You're Killing It Professionally.... & Destroying Yourself Personally. Let's Fix That.

You are killing it. In your business, family, the juggle BUT you are absolutely terrible at looking after yourself!

I know, trust me, I KNOW, because I was you. Running a seven figure business on 50 grams of protein a day, No morning routine, no evening routine, saying yes to everything, sleeping like rubbish and genuinely wondering why I was falling apart.

This episode is the one I wish someone had handed me ten years ago.

10 habits. The non-negotiable ones I now run my entire life on, the ones most women are skipping without even realising it.

No fluff. No generic wellness advice. Just the real stuff that actually moves the needle.

In this episode:

• The one thing I changed that fixed my 3pm crashes for good
• Why willpower has nothing to do with it
• The habit that takes five minutes and completely changes how your brain functions
• What I was doing during burnout that was quietly destroying me
• And the sleep truth that nobody wants to hear

BONUS! Grab my free Next Level Sleep Stack:

https://www.nicoleabbott.co/TheNextLevelSleepStack

OR head to Instagram @_nicoleabbott and comment SLEEP & I'll send it straight to your DMs.

Because you cannot out-supplement bad sleep. Full stop.

Loved this episode? Share it with a woman who needs to hear it right now

Find me on Instagram //www.instagram.com/_nicoleabbott/ 

Ready for more? https://www.nicoleabbott.co/

🎙️ A review on Apple Podcasts takes 60 seconds and helps more women find this show. I'd genuinely love you for it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I want to ask you something that may sound like a generic question, but it's something that needs to be asked. Honestly, when was the last time you actually looked after yourself? By looking after yourself, I don't mean the face mask or the massage you booked three weeks ago with all good intentions but then cancelled. Not the green smoothie you had once this week that you're counting as a win, but actually consistently, non-negotiably looked after yourself. For a solid chunk of my life in the thick of building my real estate business, my honest answer would have been I walk and I eat healthy, but I don't know what else because it's just not a priority. Or I don't have time, I have no spare time for that. You see, I was tracking everything with my business: revenue, listings, client calls, settlement dates. I was prioritizing everything except the one asset my entire business actually depended on. Me. I was maybe eating 50 grams of protein a day if I was lucky and wondering why I was crashing at 3 p.m. I had no morning routine, no evening routine, I slept like rubbish, and I told myself it was just because I was too busy. Sure, I was busy, but without realizing I was burning the one thing I couldn't just rebuild overnight. Today I'm giving you 10 habits I wish someone had put in front of me 10 years ago. The 10 things I now treat as my non-negotiables. Not because I'm rigid, but because I have lived both versions and I know which one feels better. This is Next Level with Nick. I'm Nicole Abbott, high performance health and identity coach, surfer, and mum of three. This podcast is for the woman who wants to feel amazing, sustain her success, and love the life she's building. We talk all the good stuff, no fluff and no filters. Let's go. 10 habits. As we go through each one of these, I'm going to tell you what happened when I skipped each one. Because it is so easy to just hear this list and think, yeah, yeah, I know, I've heard it all before. But when you hear what actually happens inside your body when you skip these consistently, it tends to land differently. Habit one. Track your protein. This, my friend, is number one for a reason. Protein is not just a gym girl thing. It is literally a functioning like a human being thing. Your hormones, your energy, your muscle mass, your metabolism, your mood, all of it runs on protein. The minimum I work from is 120 grams per day, and I know that sounds like a lot, but unfortunately, the average woman eating pretty well is getting maybe 60 to 70 grams on a good day. That is not enough. During burnout, I was maybe getting 50 grams a day. It is wild. I wasn't doing it on purpose. I actually thought it was a gym girl thing. I also wasn't tracking it, which means I wasn't thinking about it. So ultimately, it just wasn't happening. I was having coffee for breakfast, something light at lunch, and whatever was easiest at dinner. And I thought I ate fine. When I finally started tracking, and not in an obsessive way, in an educated way, I was shocked. Honestly, if you are in the same boat, you probably will be too. If you feel frazzled, like you have no idea where to start, head to NicoleAbbott.co and use next level AI. It will calculate your exact protein targets based on your goals, your body composition, and what you're actually working towards. Using the specific prompts I've designed, it'll take you two minutes and give you a real number, not a generic internet recommendation. Remember, prioritize protein first every meal. That is your new rule. Habit 2. No phone for the first 30 minutes after waking. I know that you have heard this before, there is no shortage of people screaming it to the world, but are you doing