Hi Reader

Three things for your Friday: one for stress, one for hormones, one for nutrition.

STRESS — Write Letters

With two months left of the year, I've noticed myself getting increasingly stressed about finances, goals and everything I still want to achieve before December is over.

So this week, I wrote myself a letter to open on 1 January 2027.

I wrote it as though everything had worked out. What I'd achieved, what I was proud of, how I'd handled the challenges and how grateful I felt looking back.

And interestingly, I felt so much calmer afterwards.

There's something powerful about writing down the future you want rather than endlessly worrying about whether you'll get there. It helped me shift my attention from everything that could go wrong to what I actually want to work towards.

The magic, for me, was in writing the letter, not waiting until January to read it. That’s just a bonus.

If you've got something weighing on your mind, try writing a letter from the perspective of your future self, looking back on how things worked out. See what changes when you put pen to paper. And enjoy opening that letter on the day.

NUTRITION — Minimum Viable Health

I was exploring this with a client recently who's about to enter a particularly demanding phase of life.

Rather than trying to optimise her nutrition even further, we looked at the few habits she could realistically maintain when things got busy.

I call these your Minimum Viable Health anchors.

For years, mine was eggs on toast with asparagus. If everything else felt chaotic, I knew I could start my morning with that breakfast, and it often made the next healthy choice easier.

These days, it's my kefir protein smoothie.

The point is to establish these anchors while life is going well, so they're already familiar when things get difficult.

What's one simple nutrition habit you can rely on, even during your busiest weeks?

HORMONES — Two Opposite Truths

As I approach my PMS, I'm reminded that two seemingly opposite things can be true at the same time.

I can be grateful for my PMS because it often makes me much more aware of my boundaries. My people-pleasing tendencies tend to disappear when my tolerance is lower, and things I've been quietly putting up with suddenly become much harder to ignore.

And at the same time, I can feel frustrated that my body is asking me to slow down when I've still got things I want to do.

Both feelings are valid.

I've found it helpful to stop insisting I must feel one way or the other. I can appreciate what this part of my cycle teaches me, give myself some extra care and still wish it were a little easier sometimes.

You can appreciate your body and find parts of living in it difficult.

Which one did you need this week?

I'd love to know: have you ever written a letter to your future self, or is it something you'd try? Hit reply and tell me.

With care and wellness,

Cat