Daily Habits for a Healthy and Productive July

Q+A: https://www.eastcoastcreativemedia.com/getoutofyourownwaypodcast
IG: @samdesalvo

Hello my friends!! Today's episode is all about daily habits for a healthy and productive July. We'll dive into the benefits of waking up early, the reasons to avoid checking your phone first thing in the morning, the importance of moving your body, stepping out of your comfort zone, setting goals, spending time outdoors, and dedicating time to self-growth. Get ready for practical tips, inspiring insights, and a month full of positive changes. So join me on this journey to make July our best month yet!

Transcript

Sam: 0:08

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to another episode of the get out of your own way podcast. I'm your host, Sam DeSalvo. And on this podcast, we talk all things wellness, motivation, productivity, healthy living and business. So right now I'm recording on a Friday. I usually record on Thursdays, but right now it's the Friday before the 4th of July. And I'm really trying to bang out all my work so that I hopefully I don't have to work until I get back on Wednesday because the fourth is on Tuesday this year. So I'm hoping you know, I could take like a nice long weekend I'm going up to New Hampshire with some family and I think it's gonna be so much fun So I'm pretty excited for that and I didn't record an episode last week I was on a bachelorette trip in Long Island, which was so much fun But I didn't want to rush and just throw up any episode because I had so much to do leading up to this trip. I was like, it's better to just, you know, wait till next week and do an episode really well instead of just throwing up something that's subpar and that I just rushed through. So that's why there wasn't an episode last week. But I'm excited to be back and doing this because I felt like weird that I didn't have To edit my podcast this week like doing this podcast definitely takes up a good chunk of my time and it takes up a Good chunk of my to do list too So not having from recording to editing to creating the thumbnail like all these different things that go into doing this I didn't have any of that to do this week, which felt really weird and it felt like I was missing something So it's nice to be back on track and back doing the routine of doing this and I generally enjoy recording this podcast So I hope you enjoy it, too And I thought for today's episode, we would talk about daily habits for a healthy and productive July. So it's like a mid year check in. And usually in the beginning of the year in January, we set intentions for the year. We set goals, we set resolutions, things like that. And then life kind of gets in the way and we lose track of all those things. So I thought it'd be a good idea to do a mid year check in, mid year reset. And I'm going to be talking about seven different habits slash goals. that are a great idea to start on and these are things that I'm also working on too. So I hope that you can take from these different ideas that we talk about and then you can also add to them and make them your own too. So jumping right into things guys, the first daily habit that I'm working on right now is waking up early. So waking up early does not come naturally to me. If you know me, you know, I love my sleep. I can sleep through legit anything. I could sleep through a train rolling by. I actually have the alarm and it's the world's most obnoxious alarm. It's the name of the alarm. And it sounds like everything's flying off a shelf. It's like crashing sirens, like everything you can think of, and I could perfectly sleep through this. So, this has been a goal of mine for a long time, is waking up early. And I am making it a thing for myself that I am going to accomplish this goal by the end of, definitely by the end of the year. Hopefully sooner than that. But this is one of the goals that I'm working on. I feel like when I wake up early, I have so much more time in my day. I feel like I have time in my morning to like, have a morning routine and not just jump right into work. So when I wake up a little later than I would like to, which, I wake up at like, 7. 30, which is not super late, but I would like to wake up around like, 6 a. m. I feel like that would give me more time in my day, more time to like, have dedicated towards myself for a morning routine. So, this is definitely something that I struggle with so bad, but this is a goal that I'm working towards. And, like I said, I will accomplish this goal. It's just learning how to, I guess, wake up to an alarm. Like, it's like, once I'm up, I'm fine. But it's the actual waking up. Like I said, I don't hear anything. So, I've just been like learning about different ways to become a better morning person and things like that. One tip to become a better morning person is to have something you really look forward to when you wake up. So, not getting up and jumping into your work, because obviously you're going to want to just keep on sleeping because you don't want to go directly to work, especially if you're a work from home person. So, Waking up and having that morning routine that you dedicate towards yourself. Like I know some people like to wake up and go to the gym. Some people like to wake up and do like meditations different. Everyone has their own morning routine, and I think that's important that you make it yours. For me, I don't like to work out in the morning. I like to work out midday cuz I really feel like I have a. Boost of energy