the allure of the "winter arc"
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My media consumption is at an all-time low. I still consume media. I'm on YouTube. I listen to podcasts, but I'm not consuming media. I'm not consuming the media like Instagram, TikTok, the zeitgeist. I'm not involved in the zeitgeist.

I've been able to curate what I see on those platforms in a way that shelters me in a lot of ways from the zeitgeist. However, it doesn't shelter me completely. When something goes completely viral, I end up finding out about it naturally. There's a lot of stuff I don't find out about until like six months later or whatever. Those are things that just didn't break through. They're just not big enough. They're just not viral enough. But you know what did break through? The concept of the winter arc of

Okay. And listen, you might not even know what the winter arc is, but I'm assuming that it's really viral because it broke through my algorithms. And to me, that's a sign of true virality. So what is the winter arc? You probably know because I'm assuming it's very viral, but just in case you don't know, the concept of the winter arc is, hey, fuck New Year's resolutions. We're starting early this year and

Instead of the cold, dreary weather giving us an excuse to be lazy and irresponsible, we're using these months to, and I quote, lock in. Okay? October 1st is the new January 1st. We're going to be getting into amazing shape physically, absolutely fucking shredded, bringing our dream calves to life.

Okay. Calves are popping biceps, triceps, abdominals popping. Okay. And not only that, but we're going to be mentally shredded. Okay. The brain folds are going to be folding. We are going to be locking in mentally as well. Health at an all time high, bad vibes at an all time low show up January 1st, already the best version of yourself.

2025 is going to start off on the best foot, the fucking winter arc. This episode of Anything Goes is presented by Amazon.

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Whether it's Squarespace design intelligence that helps you build beautiful, personalized websites tailored to your unique needs, or Squarespace payments, which makes it easy to manage payments with just a few clicks.

or even the fact you can sync your product catalog directly with socials to help reduce the steps for a purchase. It's time to give your website an upgrade. Head to squarespace.com slash Emma for a free trial and use code Emma to save 10% on your first purchase. The concept of the winter arc is not new. We've seen this on the internet many, many times, okay, in different formats.

Recently, there was the 75 hard, which was this internet challenge of like, spend the next 75 days following this set of strict rules on how to live your life healthy, disciplined, rigid, productive, whatever, and come out the other end a new version of yourself. If you fail, you have to start at day one again. That was the concept of 75 hard. Before that, there was the dopamine detox concept.

very similar, slightly different, basically avoiding dopaminergic activities, activities that release, I guess, happy chemicals in your brain. But I guess you can maybe become dependent on these activities that release more dopamine. And then, you know, you can lose your discipline to do activities that have delayed gratification, whatever. Okay. Fuck it. You get the idea.

Do harder things, release less happy chemicals in your brain, be better as a result of it. Follow these hard rules, be a better person at the end of it. We've repackaged the winter arc a trillion times. I mean, I think actually the original concept of the winter arc was the New Year's resolution. You know, growing up in the 2010s, it was all about the New Year's resolution. Your mom is...

getting a pair of shape-ups for Christmas to help her get in shape for New Year's. But we watched our parents do the New Year's resolution, set goals for themselves. But you get the idea. This is not a new concept. However, a new form of self-improvement has arrived in the form of the winter arc. And I'm going to talk about it as though it's its own thing and look at it with fresh eyes, because I'll be honest.

I saw the winter arc come up on my feed. I started to see things popping up about the winter arc. And I was like, I hate to be like a sheep, you know, and see everyone do this and be like, oh, I kind of want to do that.

But also I kind of felt that. I'm kind of inspired by that. Like, I don't know. It kind of gave me like a glimmer of hope. Like I felt a good feeling in my gut when I started seeing Winter Arc stuff, which is actually hilarious because if you were to look up Winter Arc on any social media platform, you'll see some of the weirdest content you've ever seen. Like videos of like...

a lion walking in slow motion, like an AI-generated video of a lion walking in slow motion. The clip is black and white. And then there's like a clip of some person talking, being like...

you only have one life to live. You got to lock in right now. And it's like, has like echo and it's like super inspirational. And then you have like a clip of like a dude who has like huge muscles, like doing a deadlift and then like screaming. And then you have like, you know, a clip from Joe Rogan's podcast. And then it's just like, it's like a whole thing, but that's not all the content you'll see. Okay. There's also like

girls in their little Pilates outfit talking about like their routine. Like it, it varies. Okay. And a lot of it is stuff that like I normally wouldn't be attracted to, you know, I wouldn't like see that and be like, now this content's for me.

I'm seeing value here. I am tuning in. It's like very out of character for me to see this and for the lack of a better term, fall victim to it. But here I am. I saw it and I was like, I'm intrigued. So let me tell you what the rules are of the winter arc. A lot of this is just standard stuff. Okay.

