TAKE YOUR HABITS FOR A TEST DRIVE

Hey you guys, welcome to the Karen Kenney show, and wicked

excited to be here with you today. And today just happens to

be, first of all, this is the first time I've recorded a show

at night in like, a gazillion years. You can tell, like, the

quality and the light in this room and stuff is a little

different, because it's like nighttime, and it's getting dark

at like, 430 now, like, whatever, like, whatever, like,

I just a little happy. No, okay, and we're back. But today

happens to also be December 1, and I love it. I just love it. I

know I'm not alone, because my friend Emma line, she loves it

too. When a new month begins on a Monday, it just like, gives

me, like, sweet satisfaction. It's like, I'm just such a

weirdo, like, to me the week starts. I know technically,

like, my sweetie is the week stats on Sunday. I'm like, no to

me, the week stats on Monday. So when a new month, new new month

begins on a Monday, it makes me super duper happy. But I was

thinking about December, because a lot of people roll through

this month in like, really different ways. There are people

that are just like, hey, I'm in holiday mode. I'm slowing

everything down. I don't want to do too much. Don't put don't ask

me to put too much on my calendar, and I'm not going to

book too much. I'm not interested in hustling and blah,

blah, blah, blah. There are other people that are, like,

last month of the year, last month of q4 Let's go. We got a

hustle. We got to do sales and make money, and capitalism,

colonialism, right? Like, let's just all the people make all the

money, like, everything, right? And I kind of look at December,

and especially this year, and I'm going to tell you why I kind

of look at December as, like, prep for January. And what I

mean by that is this is a month when I really start to, like, go

a little quiet, go within, start to have a more internal

experience, and start to think about, like, what do I want to

create in 2026 Who do I want to be? What am I envisioning or

dreaming or visualizing, if I'm going to be doing a

collaboration, who do I want to do it with? What's it going to

look like? What's the vibe and the energy and the feel of the

year? Now, I know life has its own plans, right? There's that

old saying, you want to make a God laugh, like, tell them your

plans, but I do believe in making plans. I just don't

believe in making them by myself, and what I mean by that,

and of course, in miracles, we say this, this thing is like a

healed mind does not plan. It doesn't mean you don't make a

plan. It just means you don't make it all on your own, from

your ego, from this place of scarcity and fear and hustle and

competition and weirdness, right? No, like you tap into the

inner teacher, you tap into the divine intelligence, and you

kind of see, like, what do I want to create? And if you saw

the title of this episode, take your habits for a test drive.

December is a fantastic month to do this. So let's kind of dive

into this a little bit, and then I'll give you a couple of

examples and stories, right? So a lot of times, you know,

January, like, people are like, starting to think about, like,

oh, New Year's is coming. It's going to be new year, new you.

New year, new me. I'm going to like, come out of this, like,

balls to the wall. I'm going to like, come out of this, shoot,

like, boom. Like, like, like a rocket, right? Like, I'm gonna

go into January. And I just always stop laughing, because

what, what ends up happening is, I kind of call January, like,

jazzed up January.

God jazzed up January, because everybody's got, like, ants in

their pants, and they're all jazzed up, and they're going to

start going to the gym, and they're going to start eating

right, and they're going to stop drinking alcohol, they're going

to stop whatever, whatever it is. They're all going to do it

right. But you know what happens? Jazzed up January very

quickly, turns it into fuck it February, because they realized

that all these plans, all these things they were going to do,

look at, look, look, look, I used to work at Planet Fitness

like way back in the day when I first moved from California to

New Hampshire, right? I was a personal trainer, and so I

worked at the Planet Fitness in Rochester, in Dover and New

Hampshire. And you would just see, like, the first three

weeks, the first three to like, I would even say, I would even

give people, like, the first three to four to five weeks.

