Let's Change Your Habits (and Make Sure It Sticks)
Dec 13, 2023
Are you finding it hard to break old habits? Don't worry, you're not alone. Many of us want to live on auto-pilot especially when we are tired, burnt out, overwhelmed, or stressed. But this auto-pilot living is akin to sleeping through life. It can lead us to a state of unfulfillment, lack of motivation, and often depression. It becomes hard to do anything different until we hit rock bottom. Then we overwhelm our mind with too much too fast and the cycle starts all over again.
We have to acknowledge this reality so the steps we take to make changes are able to stick. However, everything else teaches us to ignore this reality, push through it, and force it to change. This approach will never work long-term. So, we must do things differently.
We Must Do It Differently
First, we need to understand our goals. WHY do we want what we want and what is it all really about? This involves evaluating our ideal day. What does a life we love look and feel like on a day-to-day basis? Then, we have to look at our current day. Where is our time going right now? Once we have an understanding of our present, we can plan for the future. This is where time blocking comes in. We need to determine where our new habits make sense right now for immediate changes and what does our future life look like. Finally, we create an effortless plan. How do we make changes without creating burnout or stress so we break the cycle?
Step One: Goals
Remember, we are Human BEINGS not Human DOINGS. Stop asking what to DO and start by asking who you want to BE. Get out pen and paper… who do you want to be? What will this version of you have?
Step Two: Ideal Day
Think about the best version of yourself. What do they do on a day-to-day basis? Get out pen and paper and quickly write out how your day looks and feels. Is this in alignment with the person you want to be?
Step Three: Current Day
If your ideal life looks drastically different than your current life don't worry, you don’t have to fix everything today. But what can shift today? What needs to happen in the next 3 months? 6 months? A year? 5 years?
Step Four: Time Blocking
Look at how you currently spend your time from your prep work. Where would time for yourself fit in the best? Be honest with yourself, whatever you choose here needs to feel doable for the rest of your life. Does it align with the ideal version of yourself? Test, test, test and make changes (DO NOT GIVE UP)
Step Five: Effortless Plan
It’s imperative that the changes you choose FEEL easy. Anything other than auto-pilot will already feel hard, we can’t make it feel harder through our choices. It’s time to put together your plans! What do you need to do to prepare? Stay out of judgment, assigning meaning, and personalizing. If something doesn’t work, back to the drawing board with curiosity.
Steps to Change
GOAL: Do ANYTHING in your time block other than normal. Prepare in advance for your habit changes. Physically go to the area changes will take place. Do 5-10 minutes of your habit changes.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Happy habit changing!