midday. So for me, some, some things that I really enjoy are just like getting up, having a warm drink. I've been trying not to have coffee as soon as I wake up because it boosts your cortisol levels and all this stuff. So just having like a warm cup of tea and just hanging out with Easton and just like taking in the morning, like that's ideal to me and washing my face and putting on a different change of clothes before I start my day. That's what I look forward to. So, like I said, everyone's going to be different and it's something that they look forward to, but when you're building a new habit, you kind of have to put a reward on top of it. So, it's like, I have to do this thing to get this next thing. So, that's one of the things that I'm doing to wake up early, earlier, is establishing a really good morning routine and I do have the hatch alarm clock, and I have alarms on my phone. Neither one of them wake me up, but I know for other people, those, the hatch alarm perfectly wakes them up fine. I'm pretty sure I wake up my entire house when I'm trying to wake up, but if anybody has a really good recommendation, if they're a heavy sleeper, I'm such a heavy sleeper, Please let me know. I've been dying to try to figure this out because like I said, I don't have a problem getting up. It's the problem of hearing it. Like I swear all my alarms become part of my dreams and I just, I end up waking up naturally at like seven 30 and I feel like, Oh, like it's already too late. And then I feel guilty. And then I repeat the cycle the next day. So this is definitely a big goal for mine for the month of July. And definitely by the end of summer. So would love to hear your feedback on that. And I want to hear some of your guys morning routines too. Like what do you guys incorporate in your day? And then the second habit that I'm incorporating in July is not checking my phone as soon as I wake up. So I feel like we've seen this all over TikTok and Instagram. They're always telling us not check your phone as soon as you wake up. And honestly, this is so hard. Because it's so natural for us to reach for our phones, and especially if your alarm's on your phone, like mine is. I go and turn it off, and then I see, you know, messages, messages from my boyfriend, and I see emails, and like, I end up in this rabbit hole but I have realized that checking my phone first thing in the morning is not the best thing for my mental health. And there's been so many studies out there too, and it literally, and it tells us that checking your phone first thing in the morning increases stress and anxiety. So you're just being bombarded by, you know, messages, emails, and different stimuli that leads to more stress and anxiety into your day. So it's like the entire day just gets dumped on you first thing unsolicited. You didn't ask for it. So. If you can, use an alarm that's not your phone. I think that would be the most ideal way to not check your phone as soon as you wake up. And then replacing your checking your phone with something else. So if that was part of your morning routine, is that you sat there and you like scrolled on Instagram, all this stuff. Maybe you could replace that with reading a book, or reading your morning devotional, like things like that. That way you'll stay off your phone, but I also read that wherever you get your first dopamine hit in the morning is where you will continue to crave it from. So if the first thing you do is go on your phone in the morning and we all know that we get a rush of dopamine from social media and from our phones in general, then we will consistently crave that throughout the rest of the day because we want to keep going back and getting that same exact hit. So we want to make sure that that is not where we're getting our first hit from because then it's just going to hijack our attention for the rest of the day. And then it just becomes so distracting for us too, throughout the day that how much we are checking social media, our emails and just letting the opinions of others and what other people are requesting from us distract our thinking. So it's important to take a hold of that and be like, no, I like, I rule my life. My phone doesn't rule my life. Like I know for me, I work on social media, so it's very habitual for me every time I could pick up my phone to do something for work and I'm going to post for my client, I end up in a rabbit hole like every single time and then I get mad because I'm like, Oh, why is this so addicting? Like, I don't want to be doing this. I want to just get my work done. But like I said, it really just hijacks your thoughts. And if you can it. At least in the morning, take a hold of that and say, like, nope, I control my thoughts and I'm not going to allow that to hijack my day. So if you can, get a different alarm clock that, that way you don't have to check your phone first thing in the morning, leave your phone on, do not disturb, get up. And then maybe go outside to get that vitamin D on your face and reset your circadian rhythms. All that good stuff that is so much better for your body than filling your mind with so much junk from other people's lives and the opinions of others and just the internet in general. I think that is something that I'm definitely working on in July. Moving on the third thing that I'm working on in July is moving my body and doing something that I enjoy. So I've talked about this in past podcasts episodes that I am trying to fall back in love with fitness and what that looks like for