Kristina (00:00)
So my big dream now is to inspire 101 million people to write down three dreams and go and chase them. And the reason for wanting that is because when I wrote down a few dreams, it completely changed my life to things that I could never, ever have imagined.
Ros Lindsey (00:24)
It's the beginning of a new year. And like many of us, you might be making new year's resolutions. For many people that includes a determination for this year to be different, better, healthier. And I'm thrilled that you are here on the Wellness Nurse podcast today, because today you will learn how to take strategic action so that your efforts make the biggest impact for your health. I'm Ros Lindsey
I'm a registered nurse with a Master of Public Health and I am passionate about helping you live healthier for longer.
if you are setting New Year's health resolutions, whilst that's a really good thing to do, it's vital that you actually have a plan around that and one that is tailored to you. Because according to a Forbes article, 80 % of New Year's fail by mid-February without a plan.
And that's what I do. I help you create a customized plan as a unique individual. So you get started in the right direction and you focus on the best things for you to make the biggest impact. So if you are serious and really committed and ready to transforming your health, I'd encourage you to explore the options available at Roslinsey.com from a self-paced course to one-to-one consultations.
and you'll have the confidence that the effort you're putting in is targeted, strategic and sustainable. So one of the components of that plan is having a dream, having a big dream and imagining something better for your life, seeing and visualising a healthier you. I'm so excited today about today's conversation because if anyone
can help spark within you a vision of what could be possible for your health, it is Kristina Karlsson You may know Kristina as the founder of the beloved stationery brand, Kiki K. Kristina now has a new business, Dream Life, where she helps you dream big and then achieve your biggest goals. Kristina is coaching me to achieve my biggest dream.
And that is that Australians become the healthiest, longest living people in the world.
And that's where you come in. That's you. My dream is you become one of the healthiest, longest living people in the world. So be sure to subscribe to this podcast and get the fortnightly education and inspiration that will help you. Kristina Karlsson, welcome to the Wellness Nurse Podcast. You are inspiring.
thousands of people across the world to dream big and guiding us through the process of turning those dreams into reality. So thank you so much for coming today.
Kristina (03:32)
thank you so much, Ros for having me. And what an incredible dream you have. That's like the ultimate dream. I think if we can all live longer and healthier, then we can achieve so many more dreams and goals and all the things that we want that is important. So I'm really excited to be here and also really excited about your very big dream.
Ros Lindsey (03:52)
Thank you. Kristina, you have a podcast and one of the questions that you open with is asking your guests what their dream is. And I'd love to hear what your dream is and if you had a dream as a child and why it's so important to you that we achieve our dreams.
Kristina (03:54)
Thank
Thank you. So I grew up in Sweden on a farm. had a very privileged childhood, but One thing we didn't get to do was to travel the world. So as a kid, I wanted to see the world when I finished school. So that's what I did. And it was so amazing from, you know, coming from Sweden and then being able to see, I spent time in Europe and US.
And then I met my partner in a ski resort in Austria and that is what brought me to Australia. And when I came to Australia, I was really lost. I had no idea what to do with my life. So I was whinging and complaining quite a lot. One morning at 3 a.m. I woke up my partner, I think for the fifth time, asking, what am I going to do with my life? And he was a bit over my...
complaining and whinging. So he inspired me or encouraged me to write down some dreams on paper that night at 3am. And on that paper, I had a few dreams, but one was to start my own business. But I had no idea what that was going to be in terms of what kind of business. I had no experience. I had no network. I had no money. I had no knowledge. for anyone listening, if...
If you have a dream and you have no idea how to make it happen, write it down because that is the first step. And why I'm so passionate about helping other people. So my big dream now is to inspire 101 million people to write down three dreams and go and chase them. And the reason for wanting that is because when I wrote down a few dreams, it completely changed my life to things that I could never, ever have imagined. I managed somehow to.
open stores across the world and create a brand that people absolutely loved. But I also got to learn so much and I got to travel. I really incorporated my values into that business and then I lost that business in COVID. And the good thing is when you are an entrepreneur, you can actually start again. And that's what I've done. And now with my big crazy dream to inspire 101 million people.
That's a big dream and it's not really about the number, it's about thinking really big and outside the square. And it's been such an incredible journey from my simple five dreams on paper that morning to have been able to do what I've got to do and the experience and the people that I met, know, on a retreat and that's how we met.
It's just unbelievable when you dream big because it just makes you think outside the square. And that is why I'm so passionate. And also even I know that you are inspiring people to live a long, healthy life. Even if we get to live a long, healthy life, I feel life is short. So we want to focus on our health and wellbeing so we can dream bigger and most importantly, make those dreams come true.
Ros Lindsey (07:08)
Oh, absolutely. And I'm hoping that you are one of those 101 million people that adopt a dream, that create a dream today and learn how to take the action to make it happen. So that's what we're going to be talking about today, how to make that possible for you. So many of you are thinking at the moment, it's the new year, you're thinking, you've got those new year's resolutions.
Kristina (07:24)
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (07:37)
starting to mull around in your brain and you know what's this new year going to look like. Kristina from your experience how do resolutions differ from having a dream and a concrete plan and why is having that plan so crucial for lasting change?
Kristina (07:56)
Yeah. So I actually, even though I love the thought of setting New Year's resolutions, I no longer set newest resolutions. I'm more focused on habits and I'll explain how I actually think about all this. but I, I think that often when we start with a resolution or even a goal or a plan at this time of year, we often look at where we are today. So, you know, it's the beginning of the year and we are excited about a new year.
