The New Year’s Rut

Do you find yourself getting motivated or inspired to do or start something, but find that keeping it up long term is harder than you thought? 

It happens! Especially around this time of year. So many of us find ourselves committing to a new habit, goal, dream, then by spring we wonder what the heck happened. If you struggle with consistency, read on:

Let's talk about behavior patterns. If you're trying to start a new behavior, way of thinking, or habit, you need to understand your behavior patterns-

1.       Thoughts- the way you think impacts the way you feel. For every event that occurs in your life, you have a thought about it. 

2.       Feelings- those thoughts create feelings. For example, if I want to go back to school to be a doctor, but I think I'm not smart enough, going back to school can cause some serious anxiety. 

3.       Actions- you act based on your thoughts and feelings. Sometimes this can lead to procrastination, giving up, or acting impulsively. So, I may be too afraid of failure to even apply for med school if I feel that I'm not smart enough and have anxiety about possibly failing. 

How do we fight that? 

1.       Check your thoughts- have some awareness of what you are thinking. Ask yourself "what are my beliefs about this?" 

2.       Work with your feelings- take a moment to identify what you're feeling. Name that emotion. Then, instead of pushing it away or beating yourself up for having feelings, remind yourself "feelings are not always fact," and, "feelings don't always have to become actions." Guess what?! You can have anxiety or be angry or feel sad without letting it run your whole life! You can work alongside those emotions and process them. It's totally a thing!

3.       Think before you act- now that you've become aware of your beliefs and emotions, take a moment to decide, "how do I want to respond?" Note: you don't always have to immediately take action on anything unless it's life or death. You have the power to pause, think, breath, assess, and then proceed. 

Real life example- working out is a love/sleep relationship with me. I LOVE working out, I always feel good mentally and physically. But some mornings I wake and just don't want to get out of bed (I know I'm not alone here). So, before I hit snooze, I say to myself "what are my thoughts around not wanting to work out this morning?" 

Sometimes it's thoughts like "I'm not seeing the exact results I want, so why keep going?" Other times it's "I didn't sleep well last night, and I know I'm going to really struggle to be productive at work if I don't get an extra hour of sleep." If it's the first thought, not getting exactly what I want out of my workouts, I usually feel defeated. And when I feel defeated, I don't want to work out. So instead of hitting snooze on that alarm, I hit snooze on that thought. I literally hype myself up and say "every time you work out you are healing your body and protecting it as best you can from future illness. Even if you don't see the results externally, they are happening internally." And voila, I get up. I work out. Am I always thrilled when I work out on those days? Absolutely not. But after my work out I always feel proud. Changing your actions can in turn change your future thoughts and emotions. It all works together. 

So, what are you waiting for?! Put this into practice and see what you learn about yourself and what new habits you can make routines!