Go to bed early, wake up early. For some people, it's like go to bed at 8 p.m., wake up at fucking 4 a.m. For some people, it's more normal, like go to bed at 10, wake up at 6.37, like whatever. Get the sleep schedule in order, solid workout routine. Definitely the workout routine element is big, okay? A lot of people have goals to walk and run more, which I think is somewhat valid because I think a lot of us are very sedentary these days, right?

journaling up to two, three times a day. I've seen on some people's routines, meditating up to two, three times a day, reading books anywhere from like 10 minutes to an hour a day. A lot of people are following some sort of diet, cutting out soda, cutting out

you know, refined sugar, refined grains, whatever. Daily cold shower for some people. No sex for some people, which I'll never understand. Actually, no, I think a lot of people are saying no masturbating. Like sex is fine, but no masturbating, which I think could probably make sense for some people who maybe masturbate a lot.

So fair enough. You know, that makes sense for some people. But I was thinking about it. I was like, no sex. Like, I feel like that's a very healthy thing we should all be doing when we feel like we want to, you know, like if we're, as long as we're being responsible and safe, some people are shaving their head. A lot of the boys doing this are shaving the head.

A lot of people are cutting off toxic people, like breaking up with their significant other, cutting off their friends that are holding them back, using to-do lists to organize schedule, and then either posting everything you do on social media and trying to build a following,

or deleting everything and not ever posting again. So there's kind of like no in between. I've seen a mixture of both. I already mentioned that I'm intrigued by the concept, which is actually very funny because when I think about it, I've been critical of other sort of self-improvement movements like this before. Like I've been somewhat vocal about not really liking New Year's resolutions, feeling like if I'm going to do something, I'm just going to fucking do it. Like I'm not going to wait for the new year.

And then I've gone back on that and been like, you know what? I actually see the value in it. Like it can be nice to have a start date or just like a defined time to reset. Like I actually do see value in that. So I've gone back and forth about that. I tried the dopamine detox when that was a thing. There were things about it that I thought were useful. I never tried the 75 hard. I just never happened. So, you know, my opinions about these things have changed.

varied. So it's funny that with almost a sense of childlike wonder, I'm looking at the concept of the winter arc as though it's like brand new. Like I've never experienced, oh my God, what is this? Like, this is fun. What is this? But I kind of am. And it is sort of embarrassing, but at least I'm self-aware about it. I'm aware of the positives and the negatives of the winter arc. To lean into my sense of childlike wonder is

Let's, as though we've never explored self-improvement movements before, let's analyze the concept of the winter arc. Let's break down the positives and the negatives because there's definitely a strong set of both. Let's start with the positives. As I just briefly mentioned, in general, I think it can be incredibly helpful and inspiring to

to do an occasional reset. And I mean, lucky for us, the internet feeds us a new one every six to 12 months these days. But I actually do see value in it. And I know I've said in the past that I think it's ridiculous. And if you want to change something, you should just change it. I really used to strongly believe that. However, as I'm getting older and my life is growing more busy and stressful and serious,

and emotionally exhausting. Because I think it kind of has a tendency to do that as you get older. Like as my life is growing more consequential, if you will, and it's still not even nearly as consequential as it will become. I am at the beginning of that journey. But even now, I'm seeing the value in a distinct reset in life. Like

oh, it's New Year's. You know what? This is a moment for me to pause everything and actually reset my goals, which I don't have the time and energy to do as much as I did when I was a teenager. And I was honestly not really doing that much with my time. I realize now that it's sort of a naive thing

that like if we have something, you know, we want to change in our lives, we should just get up and change it. Yeah, in theory, that's great. And I think at times we can do that. But sometimes we don't have the time or the energy to check in, to reset our goals, to figure out how we can be the most productive, disciplined versions of ourselves while maintaining balance. And like sometimes life sort of slips away from us in a way and we can fall into bad habits and

we can prioritize our time incorrectly and spend too much time doing the wrong things and not enough time doing the right things. Like these things just happen.

And a lot of times they can compound and compound until you get to a point where you're like, I don't even fucking know. Like I have no structure left. You know, I don't even know what a healthy version of my life looks like anymore. My eating habits, my workout habits, my social habit, like everything is off. And it can be hard to motivate yourself to get your ass back in line when you have this huge,

huge list of things that have gone awry. It's like kind of beautiful to be like, you know what? I'm going to get everything back together and do the 75 hard challenge with my fellow internet users. You know, we're all going to do the 75 hard together. This will get my shit together and everyone else is doing it. Like I actually see the beauty in that. And I also think in general, you

structure, routine, goals, all of these things are very enjoyable and inspiring and productive for humans, like in general, beyond just being like, oh, fuck, I need to reset. In general, just having structure and routine and rules and goals, like these things can actually be really nice to have in life. And a lot of times these sort of resets help give us that for a period of time.

And there's something sort of weirdly freeing about it. Like when you're following some sort of regimen and you're just kind of told what to do and all you got to do is show up and check off the boxes. There's something kind of nice about that. Now, specifically the winter arc, winter is very tough.

