A Balanced Holiday Gift Guide

Happy holidays! What are you up to this winter? I’m finishing up the first draft of my book (out Spring 2023), and I’m about to complete my 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification. Blending both these endeavors into my personal balance of outdoor time, family time, and work time has made for a fulfilling fall.

Right now I’m having to embrace full-on winter here in southern Utah, even though it’s only November. An early two foot snowstorm foiled our plans for finishing our new shipping container tiny house this year, but at least we got the shell of our greenhouse built. All this snow is putting me into a holiday mood, so I decided to share a gift guide with you.

These are a few of my favorite things

Just in time for Black Friday, I’ve got some great gift ideas for you that range in price from $0.99 (yes, there are things that still cost $0.99) to $2000. I’ve made this curated list based on things that have really made a difference for me this year. I hope you enjoy!

(Note: some but not all of these links are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission when you purchase a product, but it does not affect your buying experience in any way).

For enhancing personal development

A beautiful journal is a wonderful gift for those who like to write, or those who may need to process some thoughts and feelings. I ask all my coaching clients to journal between sessions, and I’ve journaled for years myself. You can go super basic with a compact, blank page style like this one, or you could gift a themed journal. Happiness expert and personal fave Gretchen Rubin has developed some new journals that you can pick from based on how you’d like to know yourself better.

For anyone at a crossroads in their career or feeling burned out in a high performance environment, I also highly recommend gifting this book, which is the only book I reviewed this year and really made an impact on my personal path, my writings and my future talks coming up in 2023.

For the beauty enthusiast

Confession: I love playing with makeup! I don’t know how I got into it, but it’s taken the place of childhood arts and crafts for me – with some anti-aging skincare thrown in. There are a couple of very inexpensive cosmetics I recommend whenever anyone has to buy.a white elephant gift for.a woman or wants a no-fail gift for a beauty lover. They’re all by the long-lived yet poorly named brand Wet ‘n Wild.

This 99-cent eyeshadow is a high quality, universally flattering all over lid color. It can pull warm or cool and has a beautiful satin sheen finish. I’ve worn this pencil as both an eyeliner and a lip liner since I was in high school; it’s a beautiful mauve-y brown that looks great on anyone. If you need something more substantial but still frugal, this 5-pan palette is a true classic. Purchasing the trio of products together will cost you less than $10.

Gifts of self-care

Does winter do a number on your skin? This combination of creams and salves has been an absolute game changer for my dry hands and cracked feet, and I’ll bet someone you know could benefit too. OKeefe’s Working Hands (must be the round tub, not the tube of lotion) saves me from the winter peeling I used to get working in a freezing OR, popping tops off of vials with my thumbs and twisting needles on and off of syringes.

I just recently learned about this particular ointment for cracked heel skin, which combines urea and salicylic acid. It works like nothing I’ve ever tried; no more cracks! Combined with this thick cream, my feet have never looked better, even in the harsh climate of the mountains.

Does someone on your list work out a lot and/or easily develop trigger points in their upper back? My favorite massage tool is the TheraCane. It’s the most effective and easiest to use self-massaging tool I’ve used for the upper body knots I get from writing, working in the OR, doing projects on our land, and lifting weights.

For the foodie/chef

Something we’ve used almost every day in the past year to prepare food is this Ninja Foodi grill/air fryer combo. We cook at home about 90% of our food, so we’ve tried many gadgets. This one is the one we cart on trips with us and smuggle into hotel rooms. If you like crispy foods, you will love this. It makes simple meals – like a steak and some sweet potato fries – taste like restaurant food.

The most difficult thing about using the Ninja Foodi is cleaning the grill plate. We’ve found this grout brush to be the best tool for the job.

The other kitchen item we’ve used almost every day this year is a good quality ceramic-coated pan. We’ve gone through many cheap ones in the past, but this one seems to be holding up to our daily omelet making.

Lastly, light your gas grill, campfire or stove with this amazing rechargeable lighter – a perfect gift for an outdoor chef or person who loves to camp.

Gifts of experience and improvement

For someone who likes biohacking and tracking performance, I highly recommend the Oura Ring. It tracks your sleep, heart rate, activity, HRV, readiness, menstrual cycle, meditations, etc. in a little ring. I’ve had one for a few years and use the data most often to modulate my activity levels and intensity day to day. Purchasing through the link above should give you $50 off a new ring (non-affiliate, just given to me because I purchased one).

Finally, if you’re a healthcare professional looking for a fun and inspiring conference to attend in 2023, give yourself the gift of knowledge and camaraderie at the White Coat Investor CME conference in March. I’ve been attending (and speaking at) this conference for years, and it’s gotten better and better. Last year, the weather was perfect, the hotel was beautiful and the food was amazing. The JW Marriott Phoenix venue for 2023 is the same as last year because it was that good. I will be there speaking on a couple topics, and I’d love to see you there too! Use this link to register and get $200 off your registration fee by typing in the code WCIPhoenix200 until 1/25/2023.

I hope this wide range of gift ideas is helpful to you! Be sure to give yourself even tiny gifts this season too.