hook once and doing that extra bit of work because you love it and it's worth it in the long run is one thing. However, if you truly want to give yourself the full recharge you deserve, then you have to walk the talk and walk away from the worry. The mental residual that resides (ooooh, that's a tongue twister) in your head, slowly draining away in the back of your mind, will leave you in low-power mode over the break. When you tell yourself all that can be done has been done, and then you close that laptop or mental folder, you allow other tabs to open up where your PFC (prefrontal cortex) can increase its bandwidth and do more things with friends and family.

Feeling Under the Weather?

It's a given that during flu season, winter, or shoulder seasons, you are going to catch a cold or the flu and need to take a beat to get back on your feet. Take the sick day. There are so many ways we feel useless, and all of them are valid. When you power through all these moments throughout the year, your body will pull the plug when you finally stop, and it WILL give you a reason to crash into Christmas by pulling the plug on your energy.

2026 can be the year you truly start FRESH if you learn to wind down.

To Ensure You Start 2026 FRESH, Here is the Breakdown of the Value Proposition of Winding Down via F.R.E.S.H:

• Fully Charged
  
  
• Ready to Run with work, rest, and play
  
  
• Excited about the year’s potential for yourself and your community
  
  
• Set up for Success, Not Stress
  
  
• Healthy mentally & physically
  
  

Looking Ahead: What's One Thing You Can Do Today…

The grandest destinations start with a dream, and then we wake up. Some of us tell our friends about that crazy dream, and even fewer of us do something to bring it to life.

Just by telling someone about your dream or plan, you are one step closer to making it real.

ACTION is the adversary of ANXIETY

Do something today for yourself, not for any reason other than to take care of yourself today, so you can be the better version of yourself tomorrow.

See you all in 2026 👋, and thank you for making my 2025 absolutely brilliant. I was lucky enough to do all the LIVE events globally and venture to some new markets this year, like Saudi (Dec 2024), Tunisia, and Armenia. You all made me feel very welcome, and I left feeling all the feels and loved for what I can contribute to your world. Always grateful for this wonderful life, and wishing you all the absolute best for you and yours next year.