People were like, yeah, the gym would be so busy. And I used to

open the gym so, like, I would be there, like, four, 430 in the

morning. We have gym opened at five, and you would just see

everybody all gung ho, but by like, February, it was, like,

back to normal numbers and crickets. Because people didn't

have any momentum. They didn't build anything, right? They just

tried to, like, throw themselves, like, you know, head

first, like, into January, thinking that they were somehow

going to be different, right? That these. Patterns and habits

that they had created the whole year before that. It wasn't

going to continue in January. They were trying to just do it

by willpower alone, right? Like, yeah, I'm just going to stop

smoking, stop drinking, stop doing this, not doing that,

whatever. Okay, so people get all amped up about January, but

then there's like, this slow fizzle out, you know, and 2026

can be different. And this is why I'm so glad that I'm doing

this episode the first week of December, because this is a

chance for you to practice who you want to be, how you want to

be, how you want the year to look in 2026 I freaking love and

I might do a whole episode in a few weeks about this, but I

really love having a new year and a new slate to kind of like,

wipe the slate clean and like, start fresh. But here's one of

the things. Okay, so story time, buckle up. Buckle up for safety.

So if you know who Sean t is, right, just double A man hands,

if you know who Shan t is, right? Like, I love Shaun T, I'm

going to tell you a little bit about who he is, but Sean t is,

like, I don't know. I just think of him as a worldwide

phenomenon. He's a he's a fitness instructor, right? He's

like, famous online, like, whatever, and way back in the

day, right? I started following him on a program called

Beachbody. Beachbody is no longer Beachbody. It's now just

called Body. Body with, like, a little I like body, right? But

Shaun T is one of like, like, Tony Horton, p9 dx, right?

There's like, so many programs, Insanity, Insanity, Max 30, dig

deeper, like, there's all these different programs, right? So

Sean T is leads these workouts, and I belong to the gym. Like, I

belong to the gym, like, a gazillion years. And sometimes

I'm just like, Yeah, I don't want to go to the gym. I don't

like, I wanted, like, especially in the winter, I'm like, I'm

going to try and, like, do some new stuff at home. Like, I have

different goals and stuff, and I have weights and stuff in my

basement, and I'm like, I just want to change it up. I was

feeling like I wanted to do something new. And really

thinking about, like, okay, 2026 is coming, and Sean t just

released like a new workout program called dig in. And it's

like a combination of strength training, like with weights, and

also a program of his called insanity, which is all about,

like, you know, using your own body strength, cardio fitness,

which I'm trying to prep for the warmer months when I like to run

outside. My sweetie runs all year round outside. I'm like,

yeah, no, I only like to run when it's like, you know,

relatively like, decent weather and really hot, like, I love

running in the summer. And I'm like, I want to come out of the

shoot a little little stronger cardiovascular hit workouts,

whatever. So Sean is, like, combine this in this new

workout. Now it's pretty intense, right? You got to,

like, you got to commit to this thing and like, you to do it for

this number of days. Is this many phases? And I'm like, Okay,

I want to hit the ground running in January. So I'm going to use

December as my trial run. And I can, you can apply this to so

many things, but let me explain what I mean. When you're all

like, in your brain, like, oh yeah, jazz Dev, January, I'm

going to like, I'm going to come out and I'm just going to do

this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to

put it on my schedule, I'm going to make it happen. And then you

realize, no, I'm not. Then you realize, Oh no, my there's my

squirrely little brain getting in my way again. There's my

like, I don't feel like it, right? That inner critic, right?

Like, who are you to think that you can do this? Or you hear all

those excuses, I'm too tired, I'm too lazy, or whatever. One

of the great things that December is good for. It's the

perfect month for practicing taking these habits that you

want to create, taking these sucker for like a trial run, and

this way it's going to help you figure out, first of all, how

you're going to respond and how you're going to react when

things get tough. So let's say that there's a setback. Let's

just say that there's a screw up with your schedule. Let's just

say that something beyond your control happens. Like, who are

you going to be? Like, how are you going to show up for that?

And rather than going into January with these big ideas and

these big plans and these big hopes and these big visions, and

then you find yourself, like, slipping up, screwing up, not

keeping your word to yourself. And then by February, you've,

like, blown it, and you're like, fuck it. I'm not gonna do it.

