January 2026 Vol 8 Issue 1
Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):
Teaching English to economic immigrants and to
internationally educated, second-language academics
Let Us Help You Tell Your Story!
Welcome Mid-January 2026!
Happy New Year, Good Readers!
I’m a long-time admirer of the newsletter writing of American marketing star, Ann Handley.
Her fortnightly newsletter, “Total Annarchy,” charms her readers with its irreverence and fun, while not shying away from ethical implications, such as the rapid ascendancy of AI in all areas of our lives. She asks and discusses some of the most salient implications AI and related marketing hold for all of us.
An expert digital marketer, bestselling author, keynote speaker, former Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and former journalist, Handley crafts “marcom” content that engages our emotions, at a time when emotional and ethical integrity are often displaced by the latest hustle of “impactful” prompts, trending bots and social influencers.
One of her many humourous strategies starts from the “get-go” in how she addresses her readers. Last November (American Thanksgiving), her addressees were “Butterballs.” In December (Christmas and Hanukkah), we became “Sugarplums.” I recall a spring issue, where we were “Peach Blossoms.” And by so naming her readers, Handley (literally and metaphorically) is just getting started.
One practice that keeps her newsletters grounded is that she loves and encourages readers to respond–whether with “yahoos,” “boo-hoos,” or comments in-between. I have exchanged some fascinating and animated messages with her.
Handley keeps things real. She describes her newsletter as focusing “on writing, marketing, living your best life.” She writes as evocatively of her daughter leaving home for college as she does on publishing ventures.
Further north on the Canadian Prairie, some 15 years (or 180 issues) after I started writing “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN), I also strive for reality (not for “reality TV!”) and I’m delighted to receive emails and other messages from you, my readers–the best sign of engagement.
Like “Total Annarchy,” “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN) remains free. It’s also 100% AI-free, spam-free and ad-free. My newsletter often addresses entrepreneurial wellness as much as (or through) communications or marketing ideas, and as much as English language teaching and writing issues.
Long-form Communications as a living body of practices are the “bread and butter” of my days, and of at least some of yours, too, as valued readers.
At the dawn of a new year, I hope that reading “TYSN” will feel much like a conversation with a friend. It’s why I address you as “Good Readers” or “Friends” or as “we” or “us.”
I hope you’ll share relevant issues with your friends and colleagues.
And while we all love a good guffaw (and some of those will definitely follow, this year), ultimately I hope you’ll find, by reading and responding, that none of us is alone in facing the challenges of our times.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Shih
Principal, Storytelling Communications
| IN THIS ISSUE:
->ARTICLE ONE: On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year) -> SHOP NEWS ->ABOUT US |
Article One: On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year)
As most in the Western Hemisphere know, “New Year’s Day” is historically the date to make “resolutions” to improve our lives, health, or finances for our futures.
And while people tend to undertake these “resolutions” with great conviction, we all know that unrealistic expectations end in failure.
By mid-January and definitely by early February, often our resolutions, and the resolve to achieve them, have dissipated.
For that reason, I look forward to the quiet workout space at my gym, after “resolutionists” have abandoned their workout regimes!
But in place of “New Year’s resolutions,” I was inspired by a recent podcast episode from American copywriter and coach, Ed Gandia (“High-Income Business Writing Podcast”). The episode describes how we can make “freelancing” (and other kinds of self-employment) healthier. Healthier not just now, but even more so, three months from now.
So this first new article of 2026 will be dedicated to the wellness of entrepreneurs of all shapes, stripes, spots and sizes.
Gandia says: “Freelancers are great at pushing through. We hit deadlines, juggle clients, and squeeze productivity out of thin air.”
But at the same time, our “physical health often pays the price for all of this.”
Brain fog, insomnia, burnout, increased anxiety and depression, insulin resistance, weight gain, intensive cravings for unhealthy food are some of the worst results from overwork. He says: “The side of freelancing that rarely gets attention is the slow erosion of our health when our businesses become the only priority.”
In the longer term, poor health and sleep reduce our creativity and with it, the quality of our work.
But how and what changes can we sustain, meaningfully?
Motivation is a finite source of activity. So building our own regimes on microhabits is wise.
Even the term “microhabit” has been a recent buzz-word. But it refers to a legitimate practice. A microhabit is a practice of making large goals feel less overwhelming by breaking them down into smaller pieces or activities, over time.
We repeat that small activity consistently over several weeks or months (such as walking for 10 minutes per day, or drinking two more glasses of water each day) until we achieve a goal larger than we could have initially imagined.
In his podcast, Ed Gandia interviews Lucie Robazza, an Australian-based, certified health coach, personal trainer, kinesiologist who has founded her own company, “Strenxia.” She’s a big believer in microhabits.
She says that “deadlines, your own business, AI, not enough sleep or healthy diet,” all lead to “all or nothing” strategies, doomed to fail by week three of a new year.
Robazza says if you track meaningful health metrics, you’ll start (gradually—one day at a time) to make real improvements through diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes.
