I know from personal experience that it is far easier to wane from a schedule than it is to continue with it. I’ll often hear:
“Hmm… it's too early/late in the day. I’ll do it later.”
“I’m too overwhelmed to focus or relax. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“I need _____ to get started, and I don’t have it, so I have to wait.”
I challenge you to challenge those thoughts.
The moment you begin to talk yourself out of doing something on your schedule, I recommend you do two things
Move forward with a quick “GO” action.
Celebrate the small wins.
Let's start with number 1: move forward with a quick "GO" action. Let’s say you want to practice yoga. It's on the schedule, but you're too overwhelmed with work and just feel "bleh". Your GO actions would be to:
Stand up.
Walk to your yoga mat with your laptop.
Stand on the mat or roll it out if it’s not already on the floor.
Pick a short-ish class.
Press start.
Getting started and showing up is truly the most challenging part!
(Sometimes even more challenging than your core work.)
Show up and then do it again tomorrow. Why? Because repetition is how we build capacity and prove to ourselves that we can be consistent and make yoga a regular part of your life.
Continuing with number 2: Celebrate the small wins. Yes, reward yourself!
Continuing with the yoga example, you could say to yourself, “after I practice for 15 minutes, I'm going to get up and munch on some chocolate chips,”. Typically by the time you to the stopping point, you either 1. Enjoy the rest or treat and get a dopamine release 2. Will want to keep practicing or may not even want the external reward because you'll have the dopamine and epinephrine.
Rinse and repeat, over and over again. This is how we build consistency.
So I’ll ask you - do you have a practice that you want to build or re-build?
Take a moment and think about this.
Maybe it’s meditating, flossing your teeth, practicing 15 minutes of yoga in the morning…
Imagine yourself executing. Imagine the consistency. If it helps, imagine the grind (like an athlete).
Visualize yourself reaping the benefits of your practice and sharing your wins with loved ones.
Whatever the practice is, know that I’m rooting for you!
- Megan
