Conquering The Winter Blues With Colors Of Colleen

It is always impressive to watch when founders and creators show constant persistence over time. One of the most persistent creators I have had the pleasure of watching grow, I am proud to say I am married to. For the last few years I have watched as Colleen has built Colors Of Colleen, a fashion fix with a mindful mix. This month she wrote an excellent post that I feel could be helpful to the lives of some New York City founders. As such I felt it was worth sharing here, with you.

Living in the North Eastern United States means winters can at times be long and brutal. Especially those across New York State, stretching from Buffalo to NYC. When we’re getting less sunlight in the fall and winter our brain is producing less serotonin, which cam impact mood. Two recent studies suggest the culprit is a brain circuit that connects special light-sensing cells in the retina with brain areas that affect whether we are happy or sad. When these cells detect shorter days, they appear to use this pathway to send signals to the brain that can make a person feel glum or even depressed. This is Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons and begins and ends at about the same times each year.

As a licensed Art Therapist, Colleen shared some of her personal top 10 tips for combating the winter blues and staying at the top of your game, all season long. Head on over to Colors of Colleen and take a quick read for yourself! And don’t forget to subscribe to her newsletter as well!

Happy 2019!

Happy New Year!

I usually write a short blog post for the New Year. Even something as simple as Happy Holidays (2015) or Happy New Year (2016); and this year I wanted to write a little as well! I shared in my last post how everyone can create a personal plan for 2019. Today I wanted to also share a few of the areas I will be focusing on improving in the new year.

One area of improvement for me in 2019 is this blog. I truly enjoy sharing my thoughts with you. The process of sitting down and working through my ideas is immensely rewarding and clarifying. It can be really hard to be creative at times though. What I have learned through almost fifty episodes of podcasting and over five years of blogging is that true creativity requires space and time to work itself out. One of my favorite discussions on this topic is between Howard Stern and Paul McCartney and was put on my radar by Fred Wilson. Howard and Paul are discussing the creative process Paul used to write many of the songs for The Beatles and throughout his career. The main point Paul makes is to make sure you afford yourself the time to create. And how sometimes that can mean stepping out of your comfort zone.

This past year my goal was to write one blog post per week and every 7 days I would watch myself fail to publish on time. Watching yourself fail week after week doesn’t feel great and can be demoralizing the overall goal. I try to be self aware enough to swallow my pride and recognize when I am failing at something, and then adapt when it’s time for a necessary change. So my new goal for 2019 is to write one longer form blog post per month. The first of which, I published last week for December! I am excited to share deeper and more thoughtful posts going forward.

Another personal goal for this year is better sleep. Thanks to a recent family member, I have started tracking my sleep with my Apple Watch using the AutoSleep App. It’s a great app and through the first week of tracking I was surprised to see just how little deep quality sleep I have been getting. So in 2019 I am going to focus on improving the quality of my sleep instead of just adding to the quantity of hours slept. If you own an Apple Watch I highly recommend giving AutoSleep a try.

Those are just two of the many improvements I hope to make in the coming months! I wish you the best of luck with your goals and plans in 2019! I hope you had a Happy Holidays and I wish you a Happy New Year! 🎉