I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
I love my clients - for a whole bunch of reasons but one of the most delightful is that they say such insightful things. Yesterday I was coaching with a client who was looking at ways to let go of some holiday obligations. You know how it is - the usual running around like crazy, caught up in old habits and feeling overwhelmed.
Then she said:
The holidays are just a microcosm of life.
Insightful! During the holidays…
- Do you find yourself doing things out of habit, guilt or obligation?
- Do you spend time on less significant things at the expense of more important ones?
- Does how you spend your time reflect your priorities?
- Does gift giving become a substitute for something else?
- Are acts of charity just items on your to-do list?
My client’s little insight reminded me of the Zen saying:
How you do one thing is how you do everything.
Chances are if things are a little out of whack during the holidays - overwhelmed, overindulged, over spent, over committed - then likely in some form they are that way during the rest of the year as well.
Give yourself a little gift.
Stop and consider how the holidays are a microcosm for your life. Think about the activities that are a good reflection of you and your values. Think about the activities that don’t align so well with what’s really important. Now’s a great time to begin planning what simple changes you’d like to make in the new year.
Post a comment and share your holiday insights.
Today is day 30 of the 30 day challenge.
Congrats!
You made it. Today is the day to begin your celebration. It’s been great accompanying you on this journey.
You now have the tools to create a new habit. Use what you have learned this month and apply it to a new habit that you would like to master. Building a series of personal success habits begins just like this. Get one habit working, then add another one in.
Please share your success stories by posting a comment.
My challenge…
Cal is one happy dog. He’s loved getting out on a regular basis and doing dog stuff. He’s a clever guy. He watches carefully to see what I’m wearing and which shoes I’m reaching for. Not sure how he knows what “walk clothes” are, but he does! It used to be that he could hear the jiggle of his leash from anywhere in the house. His hearing is not so good anymore but his eyesight is just fine. It’s been great for me to remember all the things I loved so much about our walks. I really look forward to my daily dose of dog wisdom and am grateful to have re-created this habit.
What’s your 30 day success story?
Today is day 29 of the 30 day challenge.
Take time today to plan the celebration of your 30 day challenge. Too often we deny ourselves celebrations because we think, “I could have done better.”
No matter how well you did, celebrate your successes this past month. If you held fast to your commitment, bravo! If you stumbled along the way, celebrate that you were on a learning path.
Consider what you would do for or say to a friend who had been participating in this challenge. Be that nice to yourself!
Tune in tomorrow as the celebration begins.
How will you celebrate?
Today is day 28 of the 30 day challenge.
In two days you will come to the end of this challenge to create a new habit. Now’s the time to think about the next step - a beginning rather than an ending.
Plan for day 31 by deciding how you will keep the momentum of the last month going. Build on what’s been working. Tweak things that haven’t been working. Have coffee with your buddy and design a new or continuing game plan.
If you’ve stuck with the challenge all month, then you are well on your way to having a new habit that will stick. But it won’t happen all by itself. Planning what comes next is the key to your continued success.
If things haven’t gone as well as you had hoped, day 31 is a great time to begin again. Go back to the first posts on the challenge and recommit to your new habit.
Tune in tomorrow as we begin to celebrate.
What’s your ongoing plan?
This is day 27 of the 30 day challenge.
Thanks to Deb for sharing her role model, an 88 year old woman named Gwendolyn who made a commitment to healthly living in her 50’s. Read Gwendolyn’s inspiring story and see that she’s a leader we can all follow.
Today’s tip:
We’ve almost come to the end of the 30 day challenge. Now is a good time to evaluate your progress.
How successful were you in meeting your goal?
What worked well?
Where did you get stuck or distracted?
What was the key to your success?
Is your new habit beginning to feel like part of your routine?
Take a few minutes to think about how far you’ve come in the past month. Check in with your buddy for some objective feedback.
Be honest with yourself. Did you stick with it or did you let yourself off the hook? Remember evaluation is just a place to pause before you take the next step.
Tune in tomorrow when we plan for what’s next.
