Pushing habits forward

Happy Monday!

We already reached the half mark of January, how are your resolutions going so far?

I know... we all need help. We also need to help ourselves. Sometimes, it is in the simplest of tweaks that we can find the biggest boost in our quest to conquer the self, as most resolutions go.

Here are a few reminders to help tide our resolutions forward this 2019! Aja!

Use that planner you soooooo passionately drank coffee for! :) 

There is power in scheduling stuff even if they are not appointment with others but rather appointments with yourself. That one hour walk at 7:00 in the morning/evening is just as important as your meeting with the CEO of your company. 

Schedule it, write it down, plan your day around things that will make you healthy, happy and joyful. 

You will soon realize that work, family, friends will just be as supportive and respectful of those schedules as you are.

I am just about in the league of the most forgetful people in the planet (if you’ve read this statement more than once in my blogs and posts, sorry, i forget). That is why, putting things in the right place so I am reminded to do them is very important to me.

One thing we should also remind ourselves with is our internal dispositions everyday. We should have, strategically located in our workspaces, homes, pockets, some reminders to be positive, to be recollected, to be kind... because these are the worst to forget.

To increase a habit, help yourselves by making it easy to do. Keep the materials within reach or within sight so that it is easy to do them. 

If you want to exercise for example, keep the running shoes and gym “costume” out before the end of day so that you wake up to them (or be reminded to get them to the car) the next morning. 

If you want to drink more water, keep a tumbler or glass of water handy (and refilled) in front of you all the time.

Where are your “habit tracker” apps located on your phone? In this image, I want to read more or listen to audio books more so I placed my Scribd button in the position where my fb messenger used to be. Since then, i have “accidentally” listened to the book in my Scribd account more often than usual. 

Technology can only get us to a certain point. Meet it half way and let it do its work for you.

Ok this is not how my desk looks like. Personally i want everything within reach, that’s my only requirement :) 

My point here is to have a desk, a space, a cockpit of control. When you have a space for work, it is easier to “get in the zone” to start working. 

This works also even for other habits like going for a walk or gym. Get yourself to the place where you can easily “get into the zone” to walk or work out. I discovered sometime back that some places simply induce the habit while some simply do not. So find that place for you. 

In the same manner, create a space in the home for relaxation and “no thinking” time as well. Your bedroom (or your bed alone if you live in an all-in-one space) should not have your checkbook, or laptop, or spreadsheets lying around so that it does not remind you of the million things you have to do. 

What is available for you to grab will likely end up in your system. Do not think you are disciplined, and focused enough to resist that cake in the fridge. Good if you are... but why subject yourself to the agony? 

Guilt free eating starts with the 👀 eyes. The less you have to binge on that will likely make you resent yourself, the better. Be kind.

Lastly, tweaking does not end here. Small changes in the home, office or even your bag can aid you with your promises to yourself when the year started. 

Let us all be continually improving on what we make available for ourselves to increase the quality of our lives and the level of our joy!