Happy New Yeah Nah?

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What’s your focus?

It’s a Happy New Year. But as we like to say at Nido – “Happy New Yeah Nah?”

Why on earth you ask?

With the new year brings new opportunities to assess what’s really important – as we look to resolve the past and reward the future. That’s why we ask ourselves and ask you to ask yourselves – “yeah or nah?” when it comes to focusing on your future.

So what can you improve? And what can you remove? Rid yourselves of things that no longer serve you and starting serving those that are most important to your future. These are your ‘yeah’s’ and your ‘nah’s’.

For this year to be the best, you need to be at your best. What are your goals for 2017? We recommend dividing them into areas such as…work and mission, family and home, friends and hobbies, financial wellbeing, personal wellbeing and adventures. The latter being about giving yourself and your family the time to get out there and explore, reset and reward yourselves with the rest required to breathe energy into your other areas in life.

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Sound like a plan? Then let’s see it. As a first step (literally) – if you’re a Fitbit user, we invite you to join our Nido Fitbit Group – as we unlock challenges leading to greater opportunities in 2017.

From us to you Happy New Year and most importantly, Happy New Yeah Nah? It’s time to make the most of your new year, from now.

Here’s to the next level!

Onny and your Nido team.

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Feeling stuck? Embrace those post-holiday blues.

Stress-free days, eating whatever you want, staying up late with the kids…

If you’re missing the lightness and ease of the holidays, you’re not alone.

Do you feel flat and irritable? Have you got an ongoing case of Sundayitis? If so you might be suffering from the post-holiday blues.

But that’s not such a bad thing. The post-holiday blues can be put to good use. They’re a sign that part of your life needs a little care and attention.

So how do you get your groove back?

Think back to New Years’ eve. Were you excited? Were you hopeful? Did you have some goals? Tap into that mindset. There are new things ahead.

A return to routine doesn’t have to be oppressive. A schedule gives you the opportunity to bring some positive organisation to your life. It’s a way to put your goals into practice and cultivate some healthy work habits.

Try playing around with the way you manage things. Get rid of long lists. Put five things on your to do list and prioritise them. If you finish them early you can always add more. You don’t have to say yes to everything.

Practice gratitude. At the end of the day, come up with three things that you’re thankful for. Looking after yourself is a form of gratitude too. It’s a great time of the year to do a detox and enjoy some time outdoors. Vitamin D is not only good for your bones; it may play a role in fighting disease.

If you’ve tried everything and the situation hasn’t improved, then perhaps your blues are telling you it’s time to change jobs. Failing that, you can always pitch a tent at the office, string up a hammock and do your work from there.

From Onny and the team – cheers for reading.

 


 

The year that was and the year that will be.

We welcome you to the NEST blog – the place and space for us to share words and wisdom about the topics most important to you, when thinking about insurance, health and wellness and other important things when it comes to living and leading a happy and healthy life.

Last week, we welcomed the Kiwi summer. What a wonderful time to take a moment to appreciate the year that was 2015, preparing ourselves for the year ahead.

What was your greatest moment of 2015?

There’s been so many moments of my own. From watching my son get up on the wakeboard for the very first time to helping a client with lymphoma, and his family with a successful claim. A moment of realisation and a reminder of why I started Nest. The family and I have been fortunate enough to have some lovely weekends away too, with each other and friends as well. From Rotoiti to Raglan, Matakana to even just exploring the abundance of nature in and around Auckland – 2015 has been about exploration both professional and personally, and the appreciation that everything in between.

I’m very excited to announce that 2016 will bring new opportunities to Nest and our growing community of clients, so watch this space and more good news comes your way.

So as Christmas approaches, we wanted to share with your 12 mini tips and tricks that can help you to get the most out of your days in the remaining weeks of 2015 – setting yourself up for your most successful year yet.

Before you go to bed at night, tell your brain, “wake me up at _ a.m.” Unless you’ve been at a Christmas party the night before, you’ll likely start waking up right before the alarm clock startles you awake. Try it out.

If the subconscious command doesn’t work, set the alarm on your smartphone and put it far enough away from your bed so you have to physically get up to shut your alarm off in the morning when it goes off. You’ll be less likely to hit snooze once you’re already up.

Drink a liter of water upon rising. Most people are under-energized because they’re under-hydrated. Hydration is energy. Keep a liter of water at your bedside table before bed, and crush it immediately upon rising.

After you brush your teeth, pause for a moment and smile at yourself.  Then say something positive about yourself. I know it might seem a little weird, but just give it a whirl. As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” If you are what you repeatedly do, then why not repeatedly affirm something positive to yourself?

Take walks. Walking has been known to help people solve problems, come up with new ideas, and have epiphanies that seem to have come out of nowhere. But they don’t come out of nowhere. They were there all along. Taking a walk just changes the context from ‘desk’ to ‘nature’. And nature is going to win almost every time.

Get grateful. If you feel unmotivated, if you feel like you don’t have enough of something; STOP and think of three things you’re grateful for. You’ll immediately feel better, promise.

Meditate for 10–20 minutes. If you don’t know how, just sit down somewhere quiet and count to 4 while you inhale; then 4 more counts as you exhale. Just focus on your breath. That’s all.

Do your ONE most important thing first. Before beginning your work, review your single most important thing that you need to do today. Then get started on it. Your focus and effectiveness will before far higher when you approach your day this way. Go for it.

Compliment one person every day. It feels great to give someone something without expecting anything in return. In fact, you get a biochemical reaction of “happy chemicals” like oxytocin and serotonin when you give genuine compliment to someone.

Sweat every day. Speaking of “happy chemicals,” exercising — or at least finding a way to sweat every day — is one of the highest leverage things you can do for your overall health and happiness. When you’re physically healthier, you become professionally healthier as a bi-product.

Revisit your day and remember the good stuff. Write it down in a journal if you can. I like to end each day by asking myself, “What’s the best thing that happened today?”

Read every day. The greatest way to get the greatest ideas is to read, read, read. The only side effect of reading is a positive one—the more you read, the more ideas you get. Read something every day to expand your mind.

From Onny and the team at Nest – thanks for reading!