Feel stuck in a routine or standstill? Can’t move forward with your goals?
It’s the little things you do that often determine success or failure.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Just like many, when the New Year starts I spend quite a bit of time contemplating what’s next for me, what have I achieved during the previous year and how would I like to better myself. I try to be as realistic and honest as possible – that is the only way this can work, the only way to improve and change your life, steer it in the direction of your choice.
It seems like not an easy task to change yourself. Trust me, I get you. Sometimes, you just gotta do it for you. And if you’re struggling to keep it all together then take a breath and start with this challenge outline of which I found on
zenhabits.net :
How to Develop a Habit
Do a 30-day challenge, focusing on just ONE habit.
- Write it out on paper, along with your motivations, obstacles, and strategies for overcoming them.
- Commit fully, in a public way.
- Log your progress.
- Remain publicly accountable — report on your progress each day.
- Have support for when you falter — either in real life or online.
- Reward every little success.
- If you fail, figure out what went wrong, plan for it, and try again.
Read full article here
Last year, one of the habits I vowed to myself to start is reading every day. Now, I have a book with me anywhere I go and read (mostly) on my commute which adds to about an hour a day. For then I can’t have a book with me or forget to put it in my bag, I have the Kindle app on my phone with a range of books already downloaded, just in case. Now I feel anxious if I don’t get to catch up on my reading! I try to read a different type of book every time. I alternate between non-fiction and fiction, self-help, historical novels, autobiographies,…
If you don’t read much or at all, this is probably the first habit I would recommend to pick up.
As Todd Henry writes in his article on inc.com:
You can’t draw water from an empty well. Do you take time each day to fill yours? The quality of input that you curate often determines the quality of your creative output. As Steve Jobs once quipped, “creativity is just connecting things”, but to do so you obviously need things to connect.
I encourage you to set aside time each morning or evening to fill your well, to read inspiring or challenging books, to watch videos or listen to talks, or to otherwise fill your well so that you have something to draw from when engaging in your work.
There are a number of new habits I would like to pick up this year but I think I will start with these three:
1. Meditation
It trains the part of your brain that is responsible for willpower and self-control. Basically, meditation gives you the ability to train your mind, be more in control of your emotion, focus on your goals and ultimately – achieve them. Meditation also increases your sense of general well-being which makes you more positive and happier.
2. Excercise
I have an on and off relationship with working out, which, I guess, is not that uncommon. However this year I will make it one of my main priorities to have a more regular and frequent workout routine.
I read somewhere that most people who start sticking to a
fitness regimen will often find themselves adjusting their diet as well
even if they’re told not to. Two birds with one shot sound good to me!
It makes sense because if you’re working your ass off, you’re less likely to eat junk food right after because you know it undoes all your hard work.
Because these two habits basically come in a package together, it requires a lot of willpower to maintain – so if you can make them into full-fledged habits, you’ll be able
to take on smaller habits with ease. The more you train yourself to adopt new habits the easier it gets.
It is also likely that whilst you are working on a new habit, such as exercise and better eating as a result of it, feelings of being tired or foggy are consistently replaced with feeling better with every workout and/or choice of healthier dinner. And if you start feeling better on a day to day basis it makes it much easier to start adopting other good habits. This ability to improve your body’s day-to-day function makes fitness and diet an extremely powerful keystone habit.
3. Trying new things
Keeping your routine fresh will help you stay on track! I am a firm believer of this and whilst working on including more consistent habits of meditation, exercise and diet, I want to make sure to mindfully include new things to mix it everything up.
From cactus water to matcha tea instead of my morning coffee, making your daily routine exciting is the game changer. It’s easy at first to stick to the same regime, but after a while, you’ll get bored. That’s why you need to switch things up!
It takes discipline & motivation.
In order to be motivated, we have to motivate ourselves every single day.
Motivation is like taking a shower.
Remember that every time you feel you are not and go take a motivational shower asap.
It’s up to you how much you’ll achieve, how far you’ll go or how fast you’ll get there.
Love,
Hewnly
By Justina 