Now, I live in Los Angeles where winter could not be easier, okay? Out of every single place in America, I would say with not a lot of evidence but enough evidence, I think Los Angeles is probably the easiest place to live during the winter.

And even for me, it is really challenging. Like the time just changed. It's getting dark at like 5 p.m. I'm pale. I'm not getting vitamin D. I don't know. The wintertime, I think, can also get really intense sometimes.

with work for a lot of people. Like there's always like a lot of work to do for some reason in the winter. It's hard. Unless you live in Los Angeles with me, it's probably harder for you than it is for me. And even I know how hard the winter time is. Okay. And so I think the idea of having a distinct goal,

for the winter is actually very helpful because it's really easy to just lose all motivation, all hope. It's cold. It's dark. There's a lot of work to do. It's very hard to be disciplined in those conditions. So having something to distract from the sort of hopelessness that oftentimes winter brings is

And even a lot of mental health challenges that come with the wintertime, like scientifically as a result of the season, it can be really nice to, I don't know, like have goals to help you push through those challenges. Maybe the winter arc can save me. Okay. Maybe, you know, that's kind of a hopeful idea. Also the habits in these self-improvement movements are always healthy, right?

and positive. Can they turn unhealthy and positive? Of course. And, you know, but we're not there yet. We're talking about the positives right now. All of these things are good. Exercise, meditating, journaling, like all of these things are undoubtedly things that improve your quality of life.

And then last but not least, I think it's kind of cool that the whole internet will hop on a sort of trend like this. There's something kind of fun and communal and exciting about it. I mean, obviously, ideally, we could do this type of stuff with people in person. But if not, you know, there's a community online doing it. And there's something very beautiful about that. We love community as human beings. Okay, it's fun. This episode is brought to you by Azo. Vagina isn't a dirty word. And vaginal issues are totally normal.

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Just choose a question and let your matches reply to kick off the chat. Try opening moves on the new Bumble. Download Bumble now. Now let's discuss the negatives. A lot of times the rules are very strict and unsustainable. I would say some would argue, and honestly, I might even argue, I don't know, that that's the whole point. You're challenging yourself for a period of time, proving to yourself that you can do it. And

And then from there, picking and choosing what habits you want to keep and which things you want to be more lenient on for a more realistic sort of lifestyle. Okay, that's a really idyllic idea. You know, like that sounds beautiful. That sounds awesome. However, that's not guaranteed. Depending on who you are and how challenging the experience was for you,

you might do, you know, this sort of winter arc challenge and then come out the other side of it and be like, I'm fucking treating myself, you know? And then you sort of slack and then you end up where you started again. And it's like, well, what was the point of all that hard work just to go back to what you were doing before? And that happens for a lot of people. I think it depends on what type of personality you have. And I don't know how particularly challenging the challenge was for you.

and how much you enjoyed it, right? Like if you fucking hate journaling and meditating and doing CrossFit, then following those rules, like you probably shouldn't have followed that set of rules. Now you're definitely not going to stick to it. And when the X amount of time ends, you're not going to want to maintain any of those habits. You're just going to want to go back to what you were doing before and you end up back at square one and you didn't gain anything from it in the end.

Now, I did the dopamine detox a few years ago, like a year and a half, maybe two years ago. I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. But I did it. And I will say, short term, I did not stick to many of the habits. Like...

I felt really good when I did the dopamine detox. I really enjoyed it. I had like a really peaceful experience, you know, not consuming any media. I don't even think I listened to music. I might be wrong. I was like really connected to the real world.

I was filling my time more wisely. My head felt clearer. Like I had a really beautiful experience doing that. I made a whole podcast about it if you want to go listen. But short term, like right after, did those habits stick? No. However, did it plant a seed in my mind that made me realize like, okay, I can't be as extreme as this, right? The dopamine detox, it's too extreme. I can't do this every day.

But can I strive to find that peaceful state of mind and make that a baseline for me by changing my habits? Yes. So it sort of showed me what a peaceful, not overstimulated, not relying on instant gratification sort of brain feels like. And I really enjoyed it. And I've sort of chased the feeling in a weird way ever since. And that was very valuable.

And now a lot of the habits that I implemented in the dopamine detox now are permanent habits for me. It just didn't happen immediately. And I,

Can I say for sure if that one experience doing the dopamine detox got me to where I am today, where a lot of those habits are like permanent for me at this point? I can't say for sure. There's been a lot of things that have happened since that have gotten me to this point, but I would assume it did at least a little bit. But all of that to say, like the rules are very strict and unsustainable.

And to some people, that's the whole point. To me, I think that could be a potentially very negative thing because while you're doing it, the strict and unsustainable rules might be sort of impossible to

to complete or to do, or it might just be miserable. You might just be miserable and having a terrible time and following a list of rules that aren't even really yours. You just found them online. They're not catered to you in your life. They're from fucking Reddit or TikTok or whatever.

