Enter Your “Winter Arc”: 5 Rules to Glow Up in the Next 90 Days
Transitioning to the winter season is never easy. It’s completely normal if you feel like being extra cozy, reducing all social interactions, and spending a shameful amount of time on social media. But, is this the type of energy you want to bring into the new year? Spoiler: it isn’t – and that’s why the “Winter Arc Challenge” has come to the rescue! 😉
In this article, you’re going to discover how you can use the colder season to your advantage and make the right changes to your life to finish the year strong (and start the new one in the right way). 😉
So, are you ready to have a full glow-up in the next 90 days? Then, let’s get started!
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What Is “Winter Arc”?
If you’ve recently taken a quick stroll on Tiktok, you’ve certainly come across the latest Gen Z trend: the “Winter Arc”.
The “Winter Arc” refers to a period where people use the coldest, darkest days of the year (aka the last quarter) to reset, refocus, and re-align with their vision and goals.
The trend got popular all over TikTok thanks to self-development influencer, Carly Berges, who posted a video explaining her level-up plan before the new year.
The “Winter Arc” is your path to becoming a better version of yourself in only 90 days – glowing up mentally, physically, and spiritually – and starting 2025 on the right foot!
But…how do you get there?
The “Winter Arc Challenge”: 5 Rules to Glow Up
If you’re wondering what you must do to join the “Winter Arc Challenge”, here are the 5 rules that will help you glow up from the inside out! 😉
1. Wake up earlier
Constantly complaining about not having enough time in the day to get all your things done?
Well, there is a simple way to fix this: making more time! So, how do you do this?
One golden rule is to start your days earlier! 😉
Yes, I’m saying that despite the pitch-dark and the cold weather, you should stick to waking up early even during winter.
Don’t panic, though – cause you don’t have to make drastic changes to your schedule (unless you want to).
Committing to becoming an early riser could also mean simply getting into the habit of waking up 15 minutes earlier than needed.
It might seem it doesn’t make that much of a difference, but there’s an invaluable power in getting your days started without rushing.
Waking up even just 15 minutes earlier than usual will give you just enough time to squeeze in some healthy habits to your days, such as:
- Drinking a big glass of water first thing in the morning
- Setting your top 3 priorities for the day
- Doing a quick yoga flow
- Meditating, even if only for 5 minutes a day
- Setting an intention for the day ahead
Decide how you’d like to start your day, and then make sure to add one quick practice that can help you get closer to your ideal morning.
📌 SHORT ON TIME? PIN IT FOR LATER! 📌
2. Journal daily
Journaling is such an underrated – yet essential – habit of the “Winter Arc”.
There are many benefits tied to journaling, such as:
- Getting rid of your negative thoughts
- Helping you get more clarity when making important decisions
- Getting to know yourself better
You can tailor the journaling practice to your needs and preferences. For example, you could:
- Make a gratitude list
- Write a letter to your future self
- Reflect on past traumas
- Start a bullet journal
- Write inspirational quotes
- Do morning pages
PS. Need inspiration for your next journaling session? Grab your FREE “50 Self-Discovery Prompts” and get to know the real you! 😉
3. Get into reading
The third rule to transforming yourself during the “Winter Arc” is to get into the habit of reading.
It doesn’t matter if it’s just one page per day – what matters is that you’re consistent with it.
It’s time to get rid of those unhealthy habits that only make you waste time and lean toward some healthier and more mindful practices that can help you boost your focus, learn something, and become a better version of yourself.
PS. Don’t know what to read next? Read here: “The Top 5 Self-Help Books of All Times”
4. Manifest for success
The real potential of the “Winter Arc” lies in using it as a timeframe to work on creating your new identity.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.” – James Clear, in Atomic Habits
Identity-based habits are the ones that stick in the long run.
Before setting any new goals, you should identify the type of person you aspire to become.
“In 90 days – as a new year starts -, how would you like to be?”
Trust that you can achieve every single one of your life goals, but you must first embody the person who has achieved such goals.
You can become who you aspire to be, but you need to believe it and be ready to put in the work.
Use the next 90 days to manifest your highest self, the one who has it all! How? Here are some of the best ways to manifest your dream life:
- Use visualization techniques
- Create a vision board
- Repeat daily affirmations
- Start a manifestation journal
- Do a meditation to manifest your desires
You must believe it first. You must commit to it. Then, you will see it too.
5. Create something
Finally, the last rule of the “Winter Arc Challenge” to fully glow up is to tap into your creative energy!
With this challenge, you can learn to be the creator not only of your life but also of any other project you’ve ever wanted to pursue.
This is your sign to get into that creative hobby of yours, explore your passions, or finally commit to that dream project!