Are you further ahead than you were 27 dys ago?
Today is day 26 of the 30 day challenge.
Today’s tip:
Whether it’s an old habit or a new one, one of the keys to success is to recommit to your priorities on a daily basis.
Life has a way of tossing you all kinds of distractions - some wonderful and some not so much. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of each day to refocus and recommit to those things that matter most to you is a great way to give the distractions less power.
Today is the only day you have. Being in a place of conscious choice about how you will spend your time and energy lets you be consistent with your new habits and keeps old habits part of your daily routine.
How can you recommit each day?
List your priorities & commitments at the beginning of the day.
Practice affirmations.
Look at your visual reminders.
Plan ahead and schedule.
Success comes day by day, and sometimes hour by hour. When you make it a habit to recommit to what is at the top of your list, you’ll find that you spend less time reacting to other people’s priorities.
Tune in tomorrow when we’ll check in with how you are doing.
What’s your daily recommitment ritual?
Today is day 25 of the 30 day challenge.
Who is the person who inspires you the most when you think of your new habit?
Perhaps it’s someone who has already included your habit consistently in their own life. Perhaps it’s someone who has overcome some kind of adversity or someone who holds a particular outlook on life.
Rely on that person to be your role model as you continue to build consistency in your routine. If it’s someone you know, ask what success strategies they use.
If it’s someone who you don’t know personally, imagine what advice they might give you. See if they have a website or read their book. Look for a tidbit of wisdom that can become part of your visual reminder or affirmation.
You don’t have to re-invent the wheel. It’s okay to follow the leader.
Tune in tomorrow and recommit.
Who is your role model?
Today is day 24 of the 30 day challenge.
Henry Ford once said:
”If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
What he was trying to say was that your thoughts create your reality. Your self talk plays a huge role in your success in anything you do. Become more aware of your internal talk and shift it to a more positive tone when it slips into negative chatter.
Take time for a reality check.
What reality are you creating for yourself?
What are your predominant thoughts about your new habit and your ability to stick with it?
Are you creating a “Yes I can” reality?
Take a look at the visual reminders you’ve posted. Create a powerful and positive statement that can act as an affirmation. Rely on it when you find the “no I can’t” thoughts start to surface.
Tune in tomorrow to find out about role models.
What reality do you live in?
Today is day 23 of the 30 day challenge.
It’s natural to have a few slips along the way to creating your new habit. You know how it goes: you take an escape hatch and then follow it with an”I don’t wanna” day.
What you want to guard against is letting a little slip in commitment turn into a full blown backslide..
How do you know you’re heading for a backslide?
Well you probably know because your internal chatter about whether you “should or shouldn’t” gets a little louder. If you miss 3 days in a row without a REALLY good reason like illness or family crisis, then you are likely headed straight down hill.
Catch yourself on day 2 of your slip and recommit to getting back to your habit the next day.
Even if you find that you have been backsliding for several days, stop yourself and get back on track. Don’t let your hard work disappear. A backslide of 6 days beats a permanent one every time.
Tune in tomorrow for a reality check.
Are you slipping and sliding?
Today is day 22 of the 30 day challenge.
I’ll bet there have been days in the past 3 weeks when you have thought…
“I don’t wanna do this.”
We all have those days when we just don’t feel like sticking with our new habit - or perhaps even an old habit. It might be a reflection of a very busy day, or too little sleep, or distractions coming from your current worries. It might be that you have taken your eye off your meaningful motive.
So when you have an “I don’t wanna” moment, stop and ask yourself: Is this a good day to use an escape hatch because you need to cut yourself some slack…or
Do you need to require more of yourself?
There’s a cultural trend right now that makes “just ok” seem just fine. In many ways people are setting the bar way too low for themselves. Requiring more of yourself is not about doing more necessarily. It is about holding yourself accountable for your choices on a daily basis.
If you need an escape hatch, take it.
If not, then pull up your socks, suck it up and get to it. You’ll be glad you did.
Tune in tomorrow for slips & slides.
How are you doing?
