REVISITING YOUR HABITS + ROUTINES
ARE YOU READY TO MAKE 2021 THE YEAR WHERE YOU GET MORE DONE, ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS, AND STILL HAVE TIME FOR YOUR FAMILY? LET ME HELP YOU GET YOUR TIME BACK WITH MY FREE PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER!
Last month - August - was a busy month.
We started the month on vacation for a week and quickly returned to the hubs going back to work for the school year. It also meant wrapping up the rest of our summer and getting the kids ready for a new school year.
And as my friend + coach Jessica says, September is the new January. I was all about getting some new routines setup, and getting back into some good, healthy habits that I let fall by the wayside over the summer.
I actually started these new habits + routines in August, but now that I’ve had them in place for a few weeks, I like to go back + revisit how these are actually working for me. I usually like to give them 2 or 3 weeks to see how they’re working, but sometimes I need to adjust them sooner than that.
So, I wanted to walk you through what I look for when it comes to adjusting my habits + routines so you don’t have to give up or quit when something might not be working for you…
STEP 1 || DETERMINE WHAT’S ACTUALLY WORKING
I mean, this is a pretty obvious first step, but a lot of times we feel like a routine isn’t working when really it’s only ONE part of our routine that we need to adjust. Or, we have 5 habits we’re working on but because we’re not doing them all “perfectly” we feel like we need to scrap them all.
If you wrote out your routines + habits (which I HIGHLY suggest you do), go through them step-by-step and figure out which parts are actually working.
Here’s an example for you…
These are the August habits that I was working on. I tracked them each morning so I could get a clear picture of how well I was keeping up with those habits.
As you can see, I didn’t miss a single day of working out or reading a chapter of the bible. Not one. Single. Day. This tells me these habits are established, so I don’t really need to track them anymore because they’ve actually become, well, a HABIT.
So, take a look at those habits +/or routines to see which parts you are able to stick with CONSISTENTLY first. And give yourself a high-five - if you’re sticking with those things, you need to CELEBRATE!
STEP 2 || DETERMINE WHAT ISN’T WORKING + WHY
This is where the sticking point usually comes for us, especially when we get to the “why” it isn’t working part.
Take a look at my habit tracker from August again…
It’s pretty obvious what habit I 100% failed on, right?!
While it would be easy for me to say, “It’s too hard so I’m not going to do that habit anymore,” or, “Let’s keep trying to see if this month I can actually do it.,” I need to change that “all-or-nothing” mindset.
It’s so easy for us to see a failure and think we can’t do it or we have to keep pushing to try to make it happen when instead, we can ADJUST.
When I look at my “drink 1 gallon of water” habit, instead of thinking it’s not worth it, I can say, “OK, maybe 1 gallon is a little ambitious. I’m drinking water, but I need to make sure I’m drinking more. Let’s start with getting CONSISTENT with 64 ounces of water first.”
Notice that instead of scrapping the entire thing or pushing ahead (and most likely continuing to fail), I kept the habit, but adjusted it to something that I could work toward FIRST.
The same goes for your routines…
I had this ENTIRE routine set up for my daughter in the morning, and it lasted ONE DAY.
Does that mean it wasn’t successful? Not at all.
Instead, I gave her a little more flexibility in that schedule. She is still getting everything done, but she’s got more time to spend eating + watching TV (or YouTube) before she really needs to get ready for the day. We have yet to be rushed out the door or miss the bus, so I can be OK with adjusting her routine to something that works better for HER.
STEP 3 || AIM FOR PROGRESS INSTEAD OF PERFECTION
Let’s go back to that “all-or-nothing” thinking…
It’s easy to feel like a failure if we feel like we can’t stick with a habit or routine. We might as well throw it out the window, right?
But, that’s where we really need to work on changing that mindset…
Instead of focusing on being perfect (um, hi, let’s keep in mind that Jesus is the only perfect human), let’s focus on making progress.
There were several days where I overindulged in alcohol or didn’t read my 10 pages of personal development. But, instead of letting one day make me feel like a failure, I kept going. I didn’t wait until Monday. I didn’t quit altogether. I picked up where I left off.
And when I look at those habits, instead of seeing those days I didn’t complete my habit, I see all the days I did - which were the majority.
Things aren’t always going to go as planned. You might have to skip part of your routine or something comes up and you don’t get your workout or reading in for the day.
That’s life, my friend.
Aim for PROGRESS + NOT perfection!
If you’re wanting help setting those routines, be sure to check out this post where I walk you through how to set up your routines, as well as give you several examples of the routines I use in my daily life.
