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Reader -

Last year I did a roundup of the habits, systems, products and mindset shifts that changed my life, and you loved it. So all year I've been making mental bookmarks of things that were going to make the list this year.

So here they are. The 2026 Nat Awards. Let's get right to it shall we?

1. Best Boring But Life Changing Domestic Upgrade:

​These lidded ice cube trays. I didn’t expect ice cube trays to change my life so dramatically. And yet. Always having ice on hand means iced coffee, iced tea, lemon water, whenever. There is no running out and even if you finish one ice cube tray there's always more.

Along similar lines, I started buying bags of lemons from Costco and freezing lemon juice in big silicone cubes. juice them all at once, freeze the juice into cubes. I use lemon in iced tea, lemon in sparkling water, lemon in salad dressing, lemon in whatever.

2. Adult Thing I Finally Took Seriously: Wearing sunscreen 365 days a year. Tinted Zinc Sunscreen actually makes a difference. I have been using this one religiously, even on days I stay inside all day in the middle of winter.

3. Best New Staple Skincare Routine: Skin is about hormones and genetics as much as it is about routine. But my skin has never been clearer. Double cleansing has changed the game for me and breaking up with tallow. After a lot of experimenting, these are my new staples.

• ​Skin 1004 Oil Cleanser​
• ​Cerave Cleanser​
• ​Zinc Eucerin sunscreen​
• ​Naturium retinaldehyde​
• The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + PhytoCeramides Rich Moisturizer

4. Best Organizational Personality Shift: I LOVE stationary, I LOVE notebooks, don't get me wrong, but things were getting OUT OF HAND with my 4 different notebooks that had overlapping purposes. I couldn't find a damn thing I needed. Switching to one clipboard (thanks for the tip, Lucia!) with only what I need for current calls and current client notes has helped me feel way more organized and like a boss bitch waving my clipboard around.

5. Best Fiction: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, Heart The Lover, Dream Count.

And can I just say, my Kindle has been an all time Nat Life Award Winner. Best purchase I ever made.

6. Best Non Fiction: All The Way to the River, The Art of Spending Money.

7. Best Reading Rule I Finally Implemented: Speaking of books, starting new books during the day I instead of trying to begin new books at night when my brain is already done. Now I start books during the day when my focus is actually available and get wayyy more out of them.

8. Best Show Discovery turn Cult Following: I became fully obsessed with The Traitors this year. Started with The UK traitors, then UK Celebrity traitors and now Canada traitors. I'm hooked. I used to like dating reality TV but stopped because yawnnnnn. Traitors has really filled that reality TV sized hole in my life.

9. Best Movie: One Battle After Another. I thought about this movie for days after. Highly recommend.

10. Best Software Update: Descript Video Editor I used to dread video editing, but Descript treats video like text. I can edit by reading and without looking at a timeline. I'll be using it a lot next year when I rerecord Cycle Love lessons!

11. Best Creative Yes: Starting The Habit Cycle podcast with Lucia. It's been so refreshing making a podcast where we're not explicitly teaching, and I get to spend time with someone I really love! Oh, and starting a fun Sauna account (@shesaunas) with my friend Claire Baker!

12. Best App: Mela organizes my recipes and cleans them up so I don't need to read through someone's life story when I'm cooking from a blog post. Easily syncs with reminders to create a grocery list and doesn't turn the screen dark when you're cooking. I paid for this app and it was the best app purchase ever. I have it on desktop and my phone.

13. Best New Browser + Tech Boundary: I switched to Firefox + downloaded the LeechBlock extension to block social media during work hours. I love that Firefox blocks ads on most pages, including Pinterest and YouTube. Next year is allll about using tools like this to implement tech boundaries.

14. Best Cozy Upgrade: I burn candles all day long when I'm working, and all evening long when I'm cosying up at home. I still love my beeswax candle, but flameless glass candles add a je ne sais quoi and I like that I don't need to worry about not blowing it out. We have them all over the house.

15. Best Routine Change: This wouldn't be a best of 2025 list without strength training making an appearance. I joined The Gang fitness and training with a group of women, upping my protein, adding in creatine have all made a huge difference and trickled into every area of my life. Working out 3x a week stopped being a debate once other people expected me to show up. And I surprised myself with how much I love it!

16. Best Analog Choice I Leaned Into Fully: Customized calendars + printed photos. I started making my own calendars with Canva Print as gifts and actually printing photos instead of letting them live in my camera roll.

Seeing my life on paper changes how I relate to time. More tangible. Less swipeable.

17. Most Surprising Launch: This year I relaunched the Feeling Luteal crewnecks and I didn’t know what to expect.

The people absolutely loved them. I did a limited run in November and they'll come back at some point next year. I love seeing you in your crewnecks and it was a reminder that sometimes the thing you make because it feels fun lands deeper than the thing you over strategize.

18. Best Clothing Repurchase: Barrel jeans aren't for everyone. But I'm onto my second pair of the Old Navy Barrel jeans and I can't take them off. If you have a body like mine, these are everything!!

What will make your 2025 list? I wanna hear!! Thank you for sticking around this year, I appreciate you endlessly,

Nat

Grab the instant replay for December's popular workshop, Sex Ed For Witches, and my ultimate guide to options and products for the fertile window, when you sign up for the Cycle Love waitlist.

If you loved this email, listen to the latest episode of The Habit Cycle to hear our manifesting and scheming for 2026! Reflecting on the past year of habits and optimizing our lives, and planning big goals for 2026. It's the perfect thing to pop in your ears during this liminal time bw Christmas and New Years! Enjoy :)