And here we are again. And then you stop beating yourself up,

whatever, however you negatively talk to yourself. You're lazy,

you're stupid, you never keep your word you blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah. December is the perfect time to work out those

kinks, right, to really get to figure out. Like, okay, so this

is my plan. You can treat December like early January,

and, yeah, I already know like December, Christmas, Hanukkah,

like, all the quant, all these holidays are like, built in. So

there's gonna be, like. Let's just say fitness was your thing,

right? So there's going to be like, I'm busy, or I can't get

to the gym today, or I can't do that, or I can't do this, and

you get to practice how you're going to show up and how you're

going to respond and what you can do instead. So rather than

just like, throwing your hands up and saying, I already blew

it, I might as well just eat the whole cake, or I didn't go to

the gym today. There's different ways of like, you know, like

setting things up, and this is a chance for you to practice and

to take your new habits, these new habits you want to cultivate

and create right to take them for a test drive. So working out

is just like one of them. Let's just say your thing is like

writing. So for me, one of the things that I'm doing is I'm

doing a little sample day of, like, three days of writing

where, like, just hear me out right? Like three days of

writing where you try to write 500 words a day. Because there's

a thing that I'm going to be doing in January where I might

be possibly, I might just do it on my own, I don't know, but

there's a group that I might be joining. It's kind of like I

would just be like a silent person in the group, but meaning

where they're setting it up, where you try to write 500 words

a day for January. So that's like 250

words is about a page. So you'd be trying to write about 60

pages right in January for whatever you're working on, a

novel, a book, a memoir, a self help, whatever you're working

on, right. And so now in December, we get to have a

little test run, right, a little trial run, to see how it feels

over these three days, to see, like, Okay, how does it feel to,

like, sit my ass down and, like, do this, like consecutively, and

make a commitment to myself and like, whatever. So I'm just

throwing out examples that you know, if you're not if working

out isn't your thing, or you already have that habit locked

in, right? Maybe it's something else, something creative. Maybe

you're somebody who wants to draw every day or paint every

day, or practice your guitar or play music or whatever, write

poetry like whatever your bag is, right? Maybe now in

December, you can start to get creating a habit, so that by the

time January comes around, you're already in the flow of

it, man. You already have a little momentum. You already

have a little you know, you've built some momentum, and you've

set the tempo, you've set the pace, and you're starting to

build that habitual muscle. You're starting to build it and

stack it and add on to it, so that when the new year comes,

you go into it, you've worked out the kinks, you've worked out

the flaws, you've worked out your own kooky thinking, how you

get in your own way, and you self sabotage, right? Let me

give you another example. These books just happen to be sitting

on my desk, so I have, I have a few books here, right? And

they're part of my daily spiritual reading. So I read.