And then after the challenge ends, at best, you won't be able to sustain everything you did and you'll go back to some of your old ways. And at worst, you'll go back to all of your old ways. Would it be better just to slowly but surely integrate healthier habits into our lives? You know, just slow and steady win the race? I don't know. That leads me to my next negative point. There's just a lot of opportunity to fail here. And...

I personally think failure is great and totally fine. I have my moments where I struggle with failure, but overall, I would say my relationship to failure is pretty healthy. Is it perfect? No, but I would say I am pretty good at handling failure. However, even for the strongest of people, failure can be demoralizing. And because the winter arc tends to be very challenging, there's a lot of rules, very strict rules,

you have to be very, very disciplined and determined to successfully execute the winter arc. We're human. You know, we only have so much willpower. We only have so much determination. We only have so much discipline. We only have so much motivation. Like there's a lot of room to fail. And when you have a really, really challenging list of to-dos every single day for a long period of time, there's days when we're exhausted.

it. There's days when we work really long hours and there are things that get in the way. And if you're somebody who struggles with failure, this might be an experience that actually sets you back. You know, failing at this might actually put you in a worse state of mind. It might send you into a worse place mentally.

And last but not least, I think sometimes these rigid resets get in the way of enjoying life, specifically with the winter arc. Winter is winter, but it's also the holidays. The holidays are for food and family.

Now, the winter arc doesn't really mesh well with the season of food and family, okay? Because the winter arc is telling you to go to the gym and eat chicken breast, not hang out at your grandma's and eat her world-famous pecan pie, okay? That has an entire cup of sugar in just one slice. That's fucking delicious, by the way, and you should eat it.

Again, ideally we strike a balance here. We strike a balance. Like I love the idea of the winter arc being like, yeah, for the majority of the winter, we're pushing, we're focused on this winter arc, but for fuck's sake, on the week of Thanksgiving, like relax. You know what I'm saying? When your grandma comes to town and she's making pie every night, have a fucking slice of pie every night. Like it's ridiculous.

A lot of times I think we can all become obsessive about sticking to the fucking rules, you know, sticking to the rules. That can prevent you from experiencing life. There are times when we have to sacrifice things

to feel our best. There are times when sacrifice is necessary. I think sacrifice is what makes things mean something. Like, for example, if you're in a phase where, you know, you're bettering yourself, whatever, you might have to sacrifice nights out with your friends to staying in and going to bed early and

And working on your hobbies or reading a book or getting work in late because you have this one project you really want to finish. But that's what then makes going out with your friends, when that makes sense again, all the more beautiful and enjoyable.

without sacrifice, we wouldn't even enjoy these things. We'd take these things for granted. That's what gives them their power in a good way, I think. It's the same thing with like eating healthy. It should be very delicious. It should be very filling. It should be very satisfying. However, eating something that's technically, you know, not nutritious, but is fucking delicious.

like, I don't know, a slice of pecan pie, that is so much more enjoyable when it's like a treat. Again, that's my point of sacrifice. It's like sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things. And I know a lot of you are going to be like, Emma, that's toxic. I actually don't think so. As adults, I would argue, you know, it's kind of our job to be like, all right, we need to take good care of ourselves. We're our own responsibilities now. We need to sacrifice stuff sometimes.

to do the right thing for our health mentally and physically. And I don't think it's restrictive either. It shouldn't be. Finding the balance between enjoying life and, you know, having discipline and it's tough. It's a fucking tough balance, you know? All of this to say, you know, I'm aware of the positives and the negatives. I kind of want to have a little winter arc.

Like, I want to start January 1st kind of slaying, you know, like I'm down, but I'm going to make my own rules because one of the biggest issues with the concept of the winter arc or the concept of the 75 hard is that a lot of times the rules are predetermined online and I'm my own individual person. The rules for one person are not going to work for me. So I'm going to take it upon myself to make my own list of rules.

Like, for example, I'm not going to put on my list that I'm going to journal for 10 minutes a day because you know what? I'm not in a phase of my life right now where journaling is necessary. There have been times in my life where journaling has been exactly what I needed. And it's been something that took a level of discipline. But once I got into it, I was like, you know, I knew I needed it. I needed a place to

organize my thoughts. And so it was beautiful for me. But now, right now in this moment, it's not something I need. I'm not going to put meditating on my list either because again, it's very similar. There was a period of time in my life where I needed meditation. I needed to sit

and meditate for 10 minutes a day. And it was really, really enjoyable for me. That's not something that I can integrate into my life right now. It's not the right time for me. And some people might disagree with that sort of belief. They're like, well, you should because everybody should be meditating. Honestly, I agree, but I just know myself and I'm finding meditation through other activities right now, particularly exercise. And I'll get into that in my list.

