When you set an intention for what you desire in life and review it daily, you will begin creating and experiencing a transformation in your mind, body and soul. It feels good and you want more of that. Let’s take food for example. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet. It’s about asking yourself each time you eat – What will this cause me and what will this cost me? Will it cost an upset stomach, which will cause me to leave the party? Think about how you want to feel.
[pullquote]If you have trouble visualizing yourself reaching this goal, you will need to repeat your intention until you begin to believe it[/pullquote]. What you are doing is practicing and training your brain to adapt to a new way of thinking and reinforcing any resistance, struggle and feelings of not feeling good. Make tiny shifts in your mindset, your habits and your commitments to create sustainable change that bring about big results. Let’s start with the mindset.
Mindset
When we talk about our mindset we look at our conditioning, our patterns, our habits and our beliefs, from childhood. And when we reach our adult lives, we figure out what’s working for us and what’s not. We shift from this realization. Sometimes we have to unlearn what no longer serves us or the people around us.
Sometimes we need to learn for the first time what was never taught. Where do you get your information from? Your parents, your grandparents, watching the news or scrolling through Facebook? What do you believe and why do you believe it? Is it true? Are you believing thoughts that aren’t true that cause you to act or be someone you’re not happy with? What you see, you will become. What you think, you will create. Who you surround yourself with matters.
Permit yourself to let go of the idea of that taking care of you is selfish. Make it a selfless practice. How you begin your day, go through your day and end your day is a good place to begin inquiring. Changing your mind requires daily practice. This practice may include but not limit meditation, journaling or taking a walk in nature. Whatever your self care practice entails, it all begins in the mind and goes back to the mind. You let go of the idea of perfect. There is no perfect. Accept what is and do better next time. If you spent as much time and energy focused towards changing your mind to a more positive state – what would that look like for you?
Habits
A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur unconsciously. We know this. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavior patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways, but it is possible to form new habits through repetition.
The process by which new behaviors begin to become automatic is what I like to call the ‘habit hook.’ Linking two habits together to build a stronger bond and a solid, sustainable new habit. For example, dropping the kids off at school + heading straight to the gym + having a snack already prepared in your bag post workout. Or, beginning your day with setting an intention + meditating + while sipping your coffee or tea. This can work in the reverse as well as you unlink negative habits. We need to take back control.
[pullquote]We need to stop reacting to cell phones, text messages, our inboxes and the internet and focus on our self-care. [/pullquote]Then get to that other stuff. We need to create more positivity and avoid negative people and environments. We need to shift our minds to a more positive place to play. We need better habits that work for us and not against us.
We need to surround ourselves with motivating people, places and ideas if we are going to sustain and live our best life. What kind of habits do you have? Are they working for you? Are they working against you? If you made a list of your habits both positive and negative would one list be longer than the other?
Commitment
First, keep your word. It’s essential to your plan for change. What you say to yourself and others does count. If you tell yourself that you’re going to do something, do it. If you don’t, you’re broadcasting to the universe that you can’t be trusted or counted on or that you don’t keep your word. These broken promises wear down our self-esteem.
Your word, if not taken seriously is nothing but noise. And don’t we have enough noise in the world? Second, explore what your purpose is and what you would like to be, do or have. Third, write out your goals and put them somewhere that you see and read every single day. Post these in your office, as your screensaver on your phone or computer or on your bathroom mirror.
Look at them daily to plant these ideas in your subconscious mind. This is one of the most powerful things you can do. Believe in it, live in it and teach it to others.
