What’s Hampering Your Habit?

1899 Paris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothbrush

Are you getting in the way of forming a new habit that would make your life run more smoothly? Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to change our lives quickly and drastically? I have found that small changes make the biggest difference. What’s so great about small changes? They allow you to make a big change incrementally and with great success.

Get Organized 15 Minutes a Day

I will often recommend that if you are not already spending time daily decluttering that you work on it for 15 minutes a day. Immediately I will hear the response, “That’s not enough! My house is over run! How can 15 minutes a day make any difference?!?” You are correct that 15 minutes is not a huge amount of time, that is the secret of this strategy. It is a small amount of time you CAN fit into your day. You can do 5 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening or you can set a timer and get it all done in one shot. Either way you are building a HABIT of spending time organizing and decluttering, daily.

Are You Working On Your Habit Daily

If you are not spending any time on a habit right now then won’t any effort in that direction be better than the ZERO effort you are putting forth right now? The answer to “That’s not enough time” is some time towards your project with ALWAYS be better than none. ALWAYS!!! Remember that.

Working On Habits is not Punishment

Is this you? Have you started working on forming a new habit: decluttering 15 minutes a day, exercising three times a week, eating more veggies? Have you started working on forming a habit and then been derailed? You were riding that train and things were going great. You did your decluttering sessions 5 days in a row and then… the weekend hit or you got sick or you had a day you just couldn’t fit it in. So the next day you gave up. You said, “See that never works. I try and do good things for myself and I just always fail!” Whoa! Where did that come from? OR You punished yourself in another way. You DOUBLED the work you needed to do today because you didn’t do it yesterday. And although that idea seemed valiant at the time you actually just ensured that you WOULDN’T do the task! WHAT! I am being responsible, I am making up for the lost time you say. But what is really happening is that you are punishing yourself for your lack of follow through and you are making the task overwhelming and unapproachable. At some point, when you miss five days in a row of your habit you suddenly have a hour and fifteen minutes of decluttering to do you and if it was hard to incorporate 15 minutes a day, an hour and fifteen minutes will never fit into your schedule. You might as well give up.

Get Back On The Train!

The idea is that you need to keep moving forward. Period. You miss a day. You miss it. Move on. Start today and work on your task. Remember, doing some is better than none! Do you brush your teeth every day? If you are like most folks, you brush your teeth twice a day. You probably don’t think too much about it. You just do it in the morning and before bed. It is a habit. How did it get to be a habit? You worked on it, every day, for a long time. But, yesterday, you were sick. You didn’t get out of bed. You didn’t brush your teeth. You just slept. So today, did you brush your teeth? YES! You did! You didn’t beat yourself up over missing yesterday. You didn’t brush your teeth twice as much because you missed yesterday. You didn’t say, “I AM SUCH A FAILURE BECAUSE I DIDN’T BRUSH MY TEETH!” You just brushed your teeth and moved on.

Don’t Hamper Your Habit

Whatever new habit you are working on, be positive! The change that you are looking forward to in your life is Fantastic! That’s why you are working on it. Do as much as you can. Pat yourself on the back. Do it again tomorrow. If you fall off of the train, just get back on and start again. Soon, just like brushing your teeth, your habit won’t require any thought at all and you will be well on your way to that fabulous change you are looking for in your life! If you want to learn more about little changes you can make to make a BIG difference in your life. Check out our upcoming classes. Join us on October 29, 2013 6:30pm-8:30pm for 7 Ways To Cure Your Too Much Problem Learn more and register here: toomuchbelair.eventbrite.com