Yeah. Long story short, even though there are some tempting things on other people's list of rules that I know I probably should do, honestly, journaling and meditating are two of those things. Like I wish that I was in a time in my life where those things worked for me because I do think that there's so much value in those things. But I'm also aware that they don't click with me in this phase of my life for whatever reason. And so I

I'm not just going to put them on my list to put them on my list. Even something like training for a marathon. Okay. Yeah. It'd be great to run a marathon, but that's not something that feels inspiring to me. So I wanted to make this list of rules that kind of had a balance of like, okay, it's definitely going to be a bit challenging, but it's also going to be doable. And everything on the list ultimately sounds good to me. Like it doesn't sound grueling to a point where I'm like, like,

like I think about it and I'm dreading it. Like I don't feel a feeling of dread. I feel inspired by the list of rules. And I think if you do make your own list of rules for your winter arc, I would hope that you would do the same. Okay, let's dig in to my rules. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. November is a good time to stop and appreciate all the people in your life. I have a lot of people in my life that I'm very grateful for, especially my parents. My parents are...

so patient with me. And when I reflect on the last year and all of the challenges that I've faced, they have been there through every single challenge and have supported me. And I'm just really grateful for them. While we're talking about being thankful, here's a reminder to send some thanks to yourself this year. It's not an easy thing to do. And if that's something you really struggle with, therapy can help.

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For Emma's winter arc, I'm going to be showing up on January 1st with insane calves and insane traps.

Just kidding. I've never been able to grow my calf muscle and I don't really know why. It just doesn't really show up. In fact, I've never really been able to grow really solid leg muscle in general.

Like, I just feel like I'm always, I don't know. I'm lacking in that area. It's fine. I don't mind. Um, it's not my, it's not a priority for me. Uh, let's begin Emma's winter arc rule. Number one, go to bed before 11 PM. This is going to be challenging for me because recently I've been going to bed late. I had like a solid three years where I was going to bed actually at a really reasonable hour in waking up at a really reasonable hour for some reason in the last

I don't know, three to six months maybe, I've just kind of fallen off. I don't know why. I've been going to bed later

closer to like midnight, 1am, waking up later at earliest, 8am, at my worst, like 9.30, 10am, which is to me, like, I don't like that. I don't like that. Do I still get the same amount done in the day? Yeah, I do. Like, it's fine. I just, I'm my own boss. So I work then later in the day. It's fine. But I don't like the feeling. It feels bad. So go to bed before 11pm, wake up at 7am. I'm

I'm not trying to wake up at 5am. I just don't need to do that. It's fine. I'm going to start with my goal being this. And then if it ends up being easy and I want to push it further, I can update the rules and maybe I'll start going to bed at eight and waking up at five. But probably not. Okay. Number two, we have a very standard rule. Okay. This is on like everybody's list. Read a minimum of 10 pages in a book a day.

I was doing really good on the reading. I fell off. I will say, I haven't been like spending the time that I would be reading, doing things that are unhealthy, I wouldn't say. Like, it's not like, well, I haven't been reading recently because I've been doom scrolling on my phone. Luckily, that's...

Not really the problem. I mean, yes, a portion of the time that I should be spending reading is spent with me on YouTube shorts, scrolling. That does happen occasionally. But I wouldn't say I'm doom scrolling on social media for hours and hours. I don't do that anymore. It's not going to be an impossible feat to stop going on YouTube shorts. When I'm like

on the toilet for a long time or like laying in bed after a really long day where I worked a lot and I'm like tired and I'm like, you know what? I cannot use my brain anymore. I'm going to go on YouTube shorts. Like, you know what I mean? I don't think I'm like abusing it.

And then in addition, I feel like I've been spending the time that I would be reading, like either talking to people on the phone or just like working later, you know, just continuing to work until the evening instead of like, oh, it's 6 p.m. I'll be done and go read a bit of a book. Do you get what I mean? Like my work life balance hasn't been great, I would say. So.

I've been prioritizing being productive work-wise over having time to like read a book. And it's been so exhausting. I think that by the end of it, I'm like, I can't use my brain to read a book. I'm going to go on YouTube shorts or like call someone on the phone and just talk or whatever. But I do think reading is really important for me.

and I really enjoy it when I'm in the swing of it. So I'm just going to read 10 pages a day. That's it. Hopefully I'll read more than that, but 10 pages minimum. Number three, spend minimum 10 minutes a day on a hobby or interest. Again, this is another thing that I've been struggling with because I think it comes down to my work-life balance. And I know what you're thinking, Emma, you're an influencer. What even is your fucking job? I understand. I get it.

People get very annoyed about influencers, whatever, people online, people who are their own bosses. When people in that category are like, I've been working so hard. It's like, you're your own boss. Shut the fuck up. By the way, fully, yes, I understand. I agree. However, I'm my own worst enemy.

Okay. I'm my own boss in a way that is toxic at times where like I will overwork myself and it's my own fault. Like I give myself a lot of tasks and I feel immense shame and guilt when I don't complete all of them. And I feel like a failure to my boss and I am my own boss. It's just, it can get very toxic for me.

