Nurturing Healthy Habits

I am in the midst of putting my life's work into an online program, as you may imagine there are many doubts & insecurities swirling through my mind. Am I worthy of people's trust? Is there any value in what I have to offer? This thinking is somewhat counter-intuitive & is holding me back on actually doing the 'work'. So, rather than dwell on what I might be lacking & getting bogged down in my imposter syndrome thinking, I decided to practice what I preach & create healthy habits around this 'work'.

This is what I do know, habits are most often influenced/dictated to us by the larger culture. By those around us, known or unknown. Family, friends, colleagues, TV and/or social media. Entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn once famously stated, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with“. This statement refers to research proving that our lives are heavily influenced by our relationships. Our connections influence our thinking & confidence. When it comes to habits, we are greatly influenced — whether we like it or not — by those closest to us. It affects our way of thinking, our self-esteem, and our decisions.

This is why we need to circle ourselves with those that we respect & value their opinion & try to tap in to information from people that have similar values & interests to yours.

Science tells us that we are much better at creating healthy habits when we tune into what we enjoy, what we care about; what our values are. In my situation, I am wanting to gain confidence & create a healthy habit to keep writing my program. I would like to set aside regular time to work on it & not get constantly & very easily distracted (anything will do!!).

To achieve my goal I know that I love reading & listening to podcasts, I get inspired by & deeply respect the amazing social researcher Brene Brown, so it makes sense for me to draw inspiration from her teachings & hopefully achieve my goal of creating healthy habits around my writing.

Old habits take patience and time to change, particularly if they are created from emotional insecurities. Start small, think of one thing you can do to start the change tomorrow. Be open to the possibility of bringing play to this process, encouraging joy and adventure. That even unwanted habits can be looked at kindly and with a sense of willingness to starting again and again and again...along this path of developing new and lasting healthier habits. See if you can connect with a sense of possibility & joy around your aspiration.

Stepping back from time to time from the rush of things to gain perspective and really consider how things are going. This is the power of setting an intention, it sets a direction on where we would like to go and can be a reminder of the natural potential of change and growth.