How many times have you made the decision to introduce a new healthy habit to your life, only to find that days, weeks or sometimes hours later, your good intentions have been derailed? We all start with the best of intentions, we know the benefits, we want to make the change, we are motivated but despite our best efforts, we struggle to keep it going.
The truth is that for most of us, no matter how committed we are, life is busy and regularly sends us curve balls. As a mum and business owner myself, I have often struggled with implementing something new and then sticking to it. The reality is that life just gets in the way.
"Nothing worth doing comes easy" right? It certainly seems to be the case that we have no difficulty getting into bad habits: late nights, little or no exercise, poor diet etc but when it comes to implementing good habits, we all seem to hit a stumbling block. But why do we make it so hard for ourselves. Here are a few common mistakes:
Trying to make too many changes all at the same time.
Setting unrealistic goals and targets.
Attempting to fit our lives to the new habit, rather than the new habit into our lives.
Not having realistic expectations about how much time we actually have available.
Choosing the things we feel we should be doing, rather than the things we want to do.
Expecting results the first time we do it and then becoming frustrated when it doesn't happen.
Believing that we have to have all the stuff, do all the courses, read all the books right away.
Turning it into yet another job on the "To do" list everyday, making it a chore rather than a choice.
Beating ourselves up if we miss a day (or two) and then feeling like we have failed.
Comparing ourselves to others and feeling that we are falling short.
So how can we be more successful at making change in our lives that will stick? One of the first things I would always suggest is to think about why you are making the change in the first place. Is it simply the latest fad or something that everyone else you know is into? Or does it feel like something you can really connect with and is going to be beneficial to you? In the world of all things spiritual and holistic, there is a mind-boggling number of practices, therapies, life styles to choose from and trust me very quickly you can spend copious amounts of time and money trying them all out. So do some research, think about what area of your life would be most beneficial to make change in and then start with that. For example if you suffer from a lot of stress and anxiety; meditation might be your thing. If you lack self confidence then perhaps you want to start with affirmations. Whatever you do start small and build it up. Remember that it is said that it takes 21 days to form something into a habit!
So what steps can we take to positively introduce new habits into our lives?
Choose something that resonates with you and your life. Something you want to do.
Start small, focus on one thing and stick with that for at least a month before introducing something else.
Think realistically about your current lifestyle and work out how and when you are going to add this new habit.
Remember it is better to do something once a week well than every day badly!
Keep it simple! Unless you have oodles of time and money, complicated habits that require either lots of time or require lots of specialised equipment are not going to work.
If you are going to do something such as meditation, schedule the time in your diary each week and stick to it. If you have followed point 3, then you will have chosen a time and place to make this possible, so now its about placing the importance on this time and committing to it.
Guilt- Not allowed here!!! It is not selfish to want to make positive change in your life or take time out for yourself. If you are going to feel guilty about it, there really is no point doing it, so get over it and enjoy!
Guilt - Not allowed here (part 2)! If you make the choice to give it a miss one day because something came up or you just didn't feel like it, don't beat yourself up and see it as a failure, there is always tomorrow BUT if you keep finding that any excuse lets you feel like you are off the hook then you probably haven't found the right habit for you and its time for a rethink!
Look for clever ways to include your new habit in your everyday schedule. Us ladies in particular are superb at multi tasking so think about what you could be doing to benefit you whilst the kettle is boiling!!??!!
Enjoy! Making positive changes in our life is just that POSITIVE. Your new habits should be about enriching, enhancing and bringing more joy to your day, if its not then MOVE ON!!!!!!
Check out my Facebook page @SoulPurpose where I regularly post wellness life hacks and share with you ideas for incorporating simple practices into your every day life.
Love and light
Sharon x x x
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