Are you making the most of your life?
We are creatures of habit.
And yet, when it comes to creating a new one, we find it super difficult…. especially, when it comes to doing things that are good for us!
Sounds pretty irrational, isn’t it?
Well, that’s because humans aren’t logical creatures, especially when it comes to what matter most. We think with our hearts!
If this was not hard enough, we now have our emotional states dividing into pre-covid days and since covid days…. its not uncommon to hear, “i used to get up and go for a run, and then head to office, and come back and still didn’t feel tired earlier… ” (earlier being pre-covid) And you find it increasingly difficult to do it now (i.e. since covid)…
If you have been nodding to anything that i’ve said so far, then here’s a time tested, scientifically proven method to stop quitting on yourself.
1. Choose 1 habit or practice:
Many times we have moments of super exuberance when we commit ourselves to 19 new ways of living life healthy! Don’t believe me? Here’s what i did just a few months ago — get up early, walk everyday, meditate everyday, change salt, change sugar, change oil, change place of work, grow more plants, eat early, sleep early, write daily, create a new business plan, create an online course, declutter.. A surefire way to mess up myself! Guess how i felt? Overwhelmed, tired and irritable ‘coz i couldn’t live up to doing all this, it felt like there wasn’t enough time, and more importantly i questioned myself for even wanting to do any of this… Result? I gave up most of it.
So, pick just 1 habit or practice that you know will give you the most returns at this stage of your life.
2. Motivate yourself by converting the habit into a time bound challenge:
The key here is time bound. So, pick an amount of time that’s a healthy stretch, so that it’s not too easy or too difficult. And it gives you a sense of completion, the feeling of success when you complete the challenge. So, i went with sleep early for next 3 months since that felt like a no-big-deal and yet strong enough to create a lasting habit… You could find a length of time that’s a healthy stretch and you feel happy to commit to it.
3. Set yourself up for success:
You know yourself the best. So, ask yourself, what can i do to complete this challenge successfully. It could be letting your family know that you are doing this so they support you, creating an environment conducive for your challenge to happen, attaching the challenge to an already existing habit, creating a system to track progress. For me, sleeping early meant i would miss out on the time spent with family post dinner, and so i had to get their understanding. I also set a little alarm on my phone that would remind me to disconnect from gadgets and prepare for sleep.
We are creatures of habit. Let’s take baby steps to success.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
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