me. I felt like it became more habitual for me and then it was just part of my routine and I really wasn't enjoying it anymore. So, I am doing stuff every single day that resonates more with how I feel and like what I want to do that day. So I've been a big fan of doing online Peloton workouts. So the app Peloton, like the same app as what's on the bike and on the treadmill, they also have just like this whole entire gallery of workouts and they just released a new gym portion of their workouts too. So the gym ones is just like a guided workout that you can do inside the gym. So I've been doing those, but I've also been doing just like the body weight or at home workouts that doesn't involve the bike or the treadmill. They're just strength training workouts. And I've been really enjoying those because I don't have to, I think a huge thing for me with going to the gym is that it becomes A very long process because I live in the boondocks So for me, I have to drive like a half hour to honestly get anywhere to get to the grocery store to get to the gym Legit to get anywhere. It's at least a half hour and That ends up turning my gym trip, which I want to work out for like, you know an hour do my strength portion stretch Blah blah blah you're there for an hour and then You have to drive back home. So it turns my gym trip into an entire two hours. I'm like, I just don't really have, like, I'm running a business. I have a lot of different things going on in my life. Like I don't really have two hours in my day to give towards just commuting and working out at the gym. So I've been really enjoying these workouts because I feel like, you know, I do it and I get it done and then it's done. And then I'm like, wow, like I still have so much time. And then since it's, July, I have, I've been wanting to work out outside and get some sunshine in and that's been nice. So I've been able to do some of these workouts like outdoors, which is really good because I'm getting like vitamin D at the same time and just in nature, I feel like it's so centering and grounding. So me and my boyfriend actually last week we went to it's like a pond up in my town and We brought our yoga mats and we did like an outdoor workout and brought Easton with us and Easton was playing in the water And we were working out. So that was like a really nice switch up So I've been trying to move my body like more intentionally and just doing things that feel really good in the moment So on top of doing like different strength training workouts on the Peloton app, I still do spin. So I teach spin once a week. That's part of my regimen too. And then I'm trying to go to CrossFit at least one or two times a week. And then in between that me and my mom go hiking all the time. So I have to incorporate those in there too. So I've definitely been really active lately, which I love, but it feels so good because I've been doing things that I really enjoy doing. So I just want to continue to do that in July. I want to continue to move my body and find just different workouts that I enjoy doing. I want to make sure that I am doing enough strength training. Cause I love the feeling of being strong. So, at least hitting an upper body and a lower body day, that would be ideal for me. So, that's what I'm going to work on this month, is doing those kind of workouts every single week, along with everything else that I've been enjoying doing. So, I'll report back on that, on how that goes. And I definitely encourage you guys to, to find what it looks like for you. Like, I know a lot of girls love Pilates right now. That's a big thing. There's a lot of people that love spinning, like cycling. So just try different workouts that you feel as if you want to try see if you like it you're not tied down to do anything. Most most of the time they give you a free pass to go Try something so go try it if you love it try it again And then if you don't love it Don't feel like you have to do it again because you said you were gonna do it like figure out what works best for you that way you'll Create a consistent routine and want to stick to it, which that kind of brings me to my fourth point of what I'm doing in July building healthy habits is to do something that makes me step out of my comfort zone So again going to try like a new workout class that I wouldn't normally do but there's so many other things that Stepping out of your comfort zone, really, that's where growth happens. We just stay in what we've always known. And we just stay in the mindset that what's comfortable here, then we're inhibiting our growth. So we want to, well, I want to really step out of my comfort zone and try new things that make me nervous and that pushed me because I feel like that's where growth really happens. So, whatever that looks like for you is going to be different than what it looks like for me. So, just some ideas what you could do to step outside your comfort zone is creating a video, doing a podcast, doing YouTube, you could try a new workout class, you could go hang out with a group of friends that, you know, maybe you haven't seen in a while, or going to church. I know that is a huge thing or joining a crew, a small group at your church, whatever that looks like for you that for the longest time you've been wanting to do it, but you just kind of put it on hold because it's uncomfy for you. I really do feel like When you step out of your comfort zone, you are, you're pushing yourself to grow. And then after you're done that activity or whatever, you feel so