It’s that time of year again—summer is winding down, the endless possibilities of autumn are on the horizon, and there’s a sense of newness in the air.

Do you feel it too?

I was always the girl who loved back-to-school season, so maybe that explains it. I also notoriously hate summer (because I hate being hot) so the fall is always especially exciting to me. But more than all of that, there’s something about fall that always makes me want to start fresh, implement new habits, and overhaul my life.

This year is no exception.

And after a summer of feeling intensely burnt out, this spark of inspo is truuuuuuly needed. So, at the risk of being corny and indulgent, here are 5 lifestyle shifts I’m committed to making this fall—and if you feel so inspired, I’d love for you to join me!

Healthy Habits for Fall — My Complete List

Before we get really into it, I want to offer a disclaimer. I’ve been that girl in the past who wanted to implement habits & promised myself I’d do them every single day. Then, when I inevitably failed, I’d get mad at myself, and dropped the entire habit completely.

That’s not the vibe anymore.

I recently read a book called In the Flo, which is all about syncing up your menstrual cycle with your life. One of my biggest takeaways from that book is that, especially as people with uteruses, we cannot expect ourselves to be working at 100% capacity every single week. In fact, our bodies are literally on a 4-week cycle, in which some weeks are designed to be extremely productive, and others are meant to be extremely lethargic.

I want to honor my body’s natural rhythms while *also* feeling good about my healthy habits for fall. So, with all of these, I hope to straddle the line between intentionally giving myself grace, while also pushing myself for success. I hope to strike a nice balance.

Let’s get into it!

Habit #1: Intentionally seeking out new, inspiring content.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself over the years it’s how important getting inspired from an external source is.

Some people are not like this—in fact, some people are the opposite. But for me? The difference is everything.

In sheer contrast, I am also someone who gets suuuuuper comfortable reading the same books and listening to the same podcasts over and over. When I find someone good, my instincts are like, great, I’ve got it, that’s it, I’m done exploring.

Hence, this fall, I’m dedicated to changing that habit and intentionally seeking out new, inspiring content to read & listen to.

Habit #2: Journaling and visualizing every day.

If you’ve known me for any length of time at all, you might be thinking—but Sarah, you’ve been doing that for YEARS now.

As it turns out, old habits can die easy. If you knew me between the years of 20 and 24, you know that my morning journaling habit was THE #1 non-negotiable aspect of my day. In the few years I was doing this, I only missed a couple of days, and those days were always the weirdest and worst.

Don’t ask me to explain the science behind it, because I have no idea, but journaling always had the absolute best impact on whatever mental space I wanted to be in for the day. Even if I was complaining about something or being negative in my journal, it felt like a space to release whatever that was and then continue the rest of the day in a different fashion.

Habit #3: More intentional movement.

One good thing about living in New York City is that, whether you like it or not, you’re gonna be moving around. Between climbing all the steps in the subway, walking everywhere, and even getting up into your apartment, there’s usually a good amount of cardio involved.

I love that I live in a city that FORCES me to be active, because I am not naturally inclined to be active. (I was the theatre girl in middle school that absolutely HATED gym class). But, I think there’s something to be said for giving your body intentional exercise, not just the exercise it requires to live in a place like New York.

So, this fall, I’m committed to more intentional exercise. On the more inspired days, this could mean doing a whole moment at the gym. On the less inspired days, this could mean just a series of stretches. Whatever it is, I want my body to know that I love it & want to care for it.

Habit #4: Breaking up each day into 3 days.

The three day rule is a concept I heard on a podcast featuring Ed Mylett, who is a motivational speaker / coach for big-time celebrities, athletes, and entrepreneurs. And when I first heard it, I thought the concept was so genius that I paused the podcast, re-wound, and listened to it again.

Essentially, he says, lots of people ask him how he is able to balance his career, with his family, with his self-care, with his social life, etc. He says he lives & dies by the three day rule. In the rule, he breaks up his waking hours of any given day into 3 sections, and assigns a category of his life to each.

When I first heard about it, I thought to myself: “Okay, so what’s the difference between that and just calling it morning, afternoon and evening?“

After about a week of trying this out myself, there’s something to it. Calling it Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 creates some sort of mental shift, and helps your day seem so much less overwhelming.

This fall, catch me breaking up my day into 3 🙂

Healthy Habits for Fall: We Love a Fall Refresh

If you’ve read this far, thanks for indulging!

I’ll be sure to keep ya’ll updated on how these go for me, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear what healthy habits for fall YOU’VE got cooking up! If you feel so compelled, let me know at sarah@sarahkleist.com.