How To Make Your Healthy Habits Stick

I don't know about you, but I've had a really full summer.

When life gets really full, it can be easy to fall off track with the consistency of daily habits & routines that keep me feeling good, healthy, happy, & grounded.

Yeah, me. As much work as I have done in dialing my habits, I'm not immune to falling off track.
No one is. (don't let them fool you!)

I think it's a common misconception that people who have dialed in their habits, just always stick to them.

Just like it's a misconception that experienced meditators easily have a clear mind when they sit down to meditate.

Neither of these things are true.

What is true is that people who have dialed in their habits & routines in a way that lasts, know that what's important is to come right back to them when they lose consistency.

Just like experienced meditators know to bring their attention right back to their breath when their mind wanders in meditation.

Losing consistency in your habits is not a failure.

It's an opportunity to come right back to them. And usually with more ease every time.

This is what makes habits sustainable.

When you let go of feeling like you have failed & simply bring yourself back to your habit & feel proud of doing so, you are truly doing the work of creating lifelong habits of wellbeing.

Each time you bring yourself back to a habit, you also build trust in yourself that you are fully capable of doing so. Self-trust is an important piece.

It's just like bringing your attention back to your breath in mediation.

When we meditate, we anticipate our mind to wander. This is a reason that we often use our breath as an anchor for attention.

So if you feel like you have let some of your habits of wellbeing fall away in the midst of a busy summer like me (or anytime) I want to encourage you to remember the metaphor of coming back to your breath.

As my summer was busy & the days longer, I found that my sleeping schedule got later, which affected the time I have in the morning for things like mediation & exercise. I've done this before, and since I've built the trust in myself to always return, that's what I'm doing.
I'm coming back to my breath. I'm implementing the things that I know work for me to return to the consistency of the habits that support me so deeply.

I wish the same for you.

Whatever it is that you have lost consistency in, take a deep breath & bring yourself back to it.

Know that each time you lose consistency and bring yourself back, it gets easier to do so.

Wishing you wellness,

Shelly