And then we might look at, okay, maybe career or if you're in business, you might look at the next career step this year, or maybe you look at a bigger turnover or better profit or a pivot into your business. And in your health and wellbeing, you might be looking at getting a bit fitter. maybe run, you know, start running or run a little bit further or a little bit faster, whatever that is for you. And that's a kind of a very natural way of looking at news resolutions and setting goals for the year.
And that is all great. And it's part of the plan for sure. But I really encourage everyone to start with dreaming. And some people who are listening right now might be into spreadsheets and planning and all that stuff. And it's absolutely necessary. And I'll get to that. I do think, and people actually sometimes roll their eyes when I say dreaming, because people think sometimes it's a bit fluffy.
But we're just going to start with dreaming and then we can put that into a concrete plan. But when we start dreaming, we are actually removing our everyday life and take away the kind of restrictions that we sometimes have when we put news resolution in place or setting goals. So I like to start with some questions and really remove myself and think about if anything was possible for me this year.
What would I do? And an easy way of kind of getting into that space is asking yourself, would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? So many of us are so worried about what other people think, especially if you are removing yourself from your everyday life and you might go into a completely different direction. Because often we are so influenced by our parents, our teachers, our peers, friends, colleagues, whatever it is. And if you really want to pivot, you are often
worried about what other people think. So when you do this exercise, you remove yourself from your everyday life and you, you ask yourself, what would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? If anything was possible for me, what would that, what would that mean? And for me back in the days, was starting a business. was starting a podcast. That was like really hard for me to start a podcast. Also writing a book. It's not my skill. So those kinds of things came into mind, but I was like, no way I can do that.
but you write them down anyway because that's the first step. Other things you can ask yourself is what would you do if you had all the skills and resources and knowledge, money and time to do whatever you want? So I'm super aware that most of us don't have all the time in the world or the finances that we might want or need, but what if you did? What kind of life would you like to create and what kind of dreams and goals comes to mind for you?
If you had the skills, because sometimes we, we, if we want to start as a, maybe a side hustle or a business or completely change career, if we don't have the skills, we often just be like, nah, it's not for me. But what if, if you had the skills, what would that mean and what would you need to do to make that happen? And then the last one, which is really relevant for this podcast is what if you had a hundred percent health and all the energy in the world to create your dream life?
What would you do? And I'm again, super aware that people who are listening to this podcast might not have a hundred percent health and wellbeing and energy yet, but that's why they're coming here to learn from you. And if they had that, what would change in their life? So when I think about that, I'm like, if I had a hundred percent, and I feel really energetic, but not every day, but most of the time, I just feel like then I will get up earlier. I will work.
on maybe bigger dreams and goals and I will create better habits. And I would actually start thinking about what's really healthy versus what do I just grab to eat on my way or all those kinds of things that we often do when we are living really full lives. So that is what I would start with. And then once you have, and this could be lots and lots of dreams and that is amazing, but of course we can do.
We can actually do anything, but not all at once. So I encourage everyone to kind of choose three for the years, depending a little bit on the size. And it doesn't mean that you can't do other things, of course, but start with three and then set that up for the year. And then I actually take about a month in January to plan it out properly. And then I start with just one quarter at a time. So I set myself up to top three for the year. And then I look, okay, what do I need to do?
this quarter to achieve that. So for example, if one of the dreams is to become the healthiest version of me, and that's actually an ongoing dream that I have every year, I just think I just want to get healthier and fitter each year. Does it always happen? No, it doesn't always happen. Sometimes we go sideways and sometimes I try something and it's not the right thing. But I always experiment because for me, health and wellbeing is absolutely foundational of
your dream life because otherwise there's no way you have the energy to create everything. then another thing that I always, sorry it's a very long-winded answer here, but another thing that I do once you're really clear on your top three, I look at what are the healthy habits that I need to support those and it doesn't necessarily need to be habits that are
supporting those specifically top three, it could be really healthy habits. So you actually have the energy, which is kind of perfect for what you're doing. Because I think if you help people get healthy and fit, then they're more likely to create their dream life.
Ros Lindsey (13:54)
I love it. I think most people at this time of the year do have a little bit more time to dream. And although it's stepping out of a normal way of thinking for us to imagine what we could do if we couldn't fail or if we did have all the time and all the resources, it's just, it's so liberating and it's so freeing.
Kristina (14:00)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (14:19)
And it's such a beautiful exercise to do and I'd really encourage you to do it. And Kristina does have a workbook that you can use and it steps you through that. But a simple way is just to write down what it would look like. And the idea that you set aside or write down three things for the year and then further break it down to that quarter by quarter.
really enables it to be doable, to be achievable. And I love that structure that you work with and you create each quarter like as if it was a new year.
Kristina (14:50)
Yeah.
Yeah,
I love that. I love that because it gives you that energy because sometimes, as we all know, life happens, sometimes not the way we plan it. sometimes we...
Ros Lindsey (15:07)
Hmm.
Kristina (15:12)
It's our own fault. Sometimes it's other people that might, you know, you might be need to support or it might be something happening in the world that really affects you. There's so many obstacles that can come our way. So sometimes the quarter doesn't really go to plan and that's so good. That is so good then when you plan quarterly, because then it's not like, you don't just let that year go past because the calendar is just made up. We only got the time we got. So
If we are focusing on just like writing off each year, just because it didn't go to plan in the beginning, we're wasting so much time. And I think a lot of us loved thinking about quarters or month, you know, starting on a new Monday, all those kinds of things, which is great, but you actually don't have to, you can actually start any given time. So for anyone listening to this podcasts later, you can actually start it at any time. Don't wait for new year. If you need to wait for the next Monday, but.