Whether that’s:
- Starting making jewelry
- Taking ceramics classes
- Getting into drawing
- Launching your blog
- Designing your clothes
- Making handcrafted bookmarks
…Tap into your creative side and be a creator – of anything! 😉
How to Get Started with Your “Winter Arc”
If you’re wondering how you can get started on the “Winter Arc Challenge” – Here are 5 golden tips to make the most of it! 😉
Set your goals
First of all, you need to set your goals. What do you want to achieve in the 90 days?
The “Winter Arc” is meant to level you up mentally, physically, and spiritually – but you can tailor the challenge to any area of your life you’d like to improve most.
As a rule of thumb, aim at setting 1 to 3 goals you can confidently pursue in the short term. What do you want to improve?
For example, if you want to work on your relationships, you could set the goals of:
- Calling your family once a week to catch up on life
- Texting your friends to check up on them at least once a day
- Planning a date with your loved one once per week
If you want to level up your health, you could decide to:
- Drink 2L of water per day
- Add more veggies and fruits to your main meals and snacks
- Fix your sleep schedule
Or, if you want to improve your work-life balance, you could:
- Set a “No working past 6 PM” rule
- Get into a creative hobby, like coloring adult books
- Plan both rest and social activities on your weekends
The clearer your vision, the better.
The more specific your goals, the higher your chances of success.
Identify the obstacles
Before creating a plan around your new goals, you must identify what challenges and obstacles may arise and stop you from achieving the desired results.
Let’s be honest: life happens!
You could have the best action plan ever but, if you didn’t take into account that things could NOT go as planned, then you’re already setting yourself up for failure…
When trying to improve your relationships, some challenges you might face are:
- Having to solve your childhood traumas to not let them influence your familiar relationship
- Struggling to balance texting with your friends but also not spending too much time on your phone
- Organizing date nights considering both your partner’s and your’ busy schedules
If you’re trying to level up your health, you might:
- Forget to carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go, as you’re not used to drinking lots of water
- Overspend on groceries because of the healthy swaps you’re making, and so having to cut back spending on another area of your life
- Feel the desire to keep indulging in late-night scrolling, even if you know it’s not good for you
Or, when creating your new work-life balance, some obstacles might be:
- Having to accept to be less productive for a short time
- Having a hard time finding activities you enjoy doing outside of work
- Struggling to make your weekends look any different than the usual “rot” days
The sooner you identify what might stop you from achieving your goals, the faster you’ll be able to rise above any setbacks 😉
Break down your goals
The next step is breaking down your big goals into smaller, more manageable chunks.
You need to get your bigger goal and define the specific actions you must take to get there.
It’s time for you to go a step further and get into the nitty-gritty of what “fixing your sleep schedule” really means. Is it:
- Sticking to the 7/11 rule – up by 7 AM and in bed by 11 PM?
- Not using your phone one hour before sleeping?
- Stopping to drink alcohol on weekdays?
Sometimes, the process of breaking down your goals and making them more manageable is as simple as:
- Setting a daily reminder on your phone to check in with your friends
- Adding “call mom” to your weekly to-do list
- Setting app limits to reduce your daily screen time
Define exactly what you must do to get from where you are to where you want to go, and then…start doing it!
Let go of the pressure
It’s not always the case but, oftentimes, when we set new goals we think they’re permanent. That they’re forever and can’t be changed.
This way of thinking might stop you from even setting new goals in the first place, as you’re not ready to make such a commitment.
When taking on the “Winter Arc Challenge”, I want you to treat it as an experiment. You’re just giving some habits a shot before the end of the year, but they don’t have to be forever if you don’t want them to be.
Give your new habits and routines a shot for the next 90 days before deciding whether they’re worth sticking to or not.
If you realize something is not as good as you thought, when the new year approaches, you have the total freedom to let go of it…
But also, if at any point along the “Winter Arc”, you realize that something is really not for you – then drop it! You don’t have to please anyone – so just let go of the pressure and get rid of what’s not working, anytime!
Keep track of your progress
Finally, to make the most of the “Winter Arc”, you should start a journal or plan weekly review sessions to keep track of your progress, thoughts, and opinions on what you’re committing to.
It’s essential to do this so that you can take everything into account when planning for the new year!
For example, let’s say you thought that waking up at 5.30 AM would have been life-changing for you. Then, throughout the challenge, you’ve realized that – on most days – your productivity crashes at 2 PM and so you are accomplishing half of the things you were doing before.
Well, having tried this first-hand, you now know that “Waking up early” will not make it into your New Year’s resolution list!
But you wouldn’t have known it if you didn’t give it a chance 😉
PS. What are you still waiting for? Grab your FREE “Weekly Reflections” to review, reflect, and restart. Every. Single. Week. 😉
Conclusion
That’s all for me today!
I hope you’re now ready to enter the “Winter Arc Challenge” and step into the new year as a better version of yourself 😉
There are still three months left in the year – why wait around to make changes, when you could start changing today?
Q: “What do you want to accomplish during your Winter Arc?” – Let me know in a comment! 🙂
Until next time,
