Combating January blues so you’re there for your clients

investmentnews.com:

As Elvis Presley once sang, “I’ll have a Blue Monday without you.”

OK, so those aren’t the exact words but Monday, January 15, marks Blue Monday, considered by some to be the most depressing day of the year.

The concept arose in 2005 when a UK-based travel company claimed it had carried out calculations based on weather and other conditions in the Northern Hemisphere and determined this Monday as the saddest.

While this is often dismissed as a marketing gimmick, it’s certainly January – and advisors are feeling it everywhere.

Catherine Valega, founder of Green Bee Advisory, said she finds living in New England during the winter difficult, so she embraces the winter months being outside and staying active.

“I spend a lot of time Nordic skiing, and this year will do more Uphill skiing, ski up the mountain and ski down,” she wrote in an email. “During the work week, I go for a morning run. There are great benefits to seeing the sun rise. I try to stay as active as possible and drink a lot of water. And look forward to spring and summer!”

Colin Day also resorts to outdoor physical activities.

“I bought new shoes last week, they’re still on my kitchen table,” the financial advisor from Correct Capital Wealth says. “I know when I am ready, I’m going to put on those shoes and that’s going to be the motivation. So I can break them in and I can get out.”

The No. 1 cure for the winter blues, Day says, is fully embracing the season and enjoying the outdoors, even if it’s just going for a walk to grab a coffee from his office or getting up early and putting a few miles in walking his dog a few times a day.

Stephanie McCullough, founder and financial planner at Sofia Financial, said she doesn’t mind January. While the month and days