Ros Lindsey (16:03)
Mm.
Kristina (16:06)
I actually like starting on weekends because often weekends gives us that extra time to really think about what's important to us.
Ros Lindsey (16:13)
That's true. is a good time, but we can start at any time. So if you're listening to this podcast later on in the year, then start today. One of my favourite exercises from your book, Your Dream Life Starts Here, is imagining a day 10 years from now and visualising it in detail. In terms of our health, imagining our health 10 years from now into the future,
Kristina (16:22)
Yeah, absolutely.
Ros Lindsey (16:42)
How can this kind of deep visualisation serve as a catalyst for taking real action and dreaming big about our health right now?
Kristina (16:52)
Yeah. So I think when we, when we think about ourselves in 10 years time, we, in our head, kind of understand that logically, Once you actually start writing that down and start visualising what that would mean? So, so for a young person, it might not make a massive difference, but saying that it might be that you, you know, if you in your mid twenties, you might start a family in your early thirties. So,
It could be different things in terms of that is not health related, but once you start visualising what your life will look like in 10 years or what would you love for your life to look like in 10 years time. So that could be financial, could be career, business wise, could be home, it could be anything. And that is fantastic, but underpinning all that is your health. So, so when you start looking at what
your life need to be in 10 or what do you like your life to be in 10 years time? What kind of health do you need and what do you need to do now that your future self can thank you for? it's and I think we talk about this Ros all the time that often people overthink health and well-being because I think sometimes we just need to
keep it quite simple and start where we're at. So we often talk about that in terms of, you know, if you don't have great sleep, like that's a great foundation because, you know, the other day I had a day where I didn't sleep well and gosh, it was a hard day. And now I'm so focused on my health and my sleep that I really notice it when I don't have it. But for someone who's listening, you know, if sleep is an issue, that will be something I would definitely work on.
Ros Lindsey (18:14)
Yes.
Mm.
Kristina (18:35)
If nutrition and weight or any of those kinds of things is an issue, really start thinking about if I don't change, what would that look like in 10 years? So it's really good exercise to do if I continue the way I am right now, what would that look like? And that might be okay, but not amazing. And if I do nothing and if I actually could get worse, what would that look like? But then the best part is like, what if I start today with
great sleep, great nutrition, movement every day, all those kinds of things that we know is so necessary, then what would it look like? And I always then tie it in. So some of us might not love the thought of exercising every day, all those kinds of things, but I always, if that's you listening, I would always think about what are your, in 10 years time, what would you like to achieve in terms of your dreams and your goals? And then look at what do you need to.
to do health wise so you can create all that. So I think it's just absolutely an amazing exercise. And for anyone listening, another really powerful exercise is to write down your age in 10 years time and then start visualising that. But also if you're lucky to have parents or grandparents or children, pets, whatever it is for you. Because when I did that many years ago, I realised how
Ros Lindsey (19:34)
Mm.
Kristina (19:57)
that my mom is aging and of course we all know that. But there is something really powerful writing it down. So in 10 years time, I would have a 24 year old and a 27 year old in terms of children. So 14 and 17 versus 24 and 27, very different. every time I write that down, it just gets me to take action on the things that are important to me family-wise. And also when I realised that my mom will be 96 in 10 years time,
I booked a trip to Sweden for the Christmas that we just had because I just find it so important to make the most of the time that we got with people that we care about. So it's a really powerful exercise and even one year is good as well. So because we're in beginning of a new fresh year, to do that exercise, to visualize yourself at the end of this year is a really good exercise to do as well.
Ros Lindsey (20:50)
And it's imagining, the two trajectories or the different paths, what happens if you don't do anything, if things just carry on the same way. And what happens if today you make a decision to choose a better way and to start taking very small steps towards a different path. So I do have a course that will help you do that step by step.
Kristina (20:54)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep. Yep.
Ros Lindsey (21:16)
And we're all individuals, we're all a bit different. And so for one person, it might be focusing on your sleep. That's absolutely the best place to start. For another person, it might be, risky substances, they're a part of your life. That could be the one area that makes the biggest impact for you. So acknowledging that we are all on a different path, but heading in the same direction.
Kristina (21:19)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (21:43)
is really helpful. So if you are interested in that, it's actually self-paced course or you can have support while you're doing it. And that's on my website as well. Having worked with thousands of people, Kristina, setting goals and people working towards their dreams, is there anything that stands out in your mind as clear indicators of success and failure?
Kristina (21:44)
Yeah.
Yes, lots, lots actually. One is to be around like-minded people. When I started my own business, first I was like, I need to be around other people who doing similar things, not necessarily the same business, but I needed to be around that. If you want to be healthy, you want to be in this community because you want to be around other healthy people and someone who supports you. So if you choose to, like, let's just say that one, one
person listening here wants to be the best health that I can have in this year, then if you spend time with people who are encouraging you to do the opposite, it's really hard. and I just feel like if I want to be healthy, I want to be around healthy people. If I want to achieve certain things, I want to be around other people. And that is why I want to, to help people because often when we have big dreams and impossible dreams.
they don't have that belief that they can make it happen. So for example, if anyone listening, they might have something they want to get rid of. So it might be quit alcohol or sugar, all those kinds of things that are difficult. And it's just a no brainer to be part of something like this, where you can actually get support and help encouragement because change is hard. So I think that absolutely be around like-minded people and being in an environment is vital.