First of all, I read every night before bed. I've been doing

that, I don't know how long, right, but I always read. I get

in bed and I read, and that's usually how I fall asleep right

as I start to fall asleep. So I read every single day, a lot,

but I also start my day with my DSP, my daily spiritual

practice, but part of that is daily spiritual reading. So I

have several books. Of course. I got A Course in Miracles, and,

like a few others, a daily stoic, etc, and I normally was

reading them downstairs. These books, I brought them upstairs

because I already know in January I want to do things

differently. I want to get my workout in. I want to get my

stuff done. I want to come up. I want to do my daily reading. And

then I want to, like, write, okay, so I'm just like, starting

to figure this out. And I'm like, Alright, I'm going to

bring these books upstairs instead of downstairs. I brought

him upstairs, I put him on my desk, and now I've missed NOT A

Course in Miracles. That's that always gets done, but I've

missed doing my daily spiritual reading of it's I'm only gonna

end up missing one day because I'm gonna do it. As soon as I'm

done with this podcast, I'm gonna read my two days and catch

up. But the reason why I'm telling you this is because I'm

out of the habit. I broke my momentum. I hadn't missed a day,

and I don't know how long, because I had a routine, I had a

rhythm, right? But now that I brought them upstairs, I broke

the flow. And so I'm not in the habit yet, of like, oh yeah, I

read these upstairs now. So now they're on my desk, and now I

saw them, and I'm like, okay, as soon as I'm done this, I'm going

to do it, but I'm going to tell you this. By the time, probably

in a few more days, I will have built that muscle back up. It's

just geographically different, right? The habit muscle is

already built. I just have to get out of that little glitch

that I had because I was like, Oh yeah, I usually have them

downstairs first thing in the morning I see them, but now

they're upstairs. So these are the things I'm talking about,

where we can use December to work out, like, a few kinks and

start to plan so don't wait until, like, like, I do a New

Year's Eve ritual. I've talked about this before on the

podcast, um. Um, and, you know? And that's when I really like

map out. It's like a treasure map, right? It's kind of like

having a playground with a lot of different, like, fun, like a

slide and some swings. And I'm like, Ooh, what do I want to do

in 2026, or whatever, whatever the new year is, right? But this

is, like, the, this is like laying the foundation for the

new year. This is when you're starting to get the plot of soil

ready. This is when you're starting to pick the flowers and

the veggies and what you want to plant. This is when we start to

think about, like, long term, like, what do I want to have?

It's like, what do I what do I want the bounty of this to be?

Right? And this is when we get to use this as a testing ground

so that we can use this month, December, right, instead of

jazzed up January, right? Like, you can truly roll into jazzed

up January, and you won't experience fuck it February,

because you're gonna do discover December. Like, we're gonna use

December to discover Right. Like, okay, this when I'm tired.

This is what I tend to do. This is my plan. This is what I'm

thinking. I'm going to start to play with these things. I'm

going to start to lay that foundation like I said, get a

little momentum, start to set the pace and set the tempo.

Because why not go into the New Year feeling really grounded,

feeling really like, you know, determined. I always say the 5d

of a DSP of a daily spiritual practice is daily dedication,

determination, discipline and devotion. So we move into the

new year with these things already in place. And like I

said, you get to you get to fuck up. Now you get to, like, make

mistakes. Now you get to find your groove. Now, so that when

January hits, you're like, I've got this I've already built some

momentum. I already have a little bit of mojo behind me.

I'm already moving in that direction, right? So, like I

said, whether it's physical work, whether it's mental work,

whether it's emotional work, whether it's spiritual work, or

goals or whatever, right now is when you get to give it a go,

you know, and practice it a little bit. And so here's like

the action steps, right? The regular action steps always

stand, which is if you ever want to work together, right, if you

ever want to find out what I'm up to, if you want to get on my

email list, all that is at Karen kenney.com that is a no that is

like a standing action step for you to take. Right to go deeper

into this work, if you want to do one to one mentoring, if you

want to join the nest, my spiritual community and group,

all that you can find Karen kenney.com but some action steps

for this podcast, in particular, this episode is, I just want you

to pick one new habit, one thing that you've been starting about

thinking about dreaming about wanting to write, like begin,

whether it's something you want to change or transform, or stat

or stop, or whatever the thing is, it could be like, I want to

stop drinking. I want to start, you know, walking every day,

whatever it is. I want to get better at, like, writing thank

you cards. I want to get better at having gratitude, looking

for, as we say in A Course in Miracles, the good, the

beautiful and the holy, right? So you're just going to pick a

new habit, and then you're going to start to practice it, and

then you're going to start to notice the kinks. You're going

to notice the places where you get in your own way, or where

you kind of like make mistakes or mess it up. And I want this,

like, I say in yoga so often, right? Like falling out of the

pose, you know, let's say you're trying to balance, and you're

trying to do something like tree posture, right? As an the asana,

the pose, the posture, trying to stand on one leg, and you fall

out. And I see people sometimes get so frustrated, and I can

already, like, if they had, like, a thought bubble above

their head, I could, like, just see the words where they're

beating themselves up. And I always have to remind people,

hey, look, falling out of the pose is part of the practice.

This isn't a perfect. We don't call this a perfect. We call it

a practice. We're practicing way more than the postures, of

course. But I can see how frustrated people get, they say,

Hey, this is part of the practice. So in December, like,

you screwing up or forgetting, because it's just, like, with

the books, right? Like, it's not a habit, yet, it's like, okay,

this is something I want to keep an eye on, and you don't have to

beat yourself up, and you don't have to be mean to yourself. And

you just get to, like, you get to figure some stuff out before

you roll into, right? 2026, or whatever, new whenever you're

listening to this, whatever, whatever, New Year. And this is

the time when, like I said, we're laying the groundwork for

it. This is when we get to do all the weird stuff and bump up

against our bullshit and realize that, oh, I'm a little bit

lazier than I thought I was, or whatever the thing is, right?

