Want to get fit? Learn from fit people and do what they do. Want to grow your business? Watch someone who’s at the point where you want to be in your business and be mentored by them. Want to be the top sales person at work? Reach out to the current top sales people and mimic their habits. Want to be happier? Do as the Danish people do!
Did you know the Danes have ranked in the top 3 countries among 155 countries surveyed across the globe as one of the happiest countries for seven years running? I mean if you look at the top five countries are Nordic countries so hey – I think they’re doing something right! For y’all wondering our friends up in Canada ranked 7th and the US ranked 18th. We definitely have some room for improvement I’d say. The top nations, the report says, "tend to have high values for all six of the key variables that have been found to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.” Source found here
Between the media, coworkers, family or wherever around us we hear someone complaining about how much we pay in taxes here in the US right? Guess what, Denmark is the HIGHEST tax paying country in the WORLD! In Demark I found that they pay on average 45% in taxes. Here in the US, we are a 30% average! So they give more of their money away AND they are happier! They believe that the more taxes they pay, the better the society will be. Perhaps most importantly, however, they value a cultural construct called “hygge”. The Danes often refer to hygge as “cozy” or “intentional intimacy”. Think like a cup of coffee with a friend on a comfy couch! So I thought what better way headed into the holidays of a “Holiday Hygge Challenge”! Today we’re going to share 30 ways to get into that “cozy” feeling for the holiday spirit!
- Daily gratitude journaling – often we hear people say of how quick the season goes. Or how much stress they are under because of the additional activities and to do lists to check off. So if we know we have to take a moment in EACH day and write down at least FIVE things we are grateful for in that day then it will help us slow down in the moment. And I’m talking small things to be grateful for each day – like getting to enjoy a cup of cocoa with the kids or a great friend.
- Perfecting hot chocolate – if we’re going to be grateful for drinking cocoa we may as well try to “try” to make the best hot chocolate we’ve had! #helloPinterest
- Head to a new café instead of your usual spot – ok maybe you don’t have the baker’s touch to make the best hot cocoa so try out a new café and see if they do instead!
- Add a new ingredient to your coffee, eggnog or cocoa – Bailey’s anyone? Or my splurge when I do go to a café like salted caramel!
- Get up early and watch the sunrise – maybe even with your “special” morning drink! Just take a moment and enjoy nature’s beauty!
- Plan intentional time with friends – everyone is going to have a crazy schedule over the next 8 weeks. So be intentional with where your time is going and plan ahead of the crazy.
- Bake – maybe you have a day with the girls getting your holiday baking done or you make a day of it with your family! But here’s the one caveat: ½ of the baking is to be shared with someone you don’t normally share your holiday treats with!
- Gingerbread House – make it from scratch ….haha ok, just kidding unless you’re super talented unlike my burnt thumb! Grab a gingerbread kit and decorate away!
- Deliver flowers or holiday plant to someone unexpected – think how special that would make them feel. How loved they would feel! And think of how amazing you will feel for doing that for them!
- Build a “hygge” nook in your home – or my fav idea, a cozy tent with your kids! Think lots of pillows, blankets, stuffed animals!
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Sans free phone for a day – take a day or part of a day if you must and just be in the moment with your kids. So build the tent and play! You can get pictures next time😊
- Pick a weekend with the family when you can go TV free – make a “bucket” list of what you can do with your time in just that weekend without the TV!
- Turn up the holiday jams – no TV? No problem, that’s why God make music for our souls! I mean there’s nothing that says holiday like the 90’s Mariah Carey CD for all us 30 somethings!
- Lights – and LOTS of them! Just add lights everywhere! Try new spots in and around your home that you perhaps didn’t in the past. Create a beautiful ambient feeling as soon as you walk in!
- Candle light night – ok so just ONE night at least get in a candlelight bath or candlelight dinner. You can’t get much more cozy than that!
- Schedule a “do nothing” day – just one day in the next 8 weeks plan on not having an agenda. See where the day takes you but just plan for a day with no crazy running around!
- Get dressed up for no reason – like going to the grocery store! Put on that fancy coat or fancy dress or fancy necklace and just rock it for the day. Life is reason enough to dress up!
- Do a childhood favorite holiday activity – what was one of your favorite memories as a kid? Maybe ice skating – head to an Ice Skating rink! Maybe caroling – gather some friends and family and plan a night to go caroling!
- Fill your home with holiday scents – think pinecones or cinnamon and create an amazing aroma in your home. Repeat often!
- Movie night – with popcorn and treats of course! Line up all the pillows and blankets on the floor or couch and watch your favorite holiday movies!
- Hygge up your wardrobe – who doesn’t love fuzzy slippers, cable knit anything, oversized sweaters and comfy PJs! I like to call it “comfort clothing”!
- Declutter your home – ok so the activity of decluttering may not feel cozy but when it’s completed your home will feel like it! Most times around the holidays you end up accumulating even more “stuff” so make sure to get rid of what you don’t use first before you end up getting more!
- Have a spa night – after all that work decluttering your home, you may want to take a night and do a little self pampering! Hello bath tub! Make time to lotion! Paint your nails or do a facial! Just take that time to pamper you!
- Bonfire party – sitting around a cozy campfire when it’s just the right fall temps yet in November is uber cozy! Invite some friends and their families and make a night out of it!
- Handmade gift – give a gift that you made to someone close just because! Don’t wait for Christmas, just gift to them at a random time. They’ll love it just as much as when you’re kids make you cute things too!
- Handmade Christmas decorations – make a new yearly tradition to make something together as a family to help decorate your home! Think of how beautiful the collection will be as the kids get older!
- Change out to flannel sheets – think of slipping into a warm cozy bed each night instead of cold sheets! Ahhhhh – I can hear myself now!
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Walk around to see the lights – yep, I mean WALK! Bundle up, bring your thermos of hot cocoa and walk your favorite neighborhood or lights event and enjoy all the sparkles and “HoHoHo”! After all the top 5 countries are all from“colder” countries and they’re still happy so remember, do as the Danes do!
- Coloring day – grab the kids crayons and markers and make a day just to color! But instead of only coloring dragons, princesses and Santa’s reindeer – grab yourself an adult coloring book and just enjoy the calming moments!
- Simple dinner traditions – with our crazy schedules make sure to take time at the dinner table to just talk with one another! Be intentional with asking fun and engaging questions to get everyone talking. It also means that everyone is together for more than just Thanksgiving dinner, so repeat at least a few times!
I don’t know about your but this list has us EXCITED for an amazing holiday season!
XO – Nicki
Make sure to share this with your family & friend and set that time now!
