WFH VOL1: Habits
Easy to pick up, hard to put down…
We’ve now completed our first official week in lockdown, and it seems that most of us have survived it with our wits still intact. But, how are we all feeling about the week ahead — Week 2?
(Quick shout out to those in the NHS working their butts off to keep on top of this pandemic, and a further shout out to the wellness professionals offering free classes to keep us all moving while much of the world stands still.)
I expect that this week maybe a little more daunting, especially as we start to look forward and consider the likely possibility that the 3 week lockdown period will be extended. Fear not, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, as bad as this thing is, it’s happening and if I’ve learned anything from my years of working with people in crisis is that acceptance is a powerful and useful tool.
We must accept that it’s happening, as we have no choice. However, we do have a choice as to how we wish to respond. Let us look at a few responses to the lockdown that I’ve heard over the last week:
“I’ve just been taking it easy, I like the extra time in bed and making the commute to the kitchen”
“I’ve had few glasses of wine each night and catching up with friends via video call, it’s been nice”
“I’m going to need some more Netflix recommendations”
Do any of the above resonate?
We are in a time of crisis and I agree that we have to make ourselves feel calm and comfortable to keep our panic levels down, but on the other side of the same coin — when will your physical and mental fitness work its way back into/finally into your everyday life?
Surely you must have thought about it, and probably decided that this week (week 2) may be the week you start, if so, use this post as a reminder, if not, use this post as a sign that your wellbeing must take priority if you’re to get through this with minimal physical, and minimal emotional damage.
habit
/ˈhabɪt/
noun
1. A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
See, even the definition says that they’re hard to give up. Solution? Don’t pick them up in the first place. NOW is your opportunity to pick up the habits that will serve you well. Good Habits — Just as an FYI, this post isn’t just something to get you through the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the chance for you to literally decide and design the (elusive) version of yourself that you were looking for before this whole thing hit us.
So over the next few weeks, I’ll be supporting you by providing some of the fundamental tools and practices needed to get you through the next few weeks to ensure an easy transition back to the ‘new version’ of normality.
I’ll be introducing new topics each week to cover a 360º approach to your wellbeing i.e. Your mind, body, and spirit. Next week we’ll be looking at Routine, their importance, the benefits, and how to implement.
If you’d like to jump ahead and grab a free eBook — Be your own Life Coach — simply follow the link. Re your habits, consider these 5 steps;
Step 1: Decide on the version of you that you’d like to see.
An easy trick for this is to close your eyes and visualise your perfect day — What time do you get up, what do you have for breakfast, what does your morning routine look like. Do this for your week, and your month. How awesome is that you?
Step 2: Look at the habits you have and would like to lose.
We’re talking habits, not addictions here although there can be a fine line. Habits can be ingrained into our subconscious, but we must be mindful of them i.e. bringing them to the conscious mind is the first step to letting go of them.
Step 3: Recognise when these ‘bad’ habits arise — take notes, write a list.
A little NLP technique for you — Take your list of habits, and simply acknowledge when they arise. By having the awareness of when the habits arise/their triggers — we allow the conscious mind to beat the subconscious to the punch.
Step 4: Write down a list of the ‘good’ habits/ lifestyle habits you’d like to have instead.
Go back to your perfect day exercise — What did you do regularly. What habitual behaviours did you exhibit and contribute to your day, week, and month?
Step 5: Introduce these habits into your new routine.
Just to give you a clear distinction between the two — A habit is an action we do often in a regular and repeated way. Routine is a regular way of doing things in a particular order. The main difference between habit and routine is that habit is a recurrent with little or no conscious thought whereas routine require a high degree of intention and effort
Bonus Step: Check back in for next weeks post — Routine :)
In the meantime, I encourage you to start this very moment — we have a lot more time on our hands and this is the very same time we’ve all been asking for since forever. If you’ve ever said ‘Only if there were more hours in the day’… well now there is so use them well, use them wisely, use them in the name of personal development.
To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;
For the mind:
Personal Development reading list
For the body:
For the spirit:
(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)
Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality
NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.
Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com
If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme
