How are the habits you’ve developed supporting your growth? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Before you try to increase your willpower, try decreasing the friction in your environment.”
“If you can go to bed late, you can also get up early.”
Image from Unsplash by Yuri Antonenko
When we first go about creating a new habit, we often find it difficult. The behaviors we hope to embody are fragile and are easily broken. Eating well, exercise, and even flossing can be fraught with all sorts of false starts and missteps.
When we try to break our bad habits, we also run into difficulties.
Impulse shopping, excessive media exposure, and various forms of overindulgence seek to grab us and hold us captive in their alluring grasps.
EXERCISE:
Create a list of your healthy and unhealthy habits.
Select one habit you wish to establish and one you intend to discard.
Consider reading or re-reading Atomic Habits by James Clear or The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg to optimize your efforts and likelihood of success.
Image from Unsplash by Chase Baker
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is one of my all-time favorite books.
I’ve read it numerous times over the years and even participated in several workshops and seminars based on its wisdom.
For some unknown reason I can’t recall ever seeing today’s quote.
The idea that our habits can be created and strengthened at the intersection of our knowledge, skills, and desires really hits home!
EXERCISE:
Draw a Venn Diagram with three overlapping circles to include each of these attributes.
Place the word Habit where the circles intersect and consider displaying this visual in an area you visit often to foster your capacities to create and strengthen the habits you most desire.
Image from Unsplash by Jenny Hill
Meditation, exercise, and sleep are three of my most restorative activities.
Whenever I find myself a bit off my game or feel out of sorts, I go to these habitual activities to renew and restore my balance and well-being.
When meditating, the focus is often on the breath where the inhale picks you up and the exhale calms you down.
Knowing this is not enough.
It’s in the daily practice that we ingrain the capacity to routinely smooth out the rough edges of our lives.
EXERCISE:
What activities do you use to pick you up and calm you down throughout your day?
Consider exploring this subject with friends and family to expand your repertoire of options.
Image from Unsplash by Nubelson Fernandes
How true is today’s quote for you?
What habits do you stick with regardless of the circumstances?
Consider the areas of family, health, faith and your vocation. What tried-and-true behaviors occur like clockwork even when facing the winds of change?
Just as a sturdy tree can yield and bend with the breeze, our good habits act as roots that keep us upright and grounded regardless of the weather.
EXERCISE:
Where in your life do external circumstances make keeping your good habits difficult?
How can you shore up these best practices with greater discipline and grit to keep up your forward momentum whatever comes your way?
Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan
Today’s quote is one of my favorites.
It is all too easy these days to be discouraged by the troubling issues facing the world, given our instant access to current events. If it bleeds it leads has never been more prominent in our society.
There is, however, an abundance of good news out there if we look for it — or better yet, if we create it.
Although we can be overwhelmed and daunted by many challenges, we can also channel our inner Anne Frank as we rise each day to improve our part of this precious world.
Changing up your news feed habits may also be worth a go!
EXERCISE:
Where are you waiting and holding back on your best efforts to improve the world?
What are some steps you can and will take now and throughout 2024 to make your life and that of others more wonderful?
Image from Unsplash by Pille R. Priske
Taking a daily walk and meditating each morning are habits I’ve had for many years.
These activities begin most days stress free and mindfully aware.
When the rest of my day gets going and things heat up, I can sometimes lose my balance and my cool.
To regain my centeredness, I often find the mundane chores of cooking and cleaning help restore my well-being.
The act of chopping vegetables for a stir fry and simply tidying up does wonders to restore a bit more Zen in my days.
EXERCISE:
What are some of the mundane actions you take throughout your days to restore and renew yourself?
Feel free to reply to this post if your care to share what works well for you.
Image from Unsplash by Ricardo Cruz
What is your personal assessment of your health? Consider all aspects including your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual status.
What current habits and practices enhance your well-being and nourish your vitality?
Despite all of our best Blue Zone efforts, we all eventually decline and rust.
Our telomeres shorten and our cells don’t always replace themselves with the exact genetic codes of our youth.
I’ve heard that over the years about 70% of our health can be positively influenced by our actions.
Regardless of the exact number it is in our best interest to keep our life swords sharp and strong.
EXERCISE:
What factors in your world act like salt water, having a corrosive effect on your life?
How can you minimize or eliminate their toxic effects to optimize your chances of a long and healthy life?
Check out Blue Zones and investigate the work of the Human Longevity Institute for some approaches being used to galvanize our lives for the better.
Image from Unsplash by mostafa mahmoud
Are you an early bird of a night owl? How would you describe your current circadian rhythm?
What are the personal and professional benefits and pitfalls of operating this way?
As an early bird myself, I find it easy to make my case of why the early bird gets the worm.
On the down side, I’ve been labeled a party-pooper by a number of folks over the years as they point out all the excitement I often miss by turning in early.
EXERCISE:
Seek out people in your life who operate best at different points in their days.
Have them share all the ups and down they have discovered over the years.
What priority commitment do you have that might benefit from swapping out when your head hits and rises from your pillow?
Image from Unsplash by Arek Adeoye
Taking a walk in the morning is one of my most enjoyable habits. Watching the sun rise, acknowledging my early bird neighbors, and getting a bunch of enthusiastic greeting from the dogs who take their owners for a stroll are some highlights.
Early last week I got an extra special hello from Rosie and Jacque, both Golden-doodles, as they jumped and nuzzled into my arms, awaiting their expected belly rubs. The experience felt like a gift from God.
EXERCISE:
Consider reading or re-reading Thoreau’s classic book, Walden to examine the many blessings he discovered through his two-year immersion into the natural world.