it? Because there is a massive difference between knowing something and actually doing it. The moment you pick up your phone first thing in the morning, you have basically handed your nervous system to the outside world for the day. Emails, news, everyone else's content, all of this before you've decided what kind of day you are having, the outside world has decided it for you. Cortisol is naturally elevated in the first 30 minutes of waking. Your nervous system is calibrating. What you feed it in that window sets the tone for the entire day. I do not touch my phone for the first 30 minutes. That time belongs to me. So start there. Phone face down or in another room if you need to. Habit three, build a longevity routine. This one has evolved over a decade for me through experience and through studying this exact topic. I'm not saying go and do what I do. What I am saying is just have something. My own routine includes my morning longevity drink, red light therapy, my biocharger, sauna, and my new favorite, the lymphatic plate. The red light and biocharger came into my life six years ago after I injured my shoulder surfing and had to have surgery. I was looking for ways to support my recovery and accelerate my healing. I discovered this little place in Byron Bay called Quantum Uplift. The effect these tools had on me was so profound that I've never stopped using them. The sauna. I'm on my fourth sauna. It has been a solid 10-year habit. It started with a portable infrared dome after my first detox retreat. We have since sold two saunas with houses, and each time we've been lucky enough to replace them. I'm not saying go and buy a biocharger or a sauna. They are just what have worked for me. So what does your longevity routine look like and do you have one? You do not need expensive equipment, you need consistency with something. In my opinion, red light therapy is the most accessible starting point. The research on it for recovery, inflammation, sleep, skin, and overall health is genuinely next level. I have a discount code if you'd like to check out the Boncharge range of red light therapy. I'll leave it in the show notes. Start somewhere and build it over time. Habit 4. The longie after lunch and dinner. This is so underrated, I feel like no one talks about it. After you finish a meal, especially lunch and dinner, your blood sugar naturally spikes. If you're sitting straight down after a meal, that spike is higher and the crash is harder. A 10-minute walk after eating a meal blunts that spike. Your blood sugar stays more stable and your energy stays consistent throughout the afternoon. You're also less likely to hit a wall at 2 pm and reach for that fourth coffee. I started doing this when I was deep in study, and I genuinely couldn't believe how much it changed my afternoon energy. It doesn't have to be 10 minutes, even five minutes makes a difference. Walk around the block, walk to the letterbox and back, just move after you eat. And if you find yourself doing the post-lunch phone scroll, take a longie instead. Habit 5 Sunday food prep. 60 to 90 minutes max on a Sunday is all I'm asking. Not 16 containers of chicken and rice, not what you've seen on the internet, just the basics that set you up for the week. For me personally, that means a few snacks prepped, protein sources ready to grab, lunches figured out, maybe a batch of something sorted for dinners. Because when food is prepped, you make better choices. Not because you have more willpower, but because willpower isn't even in the equation when the food is already there. This isn't rigid, this is just such a next level move. During burnout, I didn't prep anything. This just wasn't even on my radar. When you're depleted and running on adrenaline, you just reach for whatever is easiest, which is almost never what your body actually needs. If the thought of this just overwhelms you or you need help knowing what you should actually be eating to hit your macro targets, I encourage you to check out Next Level AI. Because that is exactly what I built it for. It is specifically personalized to you, not generic advice. I'll put the link for this in the show notes. Habit 6. Daily gratitude and manifestation. Before you scroll past this one, stay with me, my friend, because this is not woo-woo. This is neuroscience. Your brain has a clever little system called the reticular activating system. It acts as a filter. It filters all the million bits of information that you are exposed to every single day. And it only lets through what it's been told to look for. When you train your brain daily through intentional gratitude and clear visualization of what you're building, you are reprogramming what your brain prioritizes. You'll start noticing opportunities, conversations, moments that were always there, but your brain had been filtering them out. My personal practice is 12 to 15 minutes every morning. Don't get me wrong, some days it just doesn't happen, and that is okay. But when I do, it puts me in such a good vibration. I love to sit at my bicharger, but it's not necessary. You can sit anywhere you like. I go through genuine gratitude first, thinking of a few specific real things that I'm genuinely grateful for. Then what I'm wanting to manifest in my life. I see it not as a dream, as something that has already happened. I really