The 4% Method™ BONUS - Little Life Upgrades

🛋 Life Admin Edition

Set a pretty desktop background (bonus points for a vision boad)
Make a “done” list in addition to your to-do list
Buy thin nicer hangers to upgrade your closet
Find a tote bag that makes you feel pulled together
Upgrade your car with a fancy auto fragrance
Keep your car clean with a monthly wash plan

🏠 Home Edition

Light a candle — and keep one that’s lux for extra enjoyment
Drink espresso/coffee out of pretty espresso cups
Swap paper towels for real napkins or reusable ones
Get a few portable lights for soft lighting around the house
Set up Sonos speakers around the home (IKEA x Sonos makes it affordable)
Buy greens instead of flowers (less expensive, equally stimulating)
Put a plant in your shower (or dried eucaluptus)
Spend time finding (or building) playlists you love
Do a Trader Joe’s flower haul
Open house windows whenever possible

🍽 Food & Kitchen Edition

Keep fresh lemon juice on hand in the fridge
Stock parsley, cilantro or tarragon for salad upgrades
Buy flaked salt to finish meals
Make your own dressing with herbs and yogurt and get a pretty and functional dressing bottle to eep it in
Buy good butter
Keep a variety of seltzers in the fridge (your own sexy minibar)
Cook from a hardcover cookbook
Drink out of fancy glasses (even for seltzer)
Keep high-quality coffee and decaf espresso on hand (this coffee subscription is amazing)
Stock good tea (and caffeine-free options too, including my favorite here)
Use lavender creamer in the mornings
Make meal prep fun with a great playlist or audiobook

🛁 Bath Edition

Do it outside, somewhere inspiring (like a golf course, a pretty neighborhood, an inspiring trail)
Listen to a fiction book on the Libby app or comedy podcast (spoiler alert: productivity ones will only make you feel like its more work)
Get sneakers you love (function AND fashion)
Wear a matching exercise fit—just for yourself

🎒 Travel Edition

Pack hotel slippers (wherever you go)
Buy the travel-size products — of the brands you actually like
Get a makeup/toiletry travel case
Bring a mini Bose speaker
Take a Lyft XL instead of cramming in a car for important drives
Say no to couches—get yourself a hotel room

🛏 Sleep Edition

Invest in nice sheets (linen, all day)
Wear a weighted or cozy eye mask to bed
Travel with a noise machine
Take a ½ day off work when you feel run down
Fall asleep with a heating pad on a timer
Put on perfume to go to sleep
Turn your phone to grayscale at night
Read five pages in place of scrolling before bed (only five!)
Be like the kids and get a galaxy light

💄 Beauty + Style Edition

Invest in underwear you feel great in
Size up in sweatpants
Wear color
Buy a shirt in every color if it fits well
Dress with intentional jewelry or earrings
Do a blowout or clean up your beard
Put on perfume even if you’re staying home

🌙 Rituals & Mood Edition

Put your phone on airplane mode in the morning to protect your routine
Pull a daily affirmation card every morning
Write five things you’re grateful for at least once a week
Celebrate yourself with flowers or balloons
Create a “celebrate myself” wishlist in your Notes app and pull from it every time you deserve a cheer
Play a relaxing playlist after work (or in the morning or before bed)

💪 Body & Movement Edition

Add foam rolling to your nightly Netflix routine
Book a sauna/cold therapy once a week (or month)
Take five deep breaths (actually deep)
Stretch your neck — bonus points for setting an alarm to remind you to do it daily
Walk around the block
Schedule a 4PM dance break
Book a 30-minute foot massage

🔥 Sex Edition

Get an amazing room scent for your bedroom
Get 1-2 good vibrators
Exploring audio erotica
Invest in lingerie you feel great in (it’s a self fulfilling prophecy… wearing it >> feeling sexy)
Keep a “toy tray” stocked with options (vibrators, lube, cuffs, you name it…)
Build a DTT playlist (DTT = ”Do The Thing”)

🧠 Mindset Edition

Keep a note of quotes and affirmations you love
Ask “Is this a full body f*ck yes” before deciding anything
Journal for 2 minutes to get it off your chest – then turn the page and move on
Say yes to receiving gifts and kind gestures
Say no without justifying it
Don’t finish books you don’t like
Read one chapter of non-fiction each week and practice it throughout the week

💬 Communication & Relationships

Ask for more time instead of saying yes right away
Send a voice memos instead of a text
Use “we” and “us” instead of “I” and “me”
Replace “I don’t like” with “I don’t prefer”
Send an appreciation text just because
Make a note in your Notes app with friends’ gift ideas
Make a rule to gift other people small items you recommend to them
Get a flower subscription and send it to a different friend every month
Reframe a disagreement with “I have a different idea…” or “I have another interpretation…”

🥂 Entertaining Edition

Use fun dinnerware — fancy plates, decanter, etc.
Use elevated plastic drink ware (there’s some incredible cocktail glasses out there)
Enjoy campari or amaro on the rocks as an aperitif instead of doing a traditional cocktail
Make your mocktails fancy with a lemon or orange twist
Keep big ice cubes for drinks (and get a copper ice stamp or ice mold with your initials on it)

If you like the idea of turning small daily actions into big, lasting change, I invite you to check out The 4% Method or email me at hello@heyrachelstevens.com.