Ros Lindsey (23:28)
Yeah
Kristina (23:36)
The other thing is to take really small actions. And I know Ros, you're very, very, big advocate for that when it comes to changing your health, because often we have really big dreams, but that does not mean that you have to take big steps. You have a really big dream and a really big vision for your life and for your health, but you start small. And if you do something daily that supports your health and wellbeing,
Ros Lindsey (23:58)
Yes.
Kristina (24:02)
If you do that every day, and of course there are days where, you know, we might not feel like it in terms of we might not be well, we might have wake up with a headache. And if you can't do it, absolutely fine to skip one day or two days if you need to, if you're unwell. But if you, even if you wake up and you just don't have the motivation, just, just do something really something so simple, consistency is more important than, than actually do something really big. So.
Ros Lindsey (24:22)
Hmm.
Kristina (24:30)
Consistency every single day. I always set habits that supports my dreams and goals for the year that are really small, that it's hard not to do, but everything that is easy is easy to do and easy not to do. So that's why consistency is so important. Make a decision that you're actually going to move or whatever you decide that your top three is, what are the three things or five things or whatever that is to support you in terms of.
habits on them that you can do for your health. So I see that over and over and also showing up even if you are tired, do it tired. If you are unmotivated, do it unmotivated. It doesn't have to be perfect. Consistency is just absolutely key. And another thing I see is to really be excited about what you do and choose
dreams and goals that really gets you excited because if it's not your dreams, it doesn't matter how consistent you are because you're just not going to keep it going. So it's really important that you choose something that you like. And I always think that, we sometimes fail. absolutely failed many times, a couple of times really publicly, but also I've done so many mistakes, failed so many things.
Ros Lindsey (25:33)
Mmm.
Yeah.
Kristina (25:46)
But that's where the growth is. So don't be scared of failing. Just be more scared of getting to the end of this year or in 10 years or end of your life if you get to live a very amazing long life. Imagine getting to the end of your life and reflecting thinking I should have done that. I think we'll regret more what we didn't do versus all the things that we did do. And we perhaps made a few little mistakes along the way. think I'd much rather.
have tried everything and make the most of our one precious life that we have been given.
Ros Lindsey (26:18)
Hmm,
absolutely. One precious life we've been given. I'm so conscious of that. I guess personally, I had two holes in my heart when I was born. And so I've got a chance, and I've had been diagnosed with chronic disease like sleep apnea. And yet, one precious life, hang on to it. What can we do to sort of shift that trajectory?
and it really is possible and I'm grateful for every day. You've highlighted that, one person's goals is not another person's goals. And I think that's really key as well. So it might be one person's goal to do a marathon or, I don't know, be a gym junkie or whatever it is. And so you might find yourself signing up at the gym or running along and thinking, I'm really not enjoying this.
Kristina (26:47)
Yeah.
now.
Ros Lindsey (27:12)
It's really important that you find something that you enjoy and that resonates with who you are, that is aligned with your values. So keep that in mind when you're setting your dreams.
Kristina (27:19)
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Ros Lindsey (27:27)
Consistency is key, but what role does practising self-compassion play in helping people stay on track?
Kristina (27:37)
Hmm. mean, there's so much research now on being grateful. That is actually a link to longevity. so for, if people are really hard on themselves and a lot of big achievers or high achievers are really hard on themselves and, the good way of kind of changing that is to be grateful.
Because the more grateful you are, the more grateful you become. And for someone who struggles with that, because I hear that all the time, because I start every single morning with, before I even get out of bed, I think about three things I'm grateful for. It's kind of part of my habit. It's automated now because I've done it for so long. And I don't write it down in the morning. I do that at night. But in the morning, I just think about three things. And for anyone listening and finding that a bit challenging or not sure what that is,
Ros Lindsey (28:00)
Thank
Kristina (28:25)
Think about all the everyday stuff that you have if you didn't have it. And I'm talking the really simple things like you have running water, you have clean water, you have a shower, like you have legs if you have legs to walk on. Like all those kinds of things that we take for granted every day. I am so grateful for that. And I'm so grateful for where I live. I'm so grateful that I get to live the life that I get. It doesn't mean that I
wake up every morning feeling amazing, absolutely not. But as even in the hard days, there is always something to be grateful for. And when you start being more grateful, you just change the way you are actually more compassionate to yourself as well. And I think that self care is absolutely vital. Definitely not selfish. It's, it should be part of everyone's agenda to look after ourselves.
Ros Lindsey (29:06)
this.
Kristina (29:17)
in whatever form that is. So for me, it's journaling. Journaling clears my head. It's like how I think. can't imagine life without starting each day with my morning pages. And it's something again, that I've done for so long that it's kind of part of my everyday life now and walking in nature. And if you're lucky, and even if you live in the city and I travel a lot to a lot of different cities for my speaking now, I always try to find a park.
even like just a tree, know, we were just, I was just sharing before we were recording, like there's just, there's just been so many amazing flowers out there in nature and just, that is just so amazing. And I feel like you feel so much better if you do things that are good for you, whatever that is. And that could be yoga, that could be meditation, that could be just sitting and doing nothing. I think.
