Raise your hand if you (and your wallet) have felt personally victimized by patio season…we know we have. Upon entering the wellness world, we tend to feel judgment from both ourselves and the community for going out and continuing a social life. We’re here to tell you that you don’t have to give up your Aperol Spritz to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The secret weapon? Removing “balance” from your vocabulary and replace it with “integration”. Let us explain.
WHAT DOES INTEGRATION EVEN MEAN?
Integration is the act or process of uniting different things. Cacti was built off of the notion that millions of women have always been go-go-go, never having enough time for self-care, work, a social life, or sleep. How many times have you thought to yourself “there’s no way I can do it all?”
After spending years on end trying to strike a balance, our founder Kira realized that a perfect "work/life balance" does not exist. We will never strike a 50/50 between our personal and professional lives. Instead, when we're able to integrate work and life together, that's where the real magic happens.
You should not have to give up things that bring you joy. Where’s the fun in that?
8 WAYS TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE & KEEP A SOCIAL LIFE:
Determine Your Values: Knowing our values is important because it helps us make decisions, take action, and focus on moving towards the life we want to live. If you’re unclear on what these are, take a weekend to yourself and meditate on them. Ask yourself what’s important to you, visualize the life you want to live…are your decisions helping or hindering your process?
Who’s Draining Your Energy?: Let’s keep in mind that the people you surround yourself with can drain your energy just as much as a hangover can. You want to surround yourself with people who lift you up, make you feel confident, and love to see you thrive. It’s important to do a social audit after you hang out with someone…reflect on how you feel after they’ve left. It will help you make decisions down the road.
Find a Community With Similar Interests: Having a social life doesn’t have to revolve around going out to eat or staying up until 2 AM. Finding a community that has the same interests and goals as you will do wonders for your work ethic. If your interests are meditation, personal development, or working out – join the Cacti community here. There are over 26,000 of us on Instagram, you’re bound to find at least one person you connect with. (Other places to look for a like-minded friend group include: fitness classes, networking events, or Bumble BFF.)
Don’t Overbook: Living in the moment is important, but living based on your current emotion can be quite damaging and impulsive. Before saying yes to anything at the moment, we recommend saying something like “I need to check my calendar first, then I’ll get back to you.” This prevents the whole saying yes and then having to bail last minute because you no longer want to go conversation (which isn’t fun for either party!)
Read The Menu Beforehand: Getting to the restaurant without cross-checking the menu and Instagram is like getting invited to the MET and wearing denim…and unless you’re Britney Spears Circa 2000, it’s just not going to go over well. Not only do you save time with ordering, but you can also make healthier, less-impulsive decisions, see the vibe of the restaurant, and pick out the right outfit. It’s a win-win-win.
Set Realistic Wellness Goals: We’ve talked about this before in our blog post about creating habits. Wellness is a lifestyle change, not a fad. This is why we’ve set up all Cacti workouts, meditations, and workshops to be 20 minutes or less. Aiming for this amount of time builds long-term, sustainable habits that you’ll have for your whole life. When you’re spending 2 hours on a workout, it leaves little room for social life – again, it’s all about integrating!
If It’s Not 100% Yes…Say No: “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.” If you’re unsure of whether or not you should say yes, ask yourself: “Is this a rare occasion?” or “Do I genuinely want to be there or am I people-pleasing?” These questions usually do the trick.
Change Your Mindset Around The Weekend: Our conditioning has led us to believe that the weekends are the time to let loose, go wild, and do everything in our power to forget about the week we just had. This doesn’t have to be the case…start looking at the weekends as energy givers VS energy drainers. There are tons of activities you can do that don’t involve drinking alcohol! Paint night, hikes, picnics, workout classes, coffee dates…these are just the tip of the iceberg.
It’s important to remember that you are a work in progress and that saying yes (or saying no) to plans isn’t the end of the world. We have to learn from our mistakes, not beat ourselves up over them. Always trust your gut, it’s our internal compass, and it’s there for a reason.
Community is everything when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and social life. Join the Cacti community today and get 7 days free. You never know who you’ll run into.
The Cacti Team