Here we are almost two weeks into 2020. I’d love to hear how your New Year is going. It is often at this point that our resolutions or habits start dwindling and we start settling back into our old patterns. I wish we could sit down, face to face, and have a conversation. We could talk about what’s been hard, what’s been easy, and what’s surprised you. I was lucky enough to have a conversation like this with a dear friend this past week and there’s something she said that really struck a chord with me and I’d love to share it with you.
Do You Act Out of Fear?
She shared with me that when she’s working hard at something or trying to implement a new habit, it often comes from a place of fear. If we are honest with ourselves, I think that’s why a lot of us do what we do. We are afraid we might look a certain way, we are afraid we won’t be successful, we are afraid our relationships will fail, and we are afraid we won’t be able to get it all done. So we do all the things, work super hard, and perform so we can ensure those bad things don’t happen. It sounds grim, but when I was really honest with myself I found it to be true. When I was working on developing my habits, I often felt frantic because I wanted to get all my boxes checked off. I wasn’t focusing on how these habits were making me feel. I was focused on how I felt when I got them all done. There’s a stark difference there. The first will cause long term change while the second will only work for a short time. This is why I think we end up falling back into our old patterns by this second week in January. We need a better reason to do what we do.
Create Lasting Change
I’m adopting a new mindset thanks to this important conversation. What if instead of acting out of fear, we acted out of hope? Hope for joy, hope for feeling really good, hope for building strong relationships. I have 6 habits that I am working to create and/or strengthen this year and instead of focusing on being able to check 6 boxes every day, I’m being mindful about how good I feel when I implement them. I am doing all the things because they make me feel really really GOOD, bring me JOY, and give me HOPE that anything is possible! This is so much better than fear, you guys!
I am going to share what my daily habits are in hopes that I can inspire you to try something new or try something again that didn’t work for you before. Sometimes a gentle shift in mindset is all we need to find success.
- Wake up at 4:45 AM- I do this because it makes me a better human. Plain and simple. When I get time to myself to implement my morning routine that includes reading, writing, exercising, and praying, I am more joyful and peaceful, and a way better mom. I used to tell myself getting up at this time wasn’t possible for me until one day I decided that it was. It literally changed everything for me because it gave me the time to implement all the other habits I was trying to build.
- Drink A LOT of water. I’m not setting an exact target because trying to hit a water goal gave me that frantic feeling I’m trying to avoid. I’m just starting my day with 2-3 big glasses and then know I can get as much as my body needs throughout the rest of the day.
- Writing my morning pages. This is my daily meditation and prayer time. I do a brain dump on 3 pages every day. I got this idea from a life changing book called The Artist’s Way. The author, Julia Cameron, shares how writing 3 pages a day creates clarity and encourages creativity in ways you might never think is possible (i.e. the fact that I’m even writing a blog post right now came from this). This is everything. If you’ve never journaled, I highly encourage you to build this daily habit because you never know where it may lead you.
- Practice gratitude. In the past this has been an item I just checked off my list without letting my heart really settle into what it means. My goal is to make this habit soften my heart instead of being something I do to say I did it.
- Exercise. I run, cycle, walk, lift weights, do yoga, and sometimes just do pushups. But, I do something every day.
- Read at least 5 minutes every day. This is my newest habit. I’m committed to building not only a strong body for 2020, but also a stronger mind. Reading is crucial for that growth so I need to promise myself I will do this everyday.
There they are, the habits I’m currently focused on in 2020 because they bring me JOY! No, I don’t nail it every day. Not even close. But I try and that’s the most important part. Please know I’m not sharing this to toot my own horn. I’m sharing because I love applicable advice. I get giddy when someone shares something with me that I can start doing immediately to improve my life. My hope is to inspire even just one of my sisters to implement one of these habits, and that it might make you a more energized, joyful, and peaceful person in 2020.