And I use those words, like, that's one of the things, is

that I have a certain amount of irreverence to me, meaning, I do

have things that are very like, sacred and whatever, but I also,

like, can laugh at myself, like when I say, like, oh, I guess

you're a little lazy. That's not me being. Mean to myself. That's

me being fucking honest with myself. I'm not particularly

lazy person, but I'm just saying, right, there are times

when we're just like whiny, like, I don't feel like it

doesn't matter. I often will say to myself, it doesn't matter

that you don't feel like it you made a commitment, whether it's

to myself or to somebody else or to an animal or a person or a

cause, but like, you made a commitment, your word matters to

you, right? So we got to keep an eye on ourselves, because the

ego mind can be incredibly sneaky, but what a perfect

opportunity, right? So, like, don't wait until the end of the

month to think about, like, Oh yeah, I'm going to start January

one.

Will you though, will you? Will you? Maybe you will. But then

it's so easy when you self sabotage, you'll to the brain

does this thing where it's like, Ah, fuck it. I already blew it.

Forget about it. It's like, no, let's do that. Now in December,

when the spirit is high, for a lot of people, I know it's also

the holidays are always difficult, especially if you're

grieving, especially if your family is a little, you know,

dysfunctional, or a lot dysfunctional, or whatever. I

know that December can be a tough month for some people, and

I also want to say like that, that's perfect training ground.

I'm not being mean when I say this, but it's so easy to come

up with 1000 excuses in December for why you can't do something,

whether it's the holidays or you're busy or you're feeling

blue or you don't want to do it, or you just don't it's cold

outside, blah blah, right? So this is a chance to kind of

like, set your intention, start to visualize, right? So that's

part of it, the action steps. Let's do this. That's a

visualize who and how you really want to be in 2026 not who you

are now, like, I want you to really see yourself. Like, sit

down, find a quiet place, close your eyes, deepen your breath,

run a movie in your mind, see how and who you want to be. What

are you saying? What are you doing, how are you feeling, what

are you thinking? What are you creating? See it as if it is

already done, right? And then you think, Okay, well, what are

the kind of things that I would need to do to have that be true,

to have that come true, right? You pick your habits, you pick

your your thought systems, love or fear. And then you're like,

Okay, I'm going to pick just one. Just start with one. You

can have it stack later, but just pick one new habit. Start

to practice it in December. Notice the kinks. Notice where

you get in your own way, all that stuff. Start to build some

momentum, build that muscle, that new habitual muscle, right?

And then set the tempo, set the pace. Lay the groundwork. Lay

the foundation for a jazz dev January, right? And if you pick

something in particular that you're a little like, you know,

sometimes we want to tell one other person we want to have

accountability. So if you just want to shoot me a little

message or a little email and say, Hey, this is what I'm

discovering in December, this is what I'm going to practice in

December. So I'm ready for jazz up January. You know what I

mean? And I would just be so honored if you decided to share

with me what you're up to. I got a few things that, and I already

have a lot of habits in place, so I can have it stacked pretty

easily. And I have things I've been doing for 30 years. So

those are just like a part of my identity. They're just what I

do. It's not like I don't even have to think about those things

anymore. They just happen. But sometimes there's new things.

When you're like, Okay, I have some goals, I have some dreams.

There's some things I want to accomplish. And right now, I can

tell you right now that there's like, three new things that I'm

practicing. And not not new, new, but new ways of doing them.

That's a better way of saying it, right? So I would love to

hear what yours are, and just thank you so much for tuning in.

I super duper appreciate you as always. What do I always say,

wherever you go, wherever you go in December and beyond, right?

May you leave the animals, the people, the place, the

environment and yourself better than how you found it wherever

you go, may you and your energy and your presence and your love

be a blessing. Bye.