But this should be a gradual process, not a headlong rush!
Women face unique challenges in midlife that mainstream “lifestyle” practices miss, from Perimenopause to Menopause. Hormonal fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone are significant and as a result, “women become less resistant to stress in our 40s.”
Researchers have started (very late in history) to analyze biomarkers in Menopause. But Perimenopause can also cause emotional volatility, poor sleep and many other symptoms–that both women and men know little about. So 40+-year old women should discuss their health closely with their physicians.
Making incremental changes (not “all-or-nothing”) is more sustainable (e.g. 1% every week). New Year’s resolutions don’t tell us how to get there. (Motivation is never sustainable.) Instead, Robazza suggests that we need to build “systems,” based on small, attainable microhabits that we can do, even when we feel stressed out.
For instance she suggests practices as simple as positioning our bedroom furniture and clean gym clothes near our doors, to make it easier to get to the gym each morning.
Microhabits help us avoid failure, by helping us to strive for reasonable goals. She warns that otherwise, “the story of failure” will shape our identities, detrimentally.
As we start building microhabits, we start to feel good about our successes and build an identity over time that is positive. It’ll also be greater than the sum of our latest achievement(s)!
We will see the pattern of gradual improvement, consistently, over time. Robazza says we all need the encouragement that provides.
The jist of Gandia’s podcast is this: We tend to assume that New Year’s failed resolutions come from a failure in discipline or commitment, when they’re more likely too ambitious to counter the complex dietary and metabolic issues that humans face, especially as we age. (Gandia notes this applies to aging men, as well.)
So many freelancers have been pushing too hard for too long, “operating in a chronic low-grade stress state,” affecting everything from “Thyroid function to inflammation to metabolic health” and more.
Here, to conclude, are Robazza’s top six microhabits:
(1) Get natural sunlight early in the day. This helps to regulate hormones for energy and sleep. Robazza recommends getting some sunlight in the first 10-15 mins of our mornings, as morning light improves melatonin production and helps with insulin reception. Daily sunlight regulates our sleeping and working hours. (In cold climates like SK, light therapy boxes can work.)
Even a morning walk to walk to the gym (without showering or preparing our bodies) will do wonders.
(2) Take water with electrolytes upon waking to reduce dehydration-related fatigue, cravings and to support cognitive focus. Robazza says to drink two cups of water as soon as we wake up and then to keep drinking water as we work through a day (an additional four cups).
Dehydration can cause cravings, brain fog and other problems. She recommends not to drink caffeine for the first hour after waking up. Water-soluble electrolytes are costly, so even adding a pinch of good-quality sea salt to two glasses of water each morning will make a difference.
(3) Ensure we get sufficient protein intake, especially at breakfast, to support muscle health, satiety and prevent energy crashes (critical for women, often late in the afternoon). A minimum) of 100 g of protein per day per women is necessary. And increase that to 120 or 130 g of protein, as we age.
Protein is the best antidote to those crashes, sugar cravings and an overly large appetite. Protein also helps to sustain muscle mass.
Robazza says breakfast should consist of 30-40 g of protein to help regulate hormones. We need more as we age!
Consider that two eggs contain only 12 g of protein and we need 30-40 to start the day! So make breakfast more substantial or research healthy protein powders we can add to what we eat.
(4) Practice short movement bursts (“exercise snacks”) throughout the day, to break sedentary patterns, boost energy, and improve metabolic health.
Robazza reminds us that human DNA is structured to need movement. As many of us have heard, we’re not meant to sit at desks all day. So she urges us to try to disrupt sedentary work with micromovements (that improve insulin sensitivity).
For instance, she urges us to try “20 squats while the kettle boils; 10 desk pushups while ChatGPT is working on your search” and so on. Ten minutes spent walking on errands would also be great.
While these aren’t full “workouts,” these “exercise snacks” disrupt sedentary behaviour, like hunching posture, brain fog and exhaustion.
Over time, getting morning sunshine (microhabit #1) here could double up with one of these 10 minute, “exercise snacks” (microhabit #4) to reduce insulin resistance and help our bodies dispose of glucose. (Habits can be stacked when waiting for a bus or in traffic.)
(5) Reset and regulate our Nervous Systems by practicing deep breathing exercises throughout the day. (Deep breathing helps to manage stress, promote resilience and mental clarity). Before doing something difficult in our days, she suggests that we take one minute for box-shaped breathing (inhaling for four seconds; holding it for seven seconds; and then breathing out for eight seconds).
Also, deep breathing after we do something stressful can help to calm ourselves. (This is more realistic than following a half-hour of meditation when life is so mentally intensive.)
(6) Make habits “stick” as longer-lasting practices by simplifying our environments. For instance, lay out clean gym clothes the night before, keep a jug of water with sea salt near our beds. Similarly, ask a spouse or friend to “hide the biscuit jar” out-of-sight and mind!