And so I'm aware that I'm fully in control of it. And that's why this is on my list for my winter arc. I don't think it's good for my overall well-being and also for the sake of me being an interesting person to not be reading books and participating in some sort of hobby for at least 10 minutes each day. I think me just like working all the time makes me boring. It makes me a not interesting person and

And I'm in control of this. So I need to, you know, get my shit together. Okay. Moving on to number four. I have this bad habit that I've talked about before where I'll get into a routine of never existing in silence. I wake up in the morning, I make my coffee. And then while I'm cleaning up the kitchen, I am listening to a podcast.

And then when I'm on my way to my workout class, I'm listening to a YouTube video. And then when I get home and I'm working on my computer, depending on what the work is, if it's something that I don't need to be like focused on, I'm listening to a YouTube video.

which sometimes, I mean, a lot of times I can't really do that, but I try, I will try to do that. When I'm on the toilet, I'm scrolling through YouTube shorts. When I'm in the shower, I'm listening to a YouTube video. If I'm going on a jog, I'm listening to a podcast. Like I'm always listening to someone talking.

And it always happens like subconsciously, like it starts out not an issue where I'm like, oh, I'm good. I can have YouTube on my phone. You know, I can have podcasts on my phone. It's all good. And then I get addicted to it and I get addicted to constantly having noise in my ears. And so my rule, rule number four is that I'm only allowed to listen to music. No listening to YouTube and podcasts all day long. Listen, if at the end of the day, I'm done with my work for the day, I'm done with everything for the day. Sometimes I just like to lay down and

and watch a bunch of music videos. Okay. Or I want to watch a video, a YouTube video, classic fucking YouTube video. Sue me. Or I'm with a loved one and we want to watch something together. You know, it's like, okay, relax. You know what I mean? It's all good. That's fine. But that is only if everything else for the day is done. I already did my reading and the day is over, then it's fine. But other than that, no. And the reason why this is good is

is because there's a lot of things that I do every day that can be meditative for me if they're done in silence. Exercise, showering, cleaning, chores, all of these things can be meditative for me. Even fucking sitting on the toilet, as stupid as it sounds, if they're done with no noise.

So in a weird way, this is sort of my meditation because I like to meditate throughout my day. I'm on the toilet. I close my eyes and think I'm doing chores. I'm in my head. I'm working through stuff or my brain's just empty, whatever. But like I'm working through stuff. I'm

having a moment of blankness, you know, like whatever it may be, but I can't have that if I have noise in my ears all day long. But it's kind of nice to have that sometimes because then I just don't have to think. I just have information going into my ears and it feels nice, but it's not good for not only my self-improvement, but also for my work because I need to be thinking about stuff all the time. There's never a moment where there's something that I don't need to be thinking about, whether it's like

oh, podcast episode ideas. I'm coming up with podcast episodes, ideas constantly, which is fun and I enjoy doing it, but it's, you know, I do two a week. So it's like, I'm constantly thinking, thinking, thinking about, you know, what the next episode is going to be, what the next 10 episodes are going to be. Brainstorming ideas for like, oh, you know, this project I have coming up that I'm working on and blah, blah, blah. You know, like I'm like coming up with ideas for these things. One

When I've sounded my ears all the time, I am not in that flow state as often, you know? Okay. Rule number five, although this isn't an issue for me anymore, thank God by some miracle, I'm putting it on here anyway. No doom scrolling. I don't think I doom scroll anymore. I don't scroll on Instagram. I don't scroll on TikTok. I just don't do it anymore. Honestly, the two phone method for me has been unbelievably helpful because

I don't have Instagram or TikTok on my phone. I obviously have my own sort of toxic relationship with YouTube and Spotify and all these things, which is not as toxic. I love these platforms. I think that, well, Spotify also gives me music, but it's also where I listen to podcasts.

So that's what I mean by Spotify, but mainly YouTube. YouTube is the thing that I still can have a toxic relationship with. However, it's never nearly as toxic as Instagram or TikTok. And I just can't scroll on those things anymore. Maybe a time will come in my life where it makes sense again, but I found that it's bad for my brain and I've kind of solved that problem. And it was by getting two phones and having one phone with only healthy apps on it, the good phone, and then have

Having all the toxic apps on the bad phone for whenever I need it. I can just easily go over. Everything's already logged in. We just post a little something on Instagram, maybe check in on a few things, what the friends have been posting. Go ahead and like everything and then get out. But it's on the list anyway, just for good measure. Rule number six, stick to the workout routine. I will say I am somebody who really loves exercise and honestly needs to exercise for my mental well-being. Like,

Exercise really, really, really helps me as an anxious person. This is something that I already am good at prioritizing. However, I've been sort of in between routines. Like I've been trying to figure out what I like doing for exercise recently because I go through phases where, you know, I had this like bootcamp class that I really enjoyed for a while there. And then I got to the point where I was like,

