What's up Reader,

This past weekend, I went to EDC Las Vegas for the second time.

When Caroline and I went last year, it was pretty hot.

But this year? GODDAMN.

I didn’t sweat bricks, I sweat a whole f*cking mansion.

Imagine staying up until sunrise to finish a music festival, then only getting to sleep until 10:30 am because the sun comes out balls blazin’ like a prisoner straight out of solitary confinement... 3 days in a row.

The festival itself was a blast, but camp was brutal… Our tent’s AC had no competition against that midday heat.

Needless to say, we’re thankful to be back home.

What I’m also thankful for is taking a break from work. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Before the trip, I found myself spread thin focusing on too many things at once.

Watching too much visual content on social media and receiving countless amounts of newsletters. It felt like I could never catch up, feeling the constant pressure of hitting inbox zero.

Moving the needle forward in my life and business felt impossible.

When this happens, what we need is not to work harder, what we need is a motherf*cking break.

After this break – even though I damn near died of exhaustion – I've come back with a newfound clarity and I feel more focused + confident with my work.

So in this newsletter, I want to help you out by sharing my step-by-step process, so you can break out of a vicious cycle and redesign your lifestyle in a way that excites the hell out of you.

If you've been feeling stuck lately, this one's for you.

Let’s dive in 🪂

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Step Away From Your Routine

When your attention is diluted, it’s difficult to snap yourself back to reality.

You just keep searching for the next dopamine hit to distract yourself, never making progress in the areas that would actually leave you feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.

That’s why it’s important to take a break and step outside of the daily routine that keeps you feeling stuck.

No, you don’t need to spend money going out of state (although that would help), you just need to switch things up a little bit.

Find a nearby park, lake, creek, or beautiful piece of nature to allow your mind to wander.

Let your inner child out and give yourself permission to stop wallowing in your lack of progress (or whatever else is making you feel stuck).

Just explore.

Protect your energy and surround yourself with good vibes.

Don’t let the inner-voice spoil your break. If negative thoughts arise, don’t push them away, simply recognize them and label them.

Then, nurture yourself by giving yourself grace. You do this by choosing to stay present and focusing back on your surroundings (touching, looking, hearing, tasting, smelling).

Use your senses. They’re powerful when you decide to pay attention.

Also, notice how I said choosing. It is actually a choice to stay present.

When something pulls you out of the present moment, the last thing you need to do is self-sabotage and say things like "Damn it, mind, why can't you just stay present?"

Be courteous the same way you would take care of your partner or best friend.

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Rest is Key

Taking this time away from your usual day-to-day opens your mind to new thoughts, beliefs, and realizations.

This is the power of taking a break.

But be mindful of this trap: Obsessing over how you're going to make a change.

It might seem counterintuitive, but trust me, obsessing over change during your break isn’t how you create meaningful change.

This was difficult for me to understand because I thought it was a superpower to let my mind run marathons.

But that’s not the case.

It’s much like college when you have a final the next day.

If you pull all-nighters every time you have a big exam, you might think you're making good decisions until you're sitting in class the next day unable to figure out what two plus two equals.

However, if you actually got good rest the night before (aka set aside time to rest after studying), you’ll find that you perform better on the exam.

“Your brain is actually very active during sleep doing important things — it’s not just resting, and if you don’t get sleep you don’t function on a number of levels the way you should,” says Carl W. Bazil, MD, PhD.

Rest and presence are your best friends.

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Create a system/routine tailored to goal

Once you’ve finished your break, the main thing you need to avoid is falling back into your previous cycle.

What does this mean?

Your routine needs adjustments.

But before you plan out your new routine, reflect on your past systems.

Dig deep.

What wasn’t serving you? Play out each of the cause and effects.

Then, immediately eliminate the useless activities.

Once you're ready to redesign, create new systems by working backwards.

What matters to you?

Why?

What is your most important goal?

Why?

Which daily activities will help you reach them?

Why?

How should you spend your morning to set yourself up for success?

Why?

How about your evening?

Why?

Answering why to every decision you make ensures that you're making decisions from an intentional perspective.

(If you need help designing life systems, check out my free resource, The Clarity Creator: Systems by Design)

We run away from pain quicker than we run toward pleasure. Use your pain to your advantage.

This is yet again why life happens for you, not to you.

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Eat to Fuel Your Body, Not Feed Your Emotions

Another key point to highlight here is your diet.

Before my break, I was eating everything under the sun. The worst habit I had was eating sugar before bed.

Although I love my sour patch kids after a long day, it doesn't take rocket science to understand that sugar affects your mental health, which affects your decision-making.

"High blood sugar over time damages blood vessels in the brain that carry oxygen-rich blood. When your brain receives too little blood, brain cells can die. This is called brain atrophy and can cause problems with memory and thinking and eventually can lead to vascular dementia."

Don't beat yourself up for subconsciously pulling out Instagram midday.

It could be a simple switch-up to your diet that makes all the difference.

Say no to sugar and instead eat high-quality fats and proteins.

Here's a list of good foods to eat:

• Fruits
• Salmon
• Peanuts
• Avocados
• Chia Seeds
• Whole eggs
• Full-fat yogurt
• Dark chocolate
• Unprocessed foods

My favorite snacks right now are blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. But summertime is near so grab yourself some juicy watermelon too.

Don't get the packaged watermelon that's already cut up.

Get the seedless watermelon and cut it up yourself (you get much more bang for your buck, plus it's juicer 🍉)

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Stay Disciplined

Discipline = freedom.

Anytime you've felt down about your life is likely due to a lack of discipline.

The key to gaining confidence is holding every promise to yourself.

Keep that in mind moving forward or else you’ll fall back into the same trap.

And if you keep up this vicious cycle (like I have for many years), you’ll never find fulfillment. You’ll stay stuck.

You’ll constantly feel like shit about yourself, and that's not useful for achieving your goals.

One way to stay disciplined is to gamify your entire lifestyle by keeping track of your habits.

Keep score of the things that matter AND the bad habits you’re trying to break. Use a calendar if need be and draw big X’s across the dates when you’ve stayed consistent.

Make your calendar visible in your office, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom… whatever works for you. Keeping it visible encourages you to stay motivated and disciplined.

“Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.”

While motivation does help, don’t rely on it too much.

Discipline is the key to success.

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Your Dream Life Is Right Around The Corner

It’s far too easy to think that your “higher self” or your “dream life” is far-fetched, but that's not true.

If you’re unhappy with your life, it’s because your higher self recognizes that there’s something better for you. That means your higher self is already available.

Don’t create a huge gap between your goal or else you’ll lose confidence and feel like a dog chasing its own tail.

What matters is that you keep strong intentions for yourself and remain present.

You can also keep these key points in mind:

• Breaks are a crucial first step to redesigning your lifestyle
• Become hyper-aware of the cause & effects of your past decisions, so you can use that pain as motivation
• Create a healthy diet for yourself and eliminate sugar to keep your mind & body right
• Develop a new, mindful routine that suits your goals and get clear on WHY to maintain clarity
• Motivation is futile. Discipline = freedom.

You got this.

Hope this helps.

And be safe for Memorial Day weekend 🥂

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Cheers,

Ashton

P.S. Want more help? Here’s how to turn emptiness into ecstasy.