good. You're like, wow, like I did it. And you're proud of yourself. Like, I love that feeling that like, wow, like something I thought I couldn't do. I proved myself wrong and that I did it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. So that really makes you want to try more things in the future. Every time we tell ourselves like, wow, that wasn't as. Bad as I thought it would be. Like my mind was making it up to be so much worse than it turned out to be. So that's why I think it's so important to do things that step outta your comfort zone. Some things that I'm gonna do to step outta my own comfort zone is I really wanna tap into the world of YouTube. And I know I've been saying this for a little while now is just, it is a lot of work and I know that, so I think that's why I've been putting on a hold. But I also know how being creative makes me so happy. So I definitely want to. Just try putting out YouTube videos for fun like I'm doing it for me and nobody else and then along with that in my business Right now we are gonna be running a virtual networking group in July July 19th So if you're a small business owner and you want to come but definitely encourage you to check it out It's just gonna be over zoom. But for me, I've never done something like this. Like sure I've attended networking events in the past, and I know the importance of doing networking and meeting other people. I've never hosted my own kind of networking event, never on Zoom either, so I don't really know what to expect, but I'm ready to take on the challenge and learn from it and learn through it, and I think it'll be really good for business. And then just trying to grow my business too. So, you know, making sure I'm talking to the right people all the time. And right now we're doing a six week summit and it's called digital marketing for realtors. And during each session we go to a physical location and we are teaching realtors how to grow their social media. So right now we're specifically just focused on doing it with realtors and then we hope to expand in the future. But During each session, I'm up there giving like a 30 minute presentation, and then it's followed by a 30 minute activity. So doing those every single week is like, I haven't done something quite like this. I've given many, many presentations before, but I haven't done this material yet. Once I'm done, I feel so accomplished and I'm like, wow, that actually went a lot better than I expected. And it makes me want to do it again the next time. And I like to like interact with people like that. So those are things that I'm doing in the month of July to step out of my own comfort zone. And definitely would encourage you to try some things and let me know What are the things that you're doing to step out of your comfort zone? Because I would love some ideas too and would love to see what you're up to So moving on to the fifth thing that I'm doing in July To be more healthy and productive is to make some goals so for me, I thrive when I have goals in place and So for me, I thrive when I have goals in place because I love having something to work towards and it motivates me every single day to keep on going towards this thing. So if I don't have goals in mind, I'm kind of just, I feel as if I'm like a lost puppy and just like, Oh, what should I do next? Like, I'm not really sure. So I'm always looking in different areas to improve on, which I'm not saying that you always need to have goals because I can understand how that gets toxic after a while because you're always trying to achieve, achieve, achieve. And it's okay to have walls in your life too. Having goals to work towards really motivates you and encourages you every single day to look towards the finish line or the goal in mind that you have. And I would also like to say that when you make goals, just make sure you're making them achievable. So breaking them down into very small goals that you can achieve like every single month. So right now when you are sitting down and you're ready to make some goals, just make them for The month of July and think about the goals that you had set in the beginning of the year that we're doing a mid year check in right now. So think of those goals that you set in the beginning of the year, ask yourself, how are we doing towards those goals? What things need to be worked on better? What are we missing? What are the key elements that we should be doing every single day to reach these goals? And then if you weren't the kind of person that didn't make goals in the beginning of the year, that's totally fine. I know there are some people that just do not believe in new year's resolutions. They think they're stupid. Maybe it's time to set some goals. And I just want to give you guys some ideas of different goals that are achievable for the month of July and different things that you could do and actually achieve them at the end of this month if you stick to them. I think it's so important that you make goals that you can achieve because you're telling your mind that you can trust yourself, that You do the things you say you're going to do. That is so important because the next time we go to make a goal, we know that we're going to follow through with it. If every single time you don't follow through with your goals, that becomes a narrative in your mind, and we need to replace that with, no, we are the type of people that achieves our own goals, and nothing's going to stand in the way of that. So, with that said, I wanted to give you some