Mindful Monday: Habits

Habits are the number one determiners of the quality of life.                      

Most people have a pretty good idea of some important changes they would like to make in their lifestyle. But the power pull of habit keeps them stuck. Habits are literally wired into our brains. Neuroscience shows us that changing habits is not as simple as making a New Year’s resolution. Functional MRI research has shown us the brain in action. Our strongest habits have formed neural pathways The neurons that fire together, wire together.   

What is one habit, something that you do consistently, that is currently self-defeating? Scan your day. There is likely something that you know is not serving you well. Without judgement or berating yourself, name the habit.                

I will out myself first!. I have a habit of staying up later than I know I should, doing mindless things like watching TV or playing Scrabble on my phone. The negative impact is that I am sacrificing sleep for something that is not doing me a whole lot of good.

What is one habit you have that you know you would like to change? Remember, I’m inviting you to share without blame. No beating yourself for having this habit. We are practicing awareness.

Stepping back and identifying what your self-defeating habits are is one of the first steps of the change process. Habit change is not an event; it is a process.

Stay tuned for more on this life changing topic of habit change and upcoming opportunities to dive deeper into this work!