Look At The Positive

Going back to the beginning of how we form habits, they all start with a cue, then a craving, the response to the craving or trigger, and finally a reward. I have too many habits on the go. It’s like starting new projects such as learning to crochet or taking up painting. We find ourselves putting all our time and energy into these things for about a week, then we slowly stop and get back into our old routine. So, when it comes to building new habits for our mental health, starting slowly and keeping it interesting will help us push forward and keep it at a steady pace. Focus on habits that work together, such as journaling and then meditating right after. With practice, we will automatically start developing new habits without noticing much, then those old habits will become history, and we can move onto more meaningful goals. I gave up. Or I gave in to my temptation. Let’s say that these new habits are starting to work, but then we become lazy one day, and nothing terrible happens. So, we think, Well, if nothing bad happened and I skipped my habit for the day, then it’s not so bad, and I don’t need to continue. Next thing we know, a week goes by, and we are back to experiencing anxiety and feelings of panic out of nowhere.

Any Way At All

Now we’re thinking, Oh no, where did I go wrong? This is called giving in to temptation, whether wanting to skip the habit or deciding that we’re fine without it. So, how can we conquer these temptations? Make the habit more inviting than the temptation. While many barriers come our way when we start new habits to better ourselves, every barrier may sound somewhat similar to the three I mentioned above. The goal is to find the problem and change the way we are making the habit, or the place we are trying to create our habit in. This is why it’s beneficial to have a buddy who wants to create similar life changes like you. Together, you can identify each other’s barriers and help each other push past them. What Happens if I Fall Off Track? You might be thinking, Where did I go wrong? Before we succumb to our thinking traps and become super negative, stop, Pat yourself on the back for even realizing that you have fallen off track. Look at the positive. Just because we have strayed from a routine we were trying to implement doesn’t mean we need to give up altogether. See this as an opportunity to journal, to write down what you are feeling at this point. Write down what you were trying to do before you slipped, when you noticed and when you remember the last time you practiced your new habits, and then create a plan to move forward. If you have notes from what you were doing previously, take a moment to read these over to get back on track.

Life Was Never Intended To Be Simple

The thing about creating new habits is that sometimes they don’t fall into place with our lifestyles. So, we have two options. Change our lifestyle to fit our habits. Change our habits to suit our lifestyle. Option B is usually the easier way to do things since our lives are always changing, and new things are always happening around us. Whether we are attending our best friend’s wedding, which takes up our time or finding out we are pregnant or someone we know is. Anything can happen instantly, which is why it can be challenging to change our lifestyle or implement new habits in our lives. Also, we all have those days where we just aren’t feeling into doing anything. While this is okay, it’s best not to create a habit of procrastinating and continue putting things off. The reason behind the habit is your winning ticket. It’s the motivation behind your success. If we’re making a habit just because someone else told us to try, then we’re most likely bound to fail.

Not A Second Time

However, if we are doing it because we want to see change, opportunity, and to work on ourselves, that is enough reason to continue pushing forward. By the way, journal the reasons for your new habit in your habit tracker or planner so that you can return to these reasons for motivation on those ‘off’ days. The reason has to be good enough for you so that you can return to the habit and say, ‘I want this’. This is one way you can use option A to implement your habit into your life, by changing your lifestyle to support your growing habit. Now that this has been penciled in, try doing this at the same time every day. Over time, you will start to recognize what you are doing before you start your new habit and what you feel afterward, ultimately resulting in a successful routine. Go over your barriers again. Take a look at the barriers I mentioned. Can you think of any other barriers that lead you to fall off track? Eventually, you will fight against all your barriers, and your habit will become automatically structured inside your mind so that you don’t fall off the wagon again. Call up your behavior spotters and habit buddies. Remember the behavior spotters I mentioned previously? I strongly recommend you find one of your own if you haven’t already. These habit buddies are here to support and help us when we fall. Make sure it’s someone you like to hang out with, someone you can connect with, and someone who knows what you are trying to do. Failing is part of success because it helps us learn where we went wrong. So in actuality, did you fail, or did you learn to become more resilient? If we’re trying to start our habit of meditating, we would start small by first figuring out what time of day we want to feel relaxed or more focused on the task.