different goals that you could add if you're looking for some different ideas and kind of broken down into different categories. Some work goals that you could try in the month of July are only checking your email twice a day to limit distractions. Like I know for myself, I check my email so habitually and It's so bad because it really does like kind of rule over you. And I also know my boyfriend does this. He's checking his emails at like 1030 at night. He wants to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks at work. But then we're letting our job, like if we're off hours, we're letting our job like take the reins of us, like let it go to the morning and like enjoy your life outside of work. So it's just an idea. I know that's not really possible for everybody, but at least limiting your emails to only the work day. Another work goal is to attend a networking event. So kind of mentioned this earlier, this is something that could help you step out of your comfort zone. It's something that I'm doing in the month of July too. If you are looking to attend the virtual networking mixer. With us. Definitely reach out to me. It's on Eventbrite and on Facebook. But if you're looking for the link, just text me, DM me, whatever. I would definitely love for you to come. It doesn't matter if you're a college student, you're a work professional or wherever you're at in your journey, you're thinking about starting a business. It's so important to have good connections. Like I can't even tell you how much The people that I know have helped my business and definitely the connections I made paid off more than all the things that I do. Like paid ads, online presence. It's the people, you know, and I will say that to the day I die, social media is important to stay in touch with all these people, but getting out there and meeting them face to face and building these connections are going to help you so much. And it may not pay off right away. There are people that I have met and they ended up becoming my clients three, four years later. Cause it takes time to like nurture these, these, connections in, in these relationships. So that's a different work goal that you could try. So moving on to personal goals is start writing in a gratitude journal or journaling in general. finish a devotional or go on dates with yourself. I love the idea of going on dates with yourself. I think that is so amazing and you're practicing so much self love and you get comfortable with your own company. And when you know yourself better, you know your worth better and you know what you deserve and you just get to know yourself better for what you like versus what you don't like. So. I can definitely do a podcast episode on that topic because I love that and I'm not afraid to spend some time alone. So moving on just into fitness goals is go on a walk every day or you could practice yoga and meditation. So I've been doing meditation at night. I've been doing these like higher self meditations, and I end up falling asleep within like the first two minutes. I'm not even lying. I don't know how far I get into these meditations, but it's something that kind of calms my mind. So that's something you could try. And then I'll just wrap up the goals section with the finance goals part. So only eat out once a week. So I literally told my boyfriend, I was like, I don't want to eat out until July 4th. Like it just isn't good for your body. It doesn't feel good. And I was like, we're not eating out until July 4th. We failed, but he spends so much money on eating out. It's, like I said, it's not good for your health goals, and it's not good for your financial goals. So, if that, if that's something that you can incorporate into the month of July, only eating out once a week and then making your meals at home, that'll save you so much money, and you'll also be closer to reaching your health goals. So, definitely something I will try in the month of July as well. But again, you guys can make these goals your own, too. If you have something in mind, I was hoping that that would spark some inspiration of things that you could try for goals. So if you guys have your own goals that you want to try, I would encourage you to write them down so you could reflect on them like every single day. Just keep them in the top of your mind of what it is that you are working towards. I hope that's a good starting point for you guys. And moving on to number six. The sixth habit I'm going to be incorporating in July is getting outside. So if you live in New England, you know that it's not nice here all year round. So it's so important to get outside and really embrace the nice weather and the sunshine and the the nice breeze and going down to the beach. It really is so short lived in retrospect. So just trying to get outside as much as you can, especially if you're a corporate person, you work from home, all this stuff, and you're kind of stuck at your desk all day, it sucks. And you really want to still get outside, even if it's for 10, 15 minutes out of your day. I know I try to at least go for a walk with Easton every single day, try to go hiking with him, and I really just want to get some sunshine every single day, so. I'm going to be trying to do that in the month of July. I find it really hard to like sit outside and sit in the sun because I'm like, I could be doing so many other things right now. So just at least spending 10 minutes getting some vitamin D going on a walk in the sunshine. And I also know something popular right now