One thing that I don't think we do enough is to just sit and do absolutely nothing. And because we have these devices that are often within, you know, within reach and instead of really thinking about what we are thinking about, we grab our phone and we scroll and we get addicted to those kind of dopamine hits, which are not great dopamine hits for our wellbeing.
So for anyone listening and thinking about maybe some good habits for self care is to kind of remove, you know, maybe there's a little rule where you know, no screens after a certain time at night or first thing in the morning. I don't know what this study says now, but it's, it's really quite sad when that people are starting scrolling other people's lives.
versus a couple of hours in the morning just to focus on you. Imagine what your life will look like end of this year, but also in 10 years.
Ros Lindsey (31:05)
We can spend so much time on the phones. So once you finish this podcast, you can put it down.
Kristina (31:12)
Exactly. Well, you know, there's definitely, there's definitely
room for both. I'm not saying quit it altogether. There's amazing podcasts like this one. There are amazing Instagram followers that might inspire you on your health journey, like yours, Ros, and others that might inspire you. So I am not talking about removing it completely. I'm just saying maybe there are, maybe there are some way of starting the day and ending the day or even like lunchtime, you know, instead of scrolling.
Ros Lindsey (31:36)
Mm.
Kristina (31:41)
could you go for a walk or could you, you know, write some of your ideas into a journal? There's just different ways of doing it. And I always think, I mean, the end of the day, everyone does what they want, but it's, it's very addictive. So, so I see this all the time because I travel so much. I see at the airport, every single person are on their phones and that might be for really good reason. But if I see that everywhere, I'm just like, Oh, I don't, I'm not sure if this is a good.
Ros Lindsey (31:43)
Mm.
Yeah.
Mm.
Kristina (32:08)
good use of our time all the time. Definitely when we need it for sure. I certainly use media for inspiration and I learn a lot from it as well. So I'm not saying taking it completely off, just maybe just remove it a bit and work out how much time you spend on the time because I think that self-awareness, if we start there, we might be like, oh, I spent like eight hours on social media. Let's just say that someone did that. And then think about
Ros Lindsey (32:08)
Yeah.
Mm.
No.
Kristina (32:35)
What if I put that into health and wellbeing or what if I worked on my dream eight hours a week? Like a lot of people say they don't have time to create their dream life. I always then say, what are you spending your time on and could you swap some of those things? And I think social media is one of those. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (32:42)
Mm.
Absolutely, timing is key and balance.
Celebrating small wins often gets overlooked, but it's so important. How do you encourage your clients to recognise and build on these successes?
Kristina (33:10)
Yeah. So I created a journal in the dream life store, which is my new business online. And, and I'm going to share it here. So you don't have to buy the journal. you can actually just use any journal and write down, three things you're grateful for every day. Because again, there are always something, even if you have, even if I had the worst day, think about all the basics. You got home. Okay. You got, you got.
know, maybe you had a hot shower or a swim if it's hot, whatever you are in the world. So three things you're grateful for, you can come up and try to be really adventurous and not go to the same things. And of course, sometimes we want to just reinforce the basics. That's absolutely fine. But I always find something new to be grateful for. So three things you're grateful for, three wins you had for the day.
So even if you had a challenging day, bad day, there is definitely small wins in there. And if you focus on the small wins, you always have an opportunity to look at all the amazing things you're doing versus, you know, our brain is kind of wired to look for all the bad things and, you know, keeping us safe. So we need to train ourselves to really look at the daily small wins that we do.
And there is always something that we do even if the smallest things like being kind to someone or you might have taken action, even a smallest thing like if you want to get fit this year maybe you walked out the door and walked around the house. Like the simplest stuff can be your daily wins. And then I also encourage people to plan their wins for the next morning. So I use my journal, The Daily Wins at night.
And then I plan three wins for the next day. And if you do that, you start automatically looking at, know, it might take you a while to get used to this way of thinking. But when I plan my wins the day before, I always think in the morning, I want to make sure that I can tick them off because then I can put them as my daily wins tonight. And the daily wins are for me often around health, wellbeing, self care. It's not really about, you know, achieving more things in business. Sometimes it
Ros Lindsey (35:08)
Yeah.
Kristina (35:20)
they definitely are my wins, but most of my wins is about all the things that I know is really good for my health, wellbeing, self-care, because if I have that foundation, I can do all the big things. And in that journal, we also added something quite recently, which is one beautiful moment. I love that because for people who are really high achievers, doing lots of things, and even if people are not, we live a very full life that we often just
Ros Lindsey (35:29)
Mm.
Kristina (35:46)
get to the end of the day, we're tired and then we do it all over again. If we start train our mind to look for beautiful moments, this could be, you know, that coffee. The first thing is often my beautiful moment. have a ritual around eight o'clock in the morning. I take five minutes with my coffee. I love coffee. So I really look forward to have my first coffee and I like to really enjoy that. So I sit in.
Ros Lindsey (35:49)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (36:12)
in about five minutes in silence, no journal, no book, no phone. And I just think, and it doesn't seem like a lot, but it makes a big difference. And then after that, my son often comes down and he has his own business as well. So we talk business when he's drinking his morning smoothie and it's so fun. just having those kind of daily little rituals, daily wins, daily gratitudes makes a massive difference because
Ros Lindsey (36:16)
you
Hmm.
Kristina (36:36)
Even, you know, some of you might go through with health challenge or having a really tough time. Even in those really hard times, there are things to be grateful for and wins within that. focus on that and then your days become so much nicer.
