Monday, April 16, 2012
Spring! Tips for a Fresh Start and Healthier New Habits
Spring is a time of new beginnings. Blossoms, baby birds, and butterflies are everywhere. Whereas the New Year makes people feel they have to make new resolutions, spring fills us with feelings that we can start fresh and really accomplish something.
Instinctively, we turn to spring cleaning. The removal of the layers of dust and clutter seem to release energy for summer activities. The same is true for getting more creative and making changes internally.
Maybe you’ve been toying with losing a few pounds, toning up muscles, eating more sensibly, simplifying so you can be more involved with your family, or a million other aspirations. There does seem to be a common reason we don’t make changes we want… Perhaps the problem lies in the habits we’ve formed over the years. When we identify the root cause of habits we can clear that clutter out of our lives and get on with becoming the person we’d like to be.
For example, maybe you struggle with getting to appointments on time. For some reason you’re always 20 minutes late. Start tracing back what makes you late... You didn’t have enough time to get dressed because your children couldn’t find their schoolwork and you had nothing for their lunches. This happened because they don’t have a routine for completing schoolwork each afternoon and you don’t have a routine for preparing meals. The reason for this is because you’re always exhausted. And you’re always tired because you don’t get to bed until 1AM. So ultimately it boils down to this – you’re late because you’re trying to cram too many activities into a day.
The change has to begin at the beginning. Another way of saying it is that success depends on the preparation. To release creativity you need to get rid of clutter. To eat healthier, get rid of junk food. To get fit, quit sitting and keep your gym bag ready. Often we need to prepare our minds first, so here are some questions to ponder:
- Why don’t I like this present habit?
- Why is the old habit bad—how does it make me or my family feel?
- What new habit would serve me better?
- What reward will I get from making a new habit?
- How does the new habit make me and my family feel?
- Do I really want to change this habit?
After mental preparation, you’ll want to prepare your surroundings to support that commitment. Write out your ultimate aim, the reasons for it, and all the baby steps it will take to get there. Post it in a prominent place and read it every morning and evening. Practice the new habit every day. Tell family and friends so they encourage you instead of unwittingly sabotaging you. Rephrase negative thoughts to positive messages. Anticipate roadblock and how you’re going to handle them. Buddy up with others who have similar aims.
We humans are complicated, and spring is a good time for introspective thinking and taking new actions. If you want help with some of your springtime projects, remember that Simplify has a team of experts that can help you get it done quickly so you get on with what’s really important to you!
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