Creating healthy habits.

Hey everyone. Welcome back. I am so happy you are here. 😊

I have been getting so many emails and messages about my past blogs on meditation and journaling; two of my newest habits. I thought I would chat a bit about building habits.. Being of a ‘savvy’ age does not mean that we cannot create new habits for a healthier lifestyle. It is never too late to maximize healthy habits, time and energy.

I have started emptying the dishwasher as I wait for my coffee to brew. It becomes a challenge to get the entire thing unloaded before it’s is ready. It’s an easy new habit to create as everything is in the same room and I am literally standing, waiting and doing nothing. I used to wait for my coffee while staring at the machine as though that would make it  brew quicker.

I am terrible at drinking water. My water intake consists of the number of coffees and teas that I drink in a day. I am now getting into the habit of putting a bottle of water beside my toothbrush. I know for a fact that I will brush my teeth in the morning….with the water being left out I can easily incorporate it into my already established routine of brushing my teeth in the morning. So simple. I brush my teeth and have a drink of water.

I always fluff my clothes in the dryer before removing them. Saves me from ironing. I keep a set of hand weights on top of the dryer. While I wait the 3-5 minutes of fluff time I use it as pump time! 💪

I have an incline board that I use to stretch my calves. Leaving it out anywhere in the house guarantees that Steve with his big size 12 flippers, will definitely stub his toe on it. Instead I now leave it at my bathroom sink. My new habit is to stand on it while I am brushing my teeth.

I am really trying to focus on building new healthy habits. Habits that will help me maintain an healthy environment, body and mind. Well thought out habits that can be incorporated into the habits that I already have is called stacking your  habits.

Imagine if I had of said to myself, Today, I am going to start emptying the dishwasher BEFORE my coffee. I am going to start drinking more water. I am going to start incorporating weights into my day. I am going to start stretching my calves.

I think I would be overwhelmed. That is a LOT of new things to start in a day. Chances are I wouldn’t start any of them if I didn’t know about habit stacking. It would be an epic fail.

Take a habit that you already have and add something before or after it. Your success rate escalates. It’s so simple, it’s genius.

This of course is not my idea. It comes from the book…..ATOMIC HABITS. It’s a great book if you are trying to be more organized with time and energy while building new habits that will serve you in a positive way.

James Clear’s four principles of Atomic Habits are…1-make it obvious, 2-make it attractive, 3-make it easy, and 4-make it satisfying

Using one of my new habits as an example of Clear’s 4 principles – Emptying dishwasher WHILE waiting for my coffee to brew.

1-dishwasher and coffee maker are in the same room. Obvious.

2-haha…it is very attractive when the kitchen is clean and there are no dirty dishes in the sink!

3-because I am standing doing nothing while waiting for the coffee it is easy to do.

4-knowing that that one small chore has been completed before I’ve really even started my day is oh so satisfying 😊

These tiny new habits have become huge habits that are changing my life. I am healthier and making much better use of my time. I have made some SMALL impactful changes and created a BIG transformation!

Now it’s your turn! Maybe you want to eat healthier, drinking more water, working out, more me time. Using Clear’s formula…

Choose a new behaviour that you would love to add to your daily life.

Where are your current habits?

Ask yourself “where can I naturally fit this new habit into my my day”?

Try to be as specific as you can.  AFTER I brush my teeth, I will drink water. WHILE my coffee brews I will empty the dishwasher .

Try one tiny new habit and see where it takes you.

I am so grateful you stopped in. 💕 I hope you are finding harmony and balance in your world…it’s  a good thing. 😉