You know, I actually don't really like lifting weights. I kind of got sick of it. So I was like, all right, I'm probably not going to do that anymore. Then I was trying at home workouts for a while and I was like, eh.

maybe this will work. And then I was running outside. Running is nice, but that's not enough. And so I've been going through all these different phases. Finally, I've figured out the workout routine that right now I really like. Run or speed walk minimum of two miles every day. Now, this makes sense for me because I have a very sedentary job. I sit at a desk majority of the day or sit in my bed on my computer. I mean, it's like I actually am trying to sit in my bed less because I think it

It's getting to a point where like, then I just feel like I'm bed rotting, but I'm actually being productive. So I've kind of had to stop working in bed as much, but yeah, I'm sitting a lot. So for me going for a two mile jog or two mile speed walk every day, that's the bare minimum. I'm so sedentary and I think every day is reasonable. I can get a two mile run done in 20 minutes. I can get, you know, a two mile speed walk done in like 35 maybe. And then if I feel like it, I can go for longer, whatever or not. And

And then my favorite workout class right now, because I love workout classes. I love the community element of it. I love the fact that I'm being told what to do. I find that element really meditative. I can just follow instruction and then think about other stuff while I'm doing it. And I love when I'm getting an experience that I couldn't get at home, which a lot of times is the case.

So I've been recently doing a lot of hot yoga and hot Pilates. Now I know it's a controversial workout class, actually. I did research on it and a lot of people are like working out in very hot environments. It's like, it can be kind of bad for you. Like you can fuck with your electrolytes in your body.

If you're not careful and there's like no sign that it actually makes a workout more effective. I'm aware of all this stuff. I've read up. Okay. On my favorite workout class. I just genuinely enjoy it. I genuinely enjoy it. And also I am prioritizing replenishing my electrolytes before, during, and after these classes. And I felt good. Like these classes aren't wiping me out and making me feel sick.

I genuinely enjoy it. I love sweating, which is weird because I like hated hot environments growing up. But for some reason now I like really like it. I'm like acclimated to it and I enjoy it. It feels actually fucking horrible in the middle of it, but the feeling after is amazing. Also, there's something about sweating a lot that makes my body feel really calm afterwards. So I'm really enjoying that. I also love yoga and Pilates. I get the hype or whatever.

We use like light to medium weights for this sort of yoga Pilates fusion stuff. Like it works for me. That's really all that fucking matters. I don't even care what I'm doing. I'm not like looking for any sort of result. I just know like...

Like exercise makes me feel good after. And I just need to find something that I like enough while I'm doing it so that I'll stick to it. And then we have a happy medium. So right now, call me a fucking Pilates princess. You know, hate me all you want, but I really enjoy these classes. So hot Pilates, hot yoga, minimum four days a week. I don't think that that's too much. I don't think it's too little. I think it's just right.

Next, number seven, instead of shopping or drinking on the weekends, although stay tuned for my next episode about drinking because I am not drinking anymore, but not by choice because I may or may not have an alcohol intolerance. Again, more on that next episode. Instead of shopping or drinking as I used to on the weekends, which sounds really honestly toxic and it kind of was, but for a long time, my main activities on the weekend were like

Okay. Number one, I want to go shopping, go thrifting, go to the flea market, go to little boutiques. Like I love doing that. I can't tell you how many free weekends I've spent doing that. Okay. Shopping around. And then at night going and having glasses of wine. Wow.

What a delight. Well, I want to replace those things during the fucking winter arc with active activities and then having a delicious meal. Okay. So instead of shopping and then drinking, doing active activities and then having a special meal. Because during the week, no eating out at restaurants, which is actually honestly easy for me. I don't eat out at restaurants during the week anymore anyway. Like that's not a part of my routine right now. It has been before.

I've had my phases of post-mating majority of my meals or going out to eat for majority of my meals. Not right now. But it's nice to have like a predetermined plan for what you're going to do on the weekends to enjoy yourself during something like a winter arc. Because a lot of times, at least for me on the weekend, I'm like, it's time to lean into my vices. Let's fucking have fun. I grind it all week. Let's have fun.

So instead of shopping and drinking, it's hiking, rock climbing. I just went rock climbing last weekend. Honestly, so fun. Really hard. Really hard. I was really, really bad at it. And I have long acrylic nails, which I might have to cut down now because I...

actually really enjoyed rock climbing and I'd like to go again, but it's kind of impossible when you have really long nails. It's not impossible, but it makes it a lot harder. So anyway, rock climbing, maybe throw in an extra yoga class, an extra Pilates class, maybe try a different type of yoga class, a different type of Pilates, go on a run on a beautiful trail. Like there's the options are endless. Okay. But do some sort of outdoor activity.

Go surfing. You know, maybe I could go surf with my dad. I wouldn't surf alone. I'm too scared. But if I'm visiting my dad or he's visiting me, maybe go surfing. Outdoor activities, physical activities, active activities.