Ros Lindsey (36:51)
I bought one of those journals two years ago. I would not be without one now, the Daily Winds Journal. It is transformed the way I reflect back on my day. And I do, unfortunately, have a tendency to think about the negative. And as you said, that's just a self-protective mechanism, you know, because we are human. And we think of those things so that we can stay safe.
Kristina (36:55)
Yeah.
â
Ros Lindsey (37:19)
writing down and actually just consciously thinking about even if it's a not a great day what you know what went well what are those three wins today what am i grateful for and it really is it's such a valuable exercise to do and it is life-changing actually and sets you up for the very next day as well so yeah i think it's terrific
Kristina (37:41)
Yeah, yeah, and it becomes, it the way
it comes once you get used to it. every, every new habit and every new ritual takes a little bit of time to get used to. And then once you do it, it's something you look forward to and it just makes it that. And I also think that you are, once you start getting aware of these kind of small little things, then you always notice them. I always try to, know, and I definitely have days where it's not perfect and not
Ros Lindsey (37:45)
Mmm, it's a habit.
Hmm.
Kristina (38:10)
great days but then there's always something little small in there.
Ros Lindsey (38:11)
Yeah.
There always is. Turning dreams into action can feel overwhelming sometimes, especially if we've got a big dream. What practical tips do you give to people for taking manageable first steps without losing motivation?
Kristina (38:16)
Yeah.
Yeah. I, so I encourage people to dream big and then choose three because we don't want to do too many things. And I've tried lots, lots of different, I've had one, I had three, I had five, I had much more than that. So three for me is kind of really great because you will always want to, you want to have them in your head all the time. And once it gets above three, I find it difficult to remember. And also, unless we have a lot of time.
to focus on them, we just spread ourselves really thin. So I like to always think about three. And then I like to brainstorm everything that I need to do around making that happen. So that could be, that could be a list of a hundred things. It could be a list of 50 things, could be whatever comes to mind for you. And then I like to kind of just say, let's just focus on the seven most important ones to start with. That gets that overwhelming.
effect away because if you see 100 things on in your journal or other piece of paper or however you store it, it just feels like you just kind of want to go and lie down. So I like to then choose seven things because that feels really manageable. And sometimes you could have those as categories and put more things underneath because sometimes some actions might be able to go into groups. So there's no
Ros Lindsey (39:32)
Her butchers paper.
Kristina (39:51)
perfect way of doing it, but that's how I do it. And I like to think about if I can only do seven things to make this dream or goal happen, what would those seven things be and start with that. And then you can always add. the key, the key is to start really, really small. And Zig Ziglar has a great quote that I, I think I say it every, every episode of my podcast, because I think this is so valuable to remember.
And the quote goes like this. You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. So I give you an example as a, as a person who English is my second language. When I wrote down, would I do if I knew I couldn't fail a few years ago? I podcast came to mind, but because English is my second language and I'm not used to interviewing other people, it's always been the other way around. always been interviewed and I'm not a journalist. have no skill in that. was like.
nuts. way I could do that. But I wrote it down anyway. And then I decided I'm just going to start. So the first thing when we think about podcasts is like, what software do we need? What microphone do we need? All those kind of things can be researched. And you know, there people out there that can help you with that. And then I just did the first episode. And you know what? On the day when I did my first episode, I said to Paul, I said,
Ros Lindsey (40:55)
you
Kristina (41:14)
I'd rather open 20 stores. I was good at opening stores today than doing this. I had so much anxiety, so much fear, so much doubt, but I did it. It was a terrible episode. It wasn't really until 50 episodes. I think I've done 420 or something now. But you know, consistency and you know what? The first 50.
Ros Lindsey (41:32)
Amazing. Wow. Well done. Yes.
Kristina (41:39)
Every time, and
you know, I interviewed a lot of my friends in the beginning, people I knew, so I thought it would be easy, but as soon as there was a camera, and I think a lot of us can relate to this, as soon as there's cameras, as soon as something is recorded, so much harder. And I just showed up after 50, I started to be more comfortable for sure.
I'm still not a world-classed podcaster, but I love it. And I show up, I do two shows a week now. And I, the people I get to meet, the people I get to interview, it's just completely changed my life. And I am so glad I stuck with it. And all I, all I did was I just need to do one more episode. And I still think about that because sometimes I'd be like,
Oh, I've got so many episodes I need to batch now because I'm traveling or I'm away. And I'm like, all I need to do is another one and another one and another one. And all of a sudden you've done 420
do, if you do little, if you take small elections every day and you do that until you achieve whatever you set to achieve, might, it might take you longer where I think we often are, we are really good at thinking that we will do something in a, in a short amount of time. But if you give yourself a lot of time and you think more about what you do every day versus doing it in a certain amount of time. And I think this is really.
relevant when it comes to health and wellbeing, because we do not all have to run a marathon or we don't all have to show up in a gym and do super heavy weights straight away. You just start really small. And I think for exercise, like the first thing is just to get your shoes on. And then the next step is to get out the door and then just walk around the block. And if you do that for 20 days, maybe, maybe it's, you know, it's early January now. So maybe you do it for the end.
to the end of January and then you say, okay, what can I do? What can I do? Maybe it's further, maybe it's faster, maybe it's adding something. And I like to add a new kind of habit every month to try something new and see how I feel about that. Whatever, you know, it's different every month. It's not always around health and wellbeing, could be other things as well. So just start very, very small and very, very doable. And eventually you become a pro.
