During this holiday season, I want you to spend some time and relax. Don't think about work, politics, the economy . . . anything. What do I want you to do? Those things that make life special — spend time with friends and family, read a good book, watch a fun video, catch that movie you've been wanting to see. Every year, I take off the last two weeks of December to do a few things:

Relax - Sit back, enjoy my tea by the wood stove.
Meditate - Take time out each day to reflect and be grateful.
Plan - Brainstorm new ideas for my practice and life.

To help YOU relax, I've linked to some of my favorite books, videos, and music I've experienced this year. ENJOY!

BOOKS

The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman In The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman has created a charming allegory of childhood. Check out the Audible version too - read by Neil Gaiman - one of the best narrators around.

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss I love Tim Ferriss' podcast. Even though he has the best guests with incredible advice, I don't have time to take copious notes while listening. This book is a great resource for reviewing the critical things said without having to scroll through hours of audio.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday A treasure for managing our choices, overcoming self-deception, and learning to act according to the true worth of things while keeping the common good always in view. Caring for the soul in this way makes not only better people, but a stronger society too.

VIDEOS

Innovative Leadership: Scott Galloway (start at the 4:00 mark) One of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders of Tomorrow, which recognizes 100 individuals whose accomplishments have had impact on a global level, his video series Winners & Losers, has garnered the attention of viewers globally. If you like this - you can watch this one too.

One Day Builds: Adam Savage Makes Something Wonderful from Scratch Watch Adam build, from start to finish, a stylized box to carry and display his Blade Runner Blaster prop replica. The entire project took less than one day to complete, and Adam narrates this video with commentary about his design and construction methods.

Cam Closer One of the scariest short videos on YouTube today. I love this stuff!

The Birth Of A Wooden House This is a documentary movie uncovering the process of building a wooden house with mostly hand tools from (as much as possible) local natural materials starting from forest till the living space.

The World In 2050 - Dr. Peter Diamandis Co-Founder of Singularity University and Founder of the X-Prize - United States of America - He shared insights on how bright the future looks and what are the trends that will shape the world as we know it in the next 25 years.

MUSIC

Shakey Graves - Roll the Bones - Audiotree Live First Aid Kit - America (Live at Polar Music Prize) Maggie Rogers - Alaska Dan Auerbach - Goin' Home Caravan Palace - Rock It For Me (live at Le Trianon, Paris) Sigur Ros "Untitled 3"

See you in 2017!

2016 — Banner year or Bummer year? Not doing what you really want to be doing? Not getting the 'right' type of clients? Does your boss drive you up the wall?

Sometimes we get in a rut. Sometimes it's a cavern. Here are some tips to help you get out of that rut and set the stage for an unbelievable 2017:

It's never that bad.

We tend to over-dramatize our situation. We obsess, worry, and focus on the negative to the point where it's looks insurmountable. Granted, sometimes it's really that bad. Most of the time — it's tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Solution: Bad and Good are cyclical. If you're in a rut, it usually takes a few quick actions to turn the situation around. If you just lost your best client, you need to get off your butt and get out there and visit all of your current, past, and future clients. Don't sit and mope — make a decision and take action. If you have a bad boss — time to see if you can change the dynamic in some way — communicate more effectively, be more appreciative, anticipate their needs. If you can't do that — it's time to look for new digs. Check out this book.

Take small steps.

When things are bad, we want to get out of that rut ASAP. We want big things to happen, quickly. We want to buy that lottery ticket that delivers $250 million. Unfortunately, life rarely delivers a big enough boon to elevate you out of your chasm.

Solution: Take small steps, keep repeating every day, and be consistent, regular, and unwavering. Why? First off, small steps are easy — big steps are hard. Small steps are recoverable in case you take the wrong step, you can easily step back and change direction. Small steps build upon one another and deliver an inner momentum and confidence big steps will never deliver. Check out this book.

Be positive.

When things are dark and gloomy — we tend to be de-motivated, enervated, and depressed. We're Johnny Raincloud to all of our colleagues, friends, and clients. It shows — everyone notices and candidly, they don't want to be around you.

Solution: Find the internal mindset or external environment to get you in a positive, energetic frame of mind. Nothing good ever happens to a cranky person — turn that frown upside down (I had to say it), and start envisioning where you need to go and what you need to do. Meditate, relax, go for a walk, take a mental health day — do something to change the dynamic. Check out this book.

Take the stairs.

It doesn't happen overnight. To get in a rut, it usually takes a number of bad things to happen over an extended period of time. You might have lost that huge client, but in retrospect, you probably sealed your fate months ago by not communicating or making a serious mistake.

Solution: It's going to be hard — I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You need to work harder everyday to not only make up the yardage you've lost, but to overcome your fears and push yourself to do even better. But if you stay positive, take small steps, and realize that your situation is temporary, you'll find your hard journey upwards rewarding and invigorating. Check out this book.

If you try each of these suggestions, I promise you will not only get out of your rut, you will have an UNBELIEVABLE 2017.