Are your habits aligned with who you want to be in 2023?
I hope 2023 has been treating you well so far. Now that the holidays are over I have gotten back into more of a regular routine. It feels so good for both my body and my mind. I like to reevaluate my routines occasionally to make sure that everything I am doing is still aligned and working for me and my life.
We aim to get our routines and habits to be automated so we don't have to spend too much mental energy thinking about them as they become a part of our daily life. But sometimes something that once worked so well and was very needed becomes obsolete and needs to change or be replaced with something else.
The habits that helped you get where you are now will not be the same ones that will keep sustaining you for the rest of your life. They will morph and grow as you do. Let's say you started walking in 2022 or whenever really. When you first started walking maybe the goal was 3 days a week for 5 minutes, you just needed to create a small amount of time so you would be sure you did the thing. Over time, as you felt the benefits, that may have changed to 3 days a week for 20 minutes, and then maybe it changed again to 6 days a week for 30 minutes. That progression often happens naturally. However, sometimes we can get comfortable with how things are, stay static, and not continue to grow. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is what helps you realize your potential.
Several examples come to mind from my own life. When I first started meditating I would get up at 4:30 am so I could sit for 30 minutes before I needed to leave for work. I did that for several years. While I love meditating first thing in the morning, getting up at 4:30 was leaving me completely exhausted by 2 pm. By the time I picked Parker up from school, took her to her after-school activities, and made dinner, I had total brain fog and was exhausted and irritable. I realized that a 4:30 am wake-up call wasn't aligned with wanting to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night and my overall intentions for my health and wellness. Meditating was having the intended effects but at what cost? What ended up being more aligned for me was getting up at 5 am and meditating for 15 minutes and then finding 15 minutes later in the day or before bed. This pivot allowed me to get 71/2 to 8 hours of sleep and feel rested.
When the Pandemic started I committed to reading for 30 minutes before bed every night. It helped renew my love of reading, calm my mind before bed, and carve out the time I didn't think I had for reading. (We all say that we don't have the time but what we're really saying is it's not a priority right now. But I'll save that thought for another email.😉) Over the last several months, I wanted to spend even more time reading. I have tried to get to bed earlier and read then, but I've been inconsistent with it. I haven't been able to prioritize time during the day to sit and read because I need those hours to work when my mind is clear. I thought about listening to audiobooks but there is something so special about holding a book in my hands and turning the pages. I love learning and realized I could get the same result from different sources. Listening to podcasts instead of reading felt like the way to go. Being able to do other things like laundry, cooking, going for a walk, or any other number of things that I need to get done while listening to a podcast feels very aligned with my life.
When your habits work for you and your life, it helps you feel more aligned. There is a natural flow to things and life just feels easier. Being in flow helps to ease resistance and our all-or-nothing attitude because we know how to pivot and shift with our life, routines, and habits. We spend less time thinking about how we want our life to be because we are living the life we want.
There is a quote by Lao Tzu that I love, "Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force."
To be able to flow with life without needing any other force sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it? Who wouldn't want more of that in their life?
When was the last time you reevaluated your habits to see what's working and what needs to change? If this interests you but you don't know where to start comment below and tell me where you're stuck and I'll give you a few tips to help you move forward.