Ros Lindsey (43:58)
I could not agree more. And I think sometimes when you are implementing a new habit, I do believe that every day is ideal. However, when you're first starting, be kind to yourself. And even if you've not done any exercise for a really long time, even just thinking about, how many times this week could
Kristina (44:20)
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (44:21)
could I do it? Is that, is it once a week this week? Then that's enough. If you just one time you go out and do it this week, that is great. Health is not, you know, a quick fix. Next week you might do two, whatever it is, go for a walk, two sessions at the gym, whatever it is. The next week it might be three. So...
If you go from nothing to trying everything, like something every day, sometimes that can lead to an overwhelm and to burnout and to giving up. And the very thing with health and creating a healthy future long term is about sustaining it. So it's not about January or February. It's about the next 10 years, actually. So when you look at a big picture,
Kristina (45:07)
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (45:15)
think about, okay, this week I can do this and setting a goal, right, the next week I'm going to do that and then stick to it. But whatever you set, make sure you know now that you can achieve it. And then that builds momentum and that through that you gain the confidence to keep going.
Kristina (45:29)
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that.
Ros Lindsey (45:39)
So for many people, they may not currently know that they are actually at risk of chronic disease. And there's a lot of assessments that can be done to help you establish your baseline. I have tools available on my website that are free that will take you 10 minutes. You can do the Health Selfie and do a self-assessment of yourself so that you become more aware if you are at risk. But...
If you then find out you are at risk, what do you need, you know, that internal motivation to help you sustain those changes in the long term?
Kristina (46:18)
Yeah. I mean, one thing that I do is, is for anything that I want to change in my life. This could be health, wellbeing could also be, you know, any business goal or, you know, a financial goal. It could be anything is, and, and it's so, so powerful. It's so simple that, that, you know, it's easy to do and easy not to do. And that is write down. Why are you doing this?
Why do you want to live healthy for a long time? Maybe you want to be around for your children, grandchildren. Maybe you want to live a long life and make the most of it. Maybe you want to see the world. Maybe you want to have the energy. Like I want to live really long, but I want to live healthy for a very long time. I don't want to just be living to, my dream is to live to 120, but that means that I want to be healthy.
Ros Lindsey (47:09)
Yes.
Kristina (47:11)
120 year old and not a someone who is not. So it's really powerful to write down why you're doing this. So for example, a few years ago, I did, I decided to quit alcohol and I loved wine and I was doing a bet with someone and I didn't really want to do it, but I knew it was good for my health. And also I was doing this bet. So I, with someone who was quit smoking. So it was
a little bit different. And so what I did, and because I was like, it was more his motivation than mine, because I didn't, he wanted to obviously do it for health reason. I wanted that too, but I didn't, it wasn't as bad as his smoking versus the wine that I was drinking. So I had to really write down why am I doing this? First, I didn't want to lose a bet. And then secondly, I really, I read so much about health and wellbeing and I consider myself very healthy.
Ros Lindsey (47:58)
Huh.
Kristina (48:05)
When you really understand what alcohol does to our bodies, it's not healthy. So I was I really want to do this for at least a year. I ended up doing it much longer, but I really wanted that. And I had to read that. Why am I doing this in the morning? And before I went to bed, because
Otherwise it would not, it would have been so easy to forget it because it wasn't really my drive to start with. It became my drive, but in beginning it wasn't. So it was so powerful. So for anyone listening, if weight is one of your things, so maybe you want to remove some things you're eating or sugars or maybe it's alcohol for some of you. Maybe it is, you know, to really focusing on your sleep.
And you need to change some of your behaviors because when we want to change, we need to change like that. know it sounds so simple, but we can't live the same years. And this is why it's so amazing to be at this time of the year, because you've got a whole year in front of you. And if you, if this year is your year to become healthier, then what, what do need to do and why are you doing it? And really start thinking about.
Ros Lindsey (48:50)
Mm.
Kristina (49:13)
What are all the reasons why I wanted to be back here on listening to another podcast in 12 months time and really think I actually made it. I actually made it happen. Why do you want that? And it's so, so powerful. And sometimes it's not for ourselves. Maybe it's for our children. Maybe it's for our parents. Maybe it's for, for being able to make an impact on the world, whatever it is for you, write down why you're doing it. So powerful.
Ros Lindsey (49:25)
Mm. Mm.
It's so powerful and it's absolutely critical to your health journey. I spoke to Sophie, a friend of mine and an expert in change management, and she said of all the things, the one thing that will help you make sustainable change is knowing your reason why. And often with health, we don't actually have that impetus
Kristina (49:46)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (50:08)
to seek a reason why health is so important to us until we don't have it or until we are given a diagnosis that challenges that thought that health will always be with us. And that is when we suddenly realise why our health is important to us. So I would really encourage you to take the time, actually one of the exercises, one of the modules in
Kristina (50:14)
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep. Yep.
Ros Lindsey (50:36)
my online course explores that and there is an exercise where you work through step by step. If you don't know why your health is important to you and often you don't, I didn't know until you know that was challenged, it just it enables you to find that reason why because that keeping that reason why it's important is pivotal.
Kristina (50:52)
Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (51:02)
because when it gets hard and when you don't feel like doing the work that needs to be done, you've got a bigger picture in mind and it continues to motivate you and sustain you to make that change.
