How Conscious Are You? Making Sure You are in Charge of Your Daily Choices
Our brain automates about 85% of what we do. Therefore, it makes sense that over time we become accustomed to doing things a certain way, without really being conscious of what we are doing and how well it is serving us. We just do it because it’s what we’ve done.
For example, look at your routines, and how they either are in alignment with what you want your life to look like or not. Do they make time and energy to do the things that matter most to you, or do they only include the things that you ”must do” such as shower, eat and get the kids ready? Or have you committed and followed through on items that help you reach your goals such as working out, taking planning time or meditation? Things that if you do each day or several days per week will help you to consistently honor what will move you forward?
What we forget is that it’s the daily routines that will either help us reach our goals of better health, finances or relationships. It’s great to have goals planned out, yet what makes the magic happen is doing the daily footwork – the “boots on the ground” effort is what creates the outcome eventually. We can’t get healthier by eating better one day. Or one week. It’s the daily choices we make that add up over time, as is socking away a little bit of cash each month – which again, requires us not to spend said stash each day. Yes, each day we may be tempted, but each day we don’t cave, we have that much more cash.
How Are Your Habits? Our routines are simply a collection of habits we have formed to get moving or get things done. Our morning routine gets us going, and our evening routine helps us finish out the day. It is a great idea to take a closer look at our habits, how they got started, and whether they are currently serving us. For example, if I want to eat healthier, I might want to look at how I grab a bagel every day for breakfast instead of oatmeal. Then the habit of buying bagels every week. It goes on, but going back a few steps in the process can help us make it easier on ourselves to break the habit.
Since our brains automate things for us over time and our behaviors become more habituated, we can therefore become less conscious of what we are doing each day that either helps or hinders us. Just creating awareness around what our habits and routines are is a great place to start, so we can choose what we would like to change. I’m a fan of working on one habit at a time so we don’t notice the change as much and want to revert back to our old ways.
If you changed one habit of let’s say – five of them – a month, you could be in a more conscious, healthier place by the end of the year!
