Hey, What Happened to My Good Habits?!
Hey, What Happened to My Good Habits?!
Have you ever had a good habit, only to lose it? Perhaps it was meditation, or getting up early for exercise, or taking care of the “most important task” first thing in your day. You were doing so well and reaping the benefits, and then slowly or suddenly, the habit evaporated. You may not have even noticed that something was off, or that you were missing out on the benefits of the habit. But if you pause and reflect now, you may notice that you are not feeling at the top of your game.
Or perhaps summer brings a freedom from your usual routines, but you are at risk of losing some good habits in the process?
So, What Happens? Why Do We Lose Our Good Habits?
For each of us, there is a different reason. Or a combination of reasons. But often it involves something like:
You get the idea. The pattern in most cases is that “something happened” that disrupted the healthy routine or habit, and then the habit vanished.
Autopilot and The Path of Least Resistance
Recognize that many of our positive, healthy habits involve a measure of willpower, and are often going against our more primal, Autopilot tendencies and desires. One tendency is to conserve energy and take the path of least resistance. This means the idea of exerting effort on a habit that takes energy in the moment (and the benefits lie more in the future) feels like something we can put off. So, we say “I’ll get started tomorrow.”
Another tendency is to tolerate things rather than change them. It is very easy to cruise on Autopilot for extended periods of time, even if life isn’t ideal. Tolerating a few extra pounds, or too little sleep, or less productive work habits. We might be surviving, but we aren’t thriving. We forget what thriving felt like and it often takes something more significant or serious to wake us up and get us back on track.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Three Practical Tips to Get You Back on Track
Knowing that we all feel better, perform better and live richer lives when we are on track with our positive or healthy habits, here are a few tips to help you:
1. Pause, Reflect and Notice. One of the most insidious and challenging aspects of falling off a good habit is that we don’t notice the change. It is like the frog in the proverbial pot of water, not noticing the slow rise in temperature until it’s too late. The trick to cracking this is to ritualize some form of reflection into your day or week. Personally, I like a couple of minutes of end-of-day reflection to briefly look at what was working or not during the day. Or a weekly pause to reflect on “how was the week?” Without these rituals it is easy to continue to cruise on Autopilot, not noticing how things are changing.
2. Act Now! Your mind will tell you there’s too much going on now and that you will start back tomorrow. Or next week. Our mind loves the path of least resistance, and reinitiating the habit takes effort. Which somehow seems enormous to our mind. Don’t buy into it! Remind yourself of the benefits of the habit, how you felt when you were on top of it, and exercise your willpower to re-commit and act now. You will instantly feel a surge of momentum as you.
3. Celebrate Progress. Until the habit is re-established, your mind will balk at the initial effort each day. You need to counter this resistance by tracking and celebrating progress. Feeling a sense of progress provides its own dopamine reward and motivates us to keep going. But to get that reward we have to consciously recognize it and amplify it.
How About You?
Take a moment to reflect on any good habits you have dropped in the recent past. What was life like when you were practicing them regularly? For many people, they feel like they have more energy, are more grounded, or they feel like they are on top of things. And then reflect on what life is like these days? Have things been changing slowly for the worse and you hadn’t noticed it?
Then, use the tips above to get back on it. We are only ever one decision away from getting back to feeling on our game and having days where we feel really good with life.
Summer is a great time to take a break, including from some of our usual routines. Just watch out for healthy habits and routines that disappear altogether. You will want to bring them back online for the more challenging days in the Fall.
I recognize that this is all far easier to write about or read about than it is to do. Habit change is hard. That’s why I have created presentations on Habit Change 101 and 102, to help organizations and teams adopt the habits they need to be at their best. You can learn more at Webinars and Lunch ‘n Learns.
This article was taken from my recent newsletter. You can sign up HERE if you'd like to receive tips like this on a semi-regular basis or check out past issues.