How do we push ourselves to do things that we most want to in life?
I’m talking about both the things we know are important so we can be healthier and the things we know we want to do to become the people we are truly meant to be. It’s easy to sit down and write a list of habits we want to change, hobbies we want to try and goals that we have for ourselves. The trouble often comes when we try to implement these things. If you’re like me, you often start a project full of steam and excited to dig into it. After a few days or weeks, life starts to get in the way, you lose your focus, and you find yourself back out of the habit.
What happens next is really no good – you get down on yourself. You get frustrated that you weren’t able to follow through and you figure that you just can’t make it happen. What if you had a new way of approaching these goals? A way that broke it down into easier to handle steps, where you could focus on 1 new habit at a time instead of trying to create total change overnight.
I recently watched a great video by Matt Cutts where he discussed an idea of Morgan Spurlock’s – try something new for 30 days. The concept is to take something that you want to do and do it consistently for 30 days. Getting yourself in the habit of focusing on one thing for 30 days takes away the feeling of being overwhelmed and can be really empowering at the end of the month. Here’s how you can get started right away:
Set your goal for the month – If you have many goals for the new year, write them all down. Then prioritize. If you could know that you would have one solidly in place a month from now, which one would make you feel like you’ve made the most progress? It could be exercising everyday, keeping your kitchen clean, or spending time outside – whatever you want! Pick one goal for each month. You don’t need to pick them all right now.
Know what you need to make it happen – If you’re going to need the support of others or if you’ll have to change your schedule around a bit, do it now so that it can’t get in the way. If you want to start cooking more, pick recipes that you want to try ahead of time and make sure you have what you need in the kitchen. It can be pretty easy to set ourselves up for success – it just takes a little preparation.
Write it down – It’s much easier to stay with something if you’re writing it down. This could be as simple as a list with every day of the month where you put a check mark when you’ve done your current new thing. If you want to really keep track of what the change is doing for you, write in more detail so you can see the progress you’ve made over the course of the month.
Once you’ve done this 30 Day Challenge a couple of times, you’ll likely start to see how simple it can be to create change in your life when you’re not trying to make it all happen overnight. So are you up for it? Share your first challenge in the comments below or over in the Sacred Becoming Sanctuary, and get support from others in the community as you create lasting change.
Peace, Love, and Wellness,