And then after that, try a new restaurant, go to an old favorite, have a fucking good meal. No alcohol, no drinking. And yes, in the winter arc, I will be ordering dessert. I can't help it. I think it's healthy to have balance. Like it's not healthy to be like, no, no dessert for me ever. That doesn't end well.

Next, number eight, be more present with my loved ones. Check in on people, spend quality time with people, et cetera. I wish I was better about this. I have a tendency to isolate myself. Not like completely, okay? I have my like very close circle.

But I'll even like neglect them in a way and like not spend quality time with them. Like my mom lives in Los Angeles now. I should be going to dinner with her at least once a week. Like we should, one of those going out to dinner on the weekends should be with my mom. And I do see my mom. She comes to my house and we hang out, but we tend to do a lot of like tasks together.

She'll help me with something or every once in a while, I'll help her with something. But for the most part, she's helping me with stuff. And that's when we see each other and that's something I want to improve upon. I want to spend more quality time with my loved ones. Or I'll call my dad on the phone and I'll talk about work-related stuff or...

my friends and I will go weeks without texting each other because we're busy. It's stuff like that that I want to be better about. And then I put this on here as its own sort of thing, eating nutritious, healthy foods. But also it's key to mention that I also am going to allow myself to have fun and it shall not become toxic because that can happen. I think especially with exercise and

and eating nutritious, healthy food, whatever. It's like it starts as that and it can derail into something far more sinister. I can assume majority of us have been there. Okay, I know I have. So these things are on there because I do not think that they're inherently unhealthy goals to have. I think they're great and it makes you feel good. And I'll be the first one to tell you that, but I'll also be the first one to tell you it can derail quickly. So there's an asterisk saying no toxic vibes allowed.

Okay. And then last but not least, don't just be nice on the outside. Be nice on the inside too. Okay. Be nice to myself and to others behind their back. Because here's the thing. I really work hard to be a good person. Okay. And I think I do a pretty good job. Like I, I really try my best. I'm not perfect. I definitely make mistakes and I have a lot of flaws as well, but you know, it's a priority for me to be good.

However, behind closed doors, it's harder to regulate, right? Like to people's faces, I think I'm actually proud of myself now more than ever about how I treat people. I think I get better at treating people well every day. Like the older I get, the more kind I become. And I'm proud of that. However, I still am very mean to myself often.

And I still think mean thoughts about people and talk shit about people within my close circle. I still do that. And do I think that there's value in that? Sometimes. Do I think it's inevitable? Sometimes. Yes. I think gossip to an extent is normal and healthy.

It's how we learn from others. It's how we express our morals and beliefs to our close loved ones who are safe to discuss gossip with. Do I think being hard on yourself is sometimes a part of growth? Yes. Like...

All these things are true, but I think I could be a bit better about it. I could maybe talk a little bit less shit. I could get a little bit less pissed off by other people's actions. I could pay a little bit less attention to what other people are doing. And I think I'm doing a good enough job and I could be even better.

And then last but not least, I mentioned this, like I'm somebody who tends to isolate a lot and I would like to be more involved in my community through charitable volunteer opportunities. There are so many in Los Angeles. I would love to do more of that. But like in person, it's one thing to like say donate money to a charity. That

That's great. That's helpful. But it's even more impactful to show up somewhere. I think for yourself, it's almost a selfish thing in a way. The fulfillment that comes from being with community and helping others, that's the difference between, say, just like donating money versus donating time. I think when you donate your time, you actually get more in return in a lot of ways. I mean, I think money is helpful as well, of course, but it's just like...

you get something really tangible and beautiful out of helping people. And it's not, listen, helping others isn't about what you gain from it. That's not what I'm saying, but it's this added bonus of like, you get to have this beautiful, fulfilling experience and that's makes it all the more worth it. I'm making this distinction because I could come on here and say, I want to donate more money to charity this holiday season, but

being like, no, I actually want to be present in being helpful because it's an even more beautiful experience. Like that's what I'm saying here. I hope I communicated that properly. Anyway. So that's my winter arc. We'll see if I stick to it. Um, it's 7 30 PM on a Thursday night, uh, for me right now. And I'm about to go make dinner and I would normally turn on a YouTube video and listen to the YouTube video while I make dinner. Um,

But tonight, I'm going to be doing it in silence. And I can't wait. Maybe I'll listen to music, but probably not. Anyway, let me know if you participate in the Winter Arc. I'm curious. Let me know what your rules are. The Instagram is at anythinggoes. Find anythinggoes anywhere you stream podcasts and new episodes every Thursday and Sunday. Find me. I'm Emma Chamberlain at Emma Chamberlain. And find my coffee company called Chamberlain Coffee. Yeah, pretty obviously named. My name's Emma Chamberlain.

That's all I have. Thank you all for listening and hanging out. It's always a joy and a pleasure. I love you all. I appreciate you all. And I will talk to you very soon. This episode is brought to you by American Eagle. If you need another reason to love the holiday season, I've got some great news for you.

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