Create Healthier Habits, 5 Minutes at a Time

Creating a new habit is never easy, especially when you're busy. You start out inspired and excited to start a new adventure and create a new habit. Then, life gets in the way and you find yourself unable to maintain it. What's your logical conclusion????

You're not diciplined enough. You say things to yourself that are less than kind and you beat yourself up. You might even begin to identify yourself as someone who just can't do it. Maybe it's in your nature? Maybe you're too lazy? Maybe....you're just not one of "those people" who can seem to stick with their goals, those people are more diciplined.

This belief can have a pretty negative effect on your morale and it can even set you up for failure in the future. How? Be teaching you to identify yourself as someone who just can't seem to get it together. It actually becomes a part of your identity.

So, how do you break this vicious cycle? I've found a system that has really worked for me, maybe it would help you as well? It's inspired by a wonderful book called "Atomic Habits," by author James Clear. Perhaps you've heard of it?

The word "Atomic" is a very interesting and seemingly perfect choice. It both represents something small, but mighty. It represents the idea that with even small changes can have a dramatic and powerful effect. The subtitle for the book is "Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results".

Here's how I've applied it to my life, it's called the 5-Minute Challenge. It's exactly how it sounds. If I commited 5 minutes a day, on some new habit or task, there was less resistance. Surely, I could do just 5 minutes. As long as I was consistent, these 5 minutes started really adding up and before I knew it, I had a new habit.

That 5 minutes actually became quite easy. I would often feel like I wanted to continue longer. Now, that isn't always the case, you have to know in the back of your mind that you really can stop in 5. Otherwise, your brain quickly catches on and thinks it's "being tricked". This might sabatoge your efforts and the mind will begin to resist.

One of these 5 minute habits evolved into journaling, which I've been doing almost every day for a year now. And, it doesn't feel like a big burden or something I "have to do". Instead, it actually feels like a natural part of me, it's become part of my identity. I now see myself as someone who journals, not someone who has to get up to journal. I look forward to it and actually love the process.

For you, it doesn't have to be journaling, it can be anything. You can try:

• reading something inspiring
• meditating
• a fast walk outside
• 5 minutes of breathing soft, inhale deep, exhale slow

Perhaps, if you've been trying to establish a habit of being more consistent with a home yoga practice, you can try to apply this method to that as well. If you wold like to try a 5 minute yoga practice that I created just for this reason, feel free to click here to try it for FREE, it's on my Youtube Channel.

So please, don't give up on yourself. Be humane with yourself, it's natural and understandable to find it hard to create a new pattern of behavior. Look at yourself with compassion, not judgment. You are more than worthy of your own love, compassion and patience and you deserve to have healthier habits, they will improve the quality of your life and those you love.

Be well,

Deb