We are creatures of habit whether we like admitting that or not. Almost daily we will repeat the same patterns and choices in the routine of our daily lives. Habits form from our routines and quickly become embedded in how we spend our time, make choices and how empowered we feel to bring changes to our lives.
For us to change something about our life we often must look at our habits as the source of where change needs to be applied. Breaking or changing a habit is a challenge as it takes us from our comfort zone and asks us to form a new habit that is hopefully better for us in the long run.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Habits are forceful creatures that can seem near impossible to break or change. We often may not even realize we have a habit until someone else points it out to us or we go to try something new.
For example, when you drive to work you most likely stay in the same lane, drive approximately the same speed and park in the same area almost every day. After awhile we may not even remember that we drove to work because this route is so familiar to us.
Now if there was construction or some other reason we had to be diverted on our way to work we would instantly become more aware in our driving because we would be in a new path with new surroundings that are different than our typical day. It is nature that we would be more focused and attentive to where we were going.
The same thing happens when we change something more directly personal to our health. Our bodies are self-programmed to be hungry around the same time that we eat every day and most of us eat a familiar diet almost every day. Hello Taco Tuesday anyone? Pizza Friday?
When you want to introduce change to your physical health your first reaction is to be more aware of what is going on in your body. You feel hunger, thirst, cravings or stress from doing something different than what you would normally eat. This can sometimes be so powerful that we cave in and revert back to what is familiar, comforting and soothing and say we have failed at dieting. It is also why it seems like when we are more focused on our eating we think we are more hungry than we really are. It’s all because we are more conscious of what we are doing and intentionally applying a change that we’re not used to doing.
Even emotional changes like committing to increasing time to yourself can be stressful to habits you have already in place that dominate your schedule and attention. Again, you are creating a consciousness of awareness to your time and feel “pressure” to make room for something new or different.
When we feel stressed about a change this is where we are at risk for just giving up or slipping back into old comfortable habits that we don’t have to think about.
Starting Fresh
While changing or breaking habits is hard we know ultimately that work has to be done if we want to reclaim our time, health, identity, and whole self. There are several ways we can approach tackling habit changes and really the only wrong way is to give up when one way doesn’t work for us.
I don’t know that it necessarily has to be painful to break a pattern but I don’t think it can always be done without at least a little discomfort along the way. Change isn’t always easy but I do think it takes intentional focus that is consistent for long term gains in making a habit change.
All this month, we’ve been focusing on increasing our self-love including finding time to focus on ourselves. Now, I get the whole busy calendar day because mine is usually packed from the time I get up to the time I go to bed between work and home. Having 2 minutes to myself most days is tough. So rather than try to cram one more thing into my day that demands time, I am seeking ways to overlay what I’m already doing with something focused just on me.
So for me this past year that meant swapping out my favorite Diet Dr. Pepper with water. It took me a couple months to work through that but eventually from having both a water and soda on my desk I found I was more frequently reaching for the water over time. One day it was just the water on my desk and has been ever since. I was able to swap one thing over time without pressuring myself to sacrifice or feel deprived. Now I rarely have a Diet Dr. Pepper and in fact the last time I stopped in for a treat with my son to get a fountain soda, it tasted horrible and I didn’t even like it.
Feeling confident with this small win, I’m now focused on something else I’d like to have in my life under the category of self-love. Namely how to have more active movement in my day. So far that has meant getting up and walking in circles in my office during conference calls or when I’m on mute doing a couple squats. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to swap a conference call for time to exercise but at least I’m getting creative about when and how I try to sneak in something.
Long Road Ahead
Yes, in the long run it is important to find ways to include healthier choices, active movement and self-love in our day but how we get there can be our own design and on our own time.
The key is consistency and small creative ways that work for you. You know some days I can’t walk in circles in my office during a conference call because I’m presenting something or have to do a lot of talking. There are days I am slammed and can’t move much at all sadly. However, when I get the chance I’m looking for ways to not sit in my chair – even if that’s just to walk in a tiny circle in my office. Long term I’d love to be able to get to the room where we have our treadmill setup and take a conference call on that.
The point is the first step is being mindful of what we’re doing and carefully applying changes where it makes sense to our lives. If getting up a 4 AM to workout is ideal for you that’s incredible, go for it but for the majority of us its going to take some smaller creative options to find a path perfect for us.
Partner Along the Way
As I’ve assessed what habits I’d like to focus on and find ways to change I have been intentionally using oils that support that process. I’ve been using pen and paper to jot down ideas, thoughts and the sketch of some goals I’d like to use as challenges.
A caution about goals is you need to make them challenging yet achievable. If all your goals go unmet time after time you’re going to become goal resistant and feel you never get a win.
For me I’ve found great support in this thought process with using:
Patchouli for increasing my feelings of inner strength. Patchouli is the oil of manifestation that can lead to action.
Wild Orange is great for building up your confidence that you can accomplish goals and changes
Lime centers your ambition to generate an excitement and optimism for positive changes you can introduce
Eucalyptus is an oil for clearing out discouraging thoughts and ideas that you should just give up and all hope is lost.
Interested in more?
Make 2019 the year you focus more on how to include self-love into you days and support yourself naturally on a healthier journey. If you have any questions about the oils mentioned in this post please reach out to me.
amyk@dragonspitapothecary.com
Wholesale members receive at least 25% off all the oils mentioned in this post as well as all the other certified pure essential oils and products sold through doTERRA. Become a member today and select one of our fantastic starter sets to begin your natural health journey!
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