too on TikTok and Instagram are these like laptop covers that go across your laptop so you're able to work outside and see your laptop. So they kind of remind me of the things in elementary school when you were taking a test and they blocked so no one could cheat on your paper. That's what they remind me of. So. You could get something like that. And if you are a work from home person, you can bring some of your work outside, sit by the pool. And like I said, I've been trying to do some of my workouts outside as much as I can going for a run, going for a hike, things like that. So just getting outside, getting some fresh air and getting some sunlight. And I really do think it like really boosts my mood, especially like midday, just going outside and getting like 10, 15 minutes of sun and going for a walk gives me way more energy to keep going throughout my day. I'm not really a beach person. Like I said, I have a hard time just sitting there doing nothing, but definitely want to take a few trips, like down to the beach this month and New England beaches are beautiful. So I want to, like I said, embrace it while it's here, because it's not here all year long for us. And just take in the good weather, you know? So moving on to my last habit that I'm going to be incorporating in July is just dedicating some time to self growth. So there's many different ways you can practice self growth, which include journaling, meditation, listening to podcasts, et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on and on. But I think, you know, setting some time aside. Whether it's every day or every week, like, whatever it looks like for you. I know when I'm driving in my car, I like to at least listen to a podcast because I feel like I'm really, like, multitasking. If you haven't learned, that's my personality, that I like to, like, kind of kill two birds with one stone. So, I'll usually listen to... Some sort of self growth, self development podcasts. And then just incorporating these things into my daily routines to, like I said, putting meditation on at night before I go to sleep and then journaling in the morning. I do journal every single morning. That's been a habit for a little while. I do, you know, my prayers in my journal and I write down what I'm grateful for and I do my affirmations. And I really do feel like that's the best way to start my day. And I know some people are like, nah, I just can't, I'm not that kind of person. But. I, I am, and I find that it really helps me so much. And I, it's a good way to start my day. I set the intentions of my day. So figuring out what self growth activities would work for you and incorporating them into a way that is natural to your lifestyle. So these habits all throughout all the different habits that I mentioned today, you want to figure out what's the best way you can incorporate them into your life that makes them a sustainable habit. If you guys have read the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear, then you know the different ways of like habit stacking and building a good habit that's gonna last. I would definitely encourage you guys to maybe listen to the audiobook, or there's so many different podcasts too about that book but it really teaches you on what it takes to make a habit last and make a habit stick. So everything that I talked about today, Figure out the best ways to incorporate it in your life that makes sense. Try not to compare your life to anyone else's. Just because someone has an amazing morning routine and they do 52 steps in it doesn't mean you need to. Maybe yours is four, but that is what works for you. and that's what's going to last for you. That's more important than how it looks and versus how aesthetic it is and all that stuff. So these are the things that I'm going to be incorporating in this next month and I'm really excited because I feel like for a little while there I got a little off my health journey, my goals journey, you know, my fitness journey and in the Since I've talked to you guys about this and stuff, you know that it's something I've been actively working on and it's making me excited again. I feel like I'm excited to work towards all these goals and learn about just different things of health and wellness and fitness. And it's just something, you know, that gets your mind out of you and you're working on becoming a better version of you. And that's all we could ever ask for in this life. If you guys enjoyed today's episode and you guys would like more episodes like this, definitely let me know. And don't forget that there is a Q& A portion on my website, you can submit anything, any topics you want to talk about, if there's anything you want to ask me, If you guys have any stories that you want to share to the podcast of maybe how you got out of your own way, please submit it. I would love to read through those and I find that so interesting when you guys engage with it and that I know that you are enjoying all these episodes and that you are interacting with it because I definitely want to build a community around this podcast and just different like minded individuals that come together and make this podcast what it is. Alright, guys, that brings us to the end of the episode. Please don't forget to subscribe and rate the podcast, and you can follow me on social media at Sam DeSalvo. I would love to connect with you guys there, and I will talk to you guys next week. I hope you have an amazing week, and I love you all. Have a good week, and I'll talk to you next time.