The Art of Healthy Habits and Routines
We can all get caught up in habits and routines that may not be the healthiest. These so-called unhealthy behaviors can become very frustrating for the individual involved because truthfully, habits and routines are just so darn difficult to break! These behaviors become part of a repetitive cycle that you will notice often results from an impulsive or unconscious state. To add further annoyance to this, is the feeling of your actions being on default mode. Moving and doing automatically, without intention or without detailed planning. I have to say that this default setting is what will very often feed the survival of such negative and unhealthy behaviors.
While you may know deep down that no desirable outcome can arise from such negative behaviors or habits, it’s easy to continue engaging in them over and over again.
Here are some of those habits and routines that you may be familiar with:
Spending excessive time on social media and not enough time on the things that add value to your life.
Cozying up on the couch instead of exercising like you told yourself you would do.
Grabbing a donut for breakfast instead of taking time out to make a breakfast smoothie.
Letting go of your self-care practices because you believe you just don’t have enough time.
Focusing solely on work and neglecting other parts of your life like friendships, self-care, your health and your emotional wellness.
Taking your clothing off and instead of hanging them in the closest, putting them on top of your bed, side chair or on an exercise machine.
Smoking or drinking alcohol to numb pain vs talking about it.
Finding excuses to get out of something you know would be really good for you (like dinner with a friend, a follow up medical or wellness appointment, a deep dive conversation with a loved one).
Overcommitting yourself because it simply pains you to say "NO."
Making promises you don't keep.
Judging others and interfering in how they live their lives.
Let it be known that this happens to all of us. While I myself am a creature of habit and routine, I can admit to slip ups here and there. Face it, no one is perfect! Life is filled with beautiful imperfections and guess what? We all have them. The wonderful news in all of this is that each day allows us an opportunity at change. It’s a choice you do have. You can keep things as they already are or you can jump on in and work on immediately changing those behaviors that add absolutely no value to your life.
As I close up, here is my friendly reminder to you. I know changing a "bad habit" or an "unhealthy routine" is not easy. If it was, you would have changed it a long time ago. It will make you uncomfortable in many ways when you begin the change process, however, know that it's ok to be in the uncomfortable. If you learn to be in the uncomfortable just for a bit longer, it will give you just enough time to break your old habits and just the right amount of time to bring in a new, even better one. It really is a mindset choice that starts with YOU!