Kristina (51:05)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. And I think also, Ros, for, for when you look at the, you know, your eighties and your nineties and hundreds, if you're lucky to live that long, you want to be, you want to be independent. it's often not about, changing the world at the end of our life. It's about being independent, being able to do all the basics that we cannot take for granted.
in our earlier years. I think if we always keep that in mind, you want to be able to do up your shoes, you want to be able to pick something up if you drop it, you want to be able to not fall, all those kind of things. And if you do fall to recover really quickly. those kind of really, really simple things when we're young.
Ros Lindsey (51:46)
Yes.
.
Mm.
Kristina (51:58)
that is important when we're talking 40 and onwards, it's something to really start thinking about. And it doesn't have to be change, as you said, overnight. It's just, it's a long, long, this time of year, it's perfect to really think about what does that mean for 2026? What do I need to do this year to just start that journey? also you just, you feel better too, because...
Ros Lindsey (52:01)
Mm.
Mm.
Yeah.
Mm.
Kristina (52:22)
Because when you move and you eat well and you do all the things, your mood is better. So there's just so many reasons to really focus on our health. Yeah. Yeah.
Ros Lindsey (52:28)
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. That
looking ahead, how can people keep their goals flexible and involve their dreams as they grow and change throughout the year?
Kristina (52:42)
Yeah, so I mean, I think we just need to get started. And it doesn't mean that you can't pivot or change, because you might start something and realise that's not for me. When we start a new goal, dream, habit, you might need to give it a while to get into it. And then you might realise that's actually not for me.
And that is absolutely fine. then you can change. You want to change because you look at the big picture, not because it's hard to do. so for anyone who might set, you know, a movement, a dream goal or habit this year, it might be really hard in the beginning. And that's why, you know, you were saying to start really, really, really small.
Ros Lindsey (53:20)
Yeah.
Kristina (53:20)
But
you don't want to quit because it's hard that way. You want to quit because actually that kind of exercise. Well, that's not for me. And try lots of different things because movement and eating and health is not, you know, there are a million ways of doing things. And for me, it's like, I love walking and that's not enough.
Ros Lindsey (53:29)
Yes.
Kristina (53:40)
for me, but that's something I do every day. it's part of my, it's more, it's not so much my body. It's actually for my mind. I just feel like it's so much, I just feel so much better if I start a day in nature. So for me, I don't like going to gym first thing in the morning because I just don't like the energy or the music or people. I like to start really calm. And then I like to do things like that a little bit later. so
Ros Lindsey (54:02)
Mm.
Kristina (54:09)
set yourself your top three for the year and then get it started. Maybe focus on for a quarter and then you do some reflections and you, am I on the right path? Did I get to where I want to do this quarter? If not, what challenged me and how can I change that if you want to continue it? Or maybe you want to change and that is absolutely fine. I think everyone needs to realise that we are all responsible.
Ros Lindsey (54:17)
Mm.
Mm.
Kristina (54:34)
And we're all in the driver's seats of our own life. And that is sometimes hard because you might have kids, might have parents to look after. You might, you know, have a partner. Like there's so many things that are challenges, but in the end of the day, when we get to the end of our lives, there's only one person who can make our health better. Our dreams and goals happen. And that is you, the listener
We all have challenges. all have lives that comes in a, in perhaps in a different way than we wanted to. And we just have to deal with that the best we possibly can and then get back in our driver's seat and just say, Hey, what can I do this quarter? What can I do this year to make it happen? And you know, you can change as many times as you like, because at the end of the day, it's your life.
Ros Lindsey (55:21)
That's beautiful.
to Kristina, share her insights and her wisdom, what would be the one thing that you could do today to take action for that? Think about the goal that you might have, whatever your health goals that you are setting, whatever dreams that you have, and do one small action today.
Thank you so much, Kristina, for helping us all to dream big and for sharing your insights into achieving our health goals. I'm really grateful for the time that you have given today to help us navigate our health journey and to put in practical steps. So thank you so much for your time.
Kristina (56:04)
â
thank you so much. And can I just say it's so inspiring because I know what your dreams and goals are. And it's so inspiring to see you doing the work because it's not easy to do the work, but the most amazing thing when it comes to creating your dream life, whatever that is for each person listening is that it's not an easy life, but a normal life and just keep going where you are at.
It's also not easy. So you just have to make the choice. it's going to be challenge to continue living your normal life and to change will be challenging as well. Where are you going to focus on this year? I think I always want to go for my dreams and goals and see what's possible for me.
Even if you set yourself a really, you your top three really big ones for this year and you reached halfway, isn't that so much better than staying where you are? You and me know these Ros really well. Once you start focusing on your health, you get that energy. And once you get that energy,
Ros Lindsey (57:03)
Yes. â
Kristina (57:05)
It's so the snowball starts and it's so much easier. The hardest part is always start. And as I said before, you don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. So why not start today with something really simple, go to Ros website, download it all. And when I say download it all, download it all, and then do one thing today and then another thing tomorrow. And then eventually you'll be back in next year and you have changed. And how amazing is that? So.
Thank you so much, Ros, for having me and also so inspiring to see what you are doing Knowing what your dream is, you're going to impact so many people. And that is such an incredible dream to have. So I'm really inspired to see you doing the work and I have no doubt you are going to reach that by just showing up each day.
like all of us have to do.
Ros Lindsey (57:53)
Thank you so much, Kristina. Thank you.
Kristina (57:56)
Thank you.
Ros Lindsey (57:58)
And just a very quick disclaimer, this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and doesn't provide medical advice.
So please consult a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine or treatment. So stay well, love your body, love yourself, look after yourself and prioritise your health and I'll see you next time.
