By Tanna Wood<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we all know, the New Year means it is time to make those\ndreaded resolutions we don\u2019t keep but make anyway because it makes us feel as\nif we have good intentions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know, the resolutions that say you will lose 25 lbs.,\nride your bike, hike at least one of the places on your bucket list, eat healthier, write a book, spend more\nquality time with family. Heck, spend\nmore quality time with your friends, get up earlier, go to bed earlier, pay off\ndebt, meditate daily, go to yoga five days a week, run a 5K, swim three days a\nweek, journal every day. The list is endless for heaven’s sake and a little\noverwhelming if you ask me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact that I think I can make a declaration at the end of\nthe year to even do one of these things is a little ambitious and not even a\ngood idea for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is what I know about myself. I will use myself as an\nexample because I know most of you would never fall into this category. You all\nare probably better at these things than me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I have been on the search for how to build a good new\nhabit that I love and will follow. I will tell you; there is a lot of\n“advice” out there. So, if this feels like “advice” to you,\nyou can ignore what I am about to say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don’t claim to be the expert; however, what I do know is, a\nnew habit needs to be easy to start, or more than likely, I won\u2019t stick with\nit. As a society, we like “ease.” Please don’t kid yourself; we will\nalways choose the most direct approach in our minds. Our brains are so full and\noverstimulated these days that pushing an “easy” button seems like we\nare just giving ourselves a break. Why do you think Alexa was invented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stop the madness and start small. I mean small, like micro\nsmall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me, is deciding to do ten pushups each day. I\nhave to say, it takes all of 2 minutes, and it is doable without extreme\neffort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small is me is telling Alexa to set the alarm for 2\nminutes and then writing in my gratitude journal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is downloading the Calm app and doing a 2-minute\nmeditation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is taking the 1 flight of stairs each day when\nI take out my dog out to do her business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small is reading three pages in a book each morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is cooking at home one day a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is folding one load of laundry each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is making my bed every morning before I do\nanything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is keeping a jug of water always in the\nfridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is putting my running shoes on each\nmorning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the other thing I consider is how do I give myself more\ntime to do the things I want to do. Knowing the key to success is it needs to\nbe easy to start, and I am willing to build a good habit from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me was eliminating my social media apps from\nmy phone, so I won’t automatically check what is going on. If I want to know\nwhat food someone took a picture of or what one of my “friends”\nthinks about Trump, I can always login and hope I remember my password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small to me is prepping the coffee at night, so I save\nthat time in the morning to do something else for 2 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micro small is identifying what I do as a routine each\nmorning and deciding how I can add 2 minutes to stack and new habit in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I realize is that if I take all this in micro small\nincrements, then it becomes a habit that I can build on. I like small\nvictories, by the way, and these are small victories every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things may seem too much or not enough, but what is\nimportant more than how much I’m doing is that I am doing it consistently. The brain doesn’t care how much time you\nspend on it but does care how consistent you are. That is what builds new\nhabits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trust me when I say you will add new layers and more time to\nnew habits naturally because you like it, and it satisfies a desire you\nhave. The other thing I like about\nmicro-small habits is that when I realize I have these new habits, I become\nthat person that does these things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So as of this day, I can tell you that I am a person that\nmediates, journals, reads, works out daily, eats healthy at least one time a\nweek, goes to bed early and gets up early. \nI find small victories in each micro small movement, and I believe in\nprogress, not perfection. That is not a bad start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong. I want to lose 25 lbs., ride my bike, do\nyoga three times a week, eat healthier, go hiking in one of my bucket list\nplaces, write a book, spend more quality time with friends and family, meditate\ndaily, swim three days a week, become debt-free, and be the best version of me.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I also know I didn\u2019t get here overnight, and Rome wasn\u2019t\nbuilt in a day. For me to make a declaration or resolution to do all these\nthings and not understand how I work, I will sabotage myself and feel defeated\nuntil I figure it out and get building new habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good luck on those New Year\u2019s resolutions if that is your\nthing. If not, maybe focus on the micro small things that help you get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tanna Wood As we all know, the New Year means it is time to make those dreaded resolutions we don\u2019t keep but make anyway because it makes us feel as if we have good intentions. You know, the resolutions that say you will lose 25 lbs., ride your bike, hike at least one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[549],"yoast_head":"\n