Robazza stresses that working with one microhabit for the first 28 days is the best way to start. Once it’s a routine, we can stack other habits on top, at 28-day intervals. Results improve greatly. (E.g. Stack some micro-exercises at the end of writing a first draft of something; plan on drinking one cup of water after we finish every meeting, etc.)
She also suggests that setting “worst day standards” for terrible days can help with busy times. Then we won’t drop the ball entirely, but manage to fit in some breathing, for instance, and some protein-rich foods. The small size of most microhabits and their receptiveness for gradual stacking makes them more sustainable for the long-term.
Robazza concludes with the advice not to let our practices slide twice. (For instance, failing to eat protein on one day can still be counteracted. But if we repeat it on a second day, we’ll have started a “bad habit.”)
Start a microhabit “one at a time,” starting with one of the easiest. Do it for 28 days, reflect on whether it was easy (or not); then add a second microhabit and follow both now, for another 28 days (and so on). Robazza notes that behaviours can improve “from average to good to great” over three or more months. So starting one microhabit on a cold January day will reap benefits for us by spring!
By featuring Robazza’s insights on his podcast, Gandia illustrates that “practical, simple, and surprisingly encouraging” microhabits can make a lasting difference to our mid- and later-life health.
And who wouldn’t want that, in these challenging times?
And now it’s your turn. Are you happy with your current health as a freelancer or professional? Will you try to develop some of Robazza’s microhabits?
Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.
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SHOP NEWS:
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I’m observing this month that a long-term writers’ group I co-launched in 2015 with Ashleigh Mattern and Julie Barnes (Saskatoon “Freelancers’ Roundtable”), has been renamed and reconceived!
Henceforth, we’ll be known as Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group.”
Ashleigh, Julie and I started the group in the spring of 2015 to channel creative writers’ need for discussion, advocacy and co-referrals.
We planned our group over drinks (and a notepad) nearly 11 years ago, in a bar in downtown Saskatoon that long ago closed!
While we outlived that venue, we’ve since met in cafes and coffee shops across the city, including the Broadway Roastery on 8th, City Perks, Sparrow, and lately, HomeQuarter.
A word (and shout-out) to my co-founders and colleagues:
Ashleigh Mattern is the “chief storyteller” (writer, marketer and social media expert) behind Vireo Creative, a web design and content team (c. 2015).
She’s also a long-time creative, writing freelance journalist, producing content for the CBC, marketing copy for local businesses and exploring multiple literary genres and influences, including in her novel, Magicked Born (2021).
Ashleigh has been the regular anchor and leader of the group since 2015 and recently returned to that role after a few months’ hiatus. She regularly invites creatives to join in our discussions.
Co-founder Julie Barnes of Julie Barnes’ Creative Services, is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Saskatoon HOME magazine and for clients including the CBC. She is completing a degree in interior design from Yorkville University.
Some of Julie’s writerly interests include travel, gardening, architecture, residential construction, food, urban planning, cottage communities and education.
She has also worked as a talent agent for the folksinger/songwriter, Eric Paetkau.
. . . . With an 11-year history behind us, we and our other members are optimistic that Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” will expand our topics of reading, thinking, discussion and co-referrals.
Since rebranding in 2021 as the principal of “Storytelling Communications,” I (Elizabeth) have continued to write and edit communications copy, while pivoting to focus more on teaching the intricacies of English-as-a-Second Language (ESL/EAL/EFL) to adults and young adults.
Influenced by my background in academia, language studies and psychoanalysis, I continue to enjoy reading as eclectic influences as Susie Dent, Seth Godin and Adam Phillips, while striving to create clarity for the writing and speaking of non-native users of English.
. . . With our diverse interests as co-founders and members, Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” has much potential to grow into the future.
“If the shoe fits,” we’d be happy to include you in our next meeting. Please reach out.
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An energetic shout-out this new year to Northern Ireland-based, ESL teacher, Carl Cameron-Day, and (Glasgow-based) ESL administrator, Alan Moir, both of TEFL.Org.
Carl is an experienced, ESL teacher, tutor, teacher-trainer and exam administrator who has worked all over the globe. I know Carl as a sage advisor, who hosts webinars for junior and mid-career English language teachers with enviable energy.
When part of a work week takes me off the trail of language training, I’m always the better for tuning in to a TEFL.Org webinar, hosted by Carl and deftly facilitated by the amazingly skilled Alan Moir (himself an EFL teacher by training).
Their wry sense of humour adds to their charm. (Alan once adopted the name of a “Cupboard of Cheese” for a Q&A! . . .)
ESL/EFL teachers can watch recordings of these webinars (some going back years) on YouTube and on Facebook, filled with helpful tips and best practices.
There are always new stories and new people to promote in “Shop News.” But this is a wrap for mid-January.
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ABOUT US: |
Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I teach economic immigrants to secure better jobs or larger contracts by improving their English language skills.I also help internationally educated, second-language academics, to progress through the tenure promotion process by improving their English language skills.For both sets of clients, I help them to integrate into our community and marketplace more easily than they would working (in isolation) alone.Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my (still CASL-compliant) website (www.elizabethshih.com
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