feel into that energy. Do not underestimate this. It is the most magical practice I discovered over 10 years ago. I built a seven-figure business. I have manifested wild outcomes in my personal life that has genuinely built such a deep trust within me. The spiritual mindset work is never separate from the strategy. Habit 7. The mind dump. Your brain is not a storage device, so stop using it like it is. If you're walking around with a hundred things on your mental to-do list, replaying conversations, trying to remember what you said you would do, tracking 16 different things all at once, your brain is spending all of its processing power on the wrong thing. Every morning, or whenever you're just feeling overwhelmed, open up your notes app or get a piece of paper and write everything out as dot points. Every task, every worry, every I should probably do this, every half-formed idea. Get it out of your head and onto paper. Your brain can then let it go. It is no longer responsible for holding it. This is one of the simplest habits on this list and the most impactful. It takes five minutes, so make the time to do it. Habit eight. Say no and delegate. Who just felt triggered? If you did, trust me, I get it, because a few years ago this would have triggered the shit out of me. However, I can confidently say I have since learned this skill. I can now give you this wonderful advice. And that is, no is a complete sentence. You see, a lot of the time high-achieving women are terrible at this because we were rewarded from day one that being overly capable, for doing more, for being helpful, for saying yes. Somewhere along the way, that conditioning stopped serving us. Every yes you say to something that is not your priority is a no to something that is. During my real estate years, I would say yes to everything. Every client request, every extra task, every can you just quickly do this? I had a small team and I still did everything myself because I didn't trust anyone to do it to my standard. That is not high performance. That is exhaustion wearing a competence costume. Delegation is such a skill, so make time to learn it because it will save you time in the long run. Remember, no is a complete sentence. So practice saying it. Have a think about what you're carrying right now that isn't yours to carry. Habit 9. Strength training and walking. If I had to pick one habit from this entire list that research most supports for long-term health, longevity, and quality of life for women, it is this one. Strength training is the most underrated longevity tool we have access to. Not because of how it makes you look, because of what it does inside of your body. Muscle mass is not only protective, it improves bone density, metabolism, hormone regulation, your brain health. The research backs this ambiguously. It is simple. Strength train three times a week. You don't need more than 45 minutes, but you do need to lift heavy enough that it's actually challenging. And walking daily, not as a replacement for strength training, in addition to it. Walking is one of the best nervous system regulators. It is the easiest form of daily movement you can do without good equipment, without planning, and without a lot of time. For me, as a minimum, I walk every day and I strength train three times a week. They're not two-hour sessions, enough to sustain consistency. Consistency beats perfection every single time. Habit 10, a solid nighttime routine. You cannot outsupplement bad sleep full stop. I see women taking every supplement on the market, doing all the right things during the day, then getting to bed and scrolling on their phones until midnight. Or out of habit, having a glass of wine with Jinna every single night, then going to bed wired, wondering why they wake up at 3 a.m. feeling like they haven't slept a wink. Sleep is not just about the hours, it's about the quality of those hours. The quality of your sleep is hugely determined by what you do 60 to 90 minutes before you close your eyes. I have put together my full nighttime routine. I am not crazy rigid about this. It's simply what I do leading up to bed most nights. It includes everything I have found that actually works. The next level sleep stack. This is honestly one of the most requested things I share, so make sure you check it out because I know that it will help you. Delete is not optional. Quality sleep is optimal. Your next level move for this week. I challenge you to this. Go through that list of 10 and be honest with yourself about which ones you are consistently skipping. Not the ones you do sometimes, the ones you genuinely don't do at all. And pick three of them. Then narrow it down to one. Just one. Because starting 10 habits all at once is basically how you start nothing. Pick the one that if you got locked in would have the biggest ripple effect on everything else and start there this week. Master it, get it on automatic, then add the next one. Because every single 1% compounds, and that is how it all starts. Don't just listen and move on. Grab a pen, write down your next level move, and actually do it this week. That one thing is your 1% and your 1% compounds. If this resonated or someone in your life needs to hear it, share it. Find me on Instagram at underscore NicoleAbbott or head to NicoleAbbott.co. See you next week.