Habitual Detox
Replacing outdated habits with more powerful ones
Humans are creatures of habit. We like routine behavior. We are safe and secure operating in our self-made habitats. We cling to existing structures like our lives depend on it. Sadly, they really don’t.
Telling ourselves anything different is a self-protection excuse strategy to help ourselves feel better. Temporary relief just masks our inner burning want to stop playing it safe and step into the life that is waiting for us.
What’s stopping you?
We want to be doing things we are not doing. We want to stop playing it small. We want to break free of our existing habitat. We want to play a bigger game. We want to be naked, free, and wild.
It’s time to stop pretending and become the person we have yet to become.
We envy those who live in the habitual limelight. We hopelessly romanticized how wonderful and exciting it must be.
We want to be like them, but we can’t. We can only be ourselves. We must find our own free and wild habitat.
The only thing stopping us is learning what we need to break free from.
Conceptually, all habitual behavior is acceptable and vital to our survival. They support every day living and enable us to act. We need habits to feel whole and complete. We need routines to pace us through the day.
It’s not a question accepting our need for and desires for habits. It’s a question of defining which habits support the life we want to live and which ones keep us stuck in unwanted lifestyle structures.
Outdated habits are the prime candidates for our habit detox.
Here are 3 ways you can find which habits are serving us and which ones are not.
1. Lowing hanging fruit is easy to grab.
Don’t think about it. Quickly list 3 things you would like to do or change?
These are usually the things we always talk about, occasionally make a fetal attempt at doing, but rarely do. We have no willpower to change these habits. They might as well be sitting on a mountain top fruit tree. Under present conditions, there is no way we are going to make this climb. Something will need to dramatically change, so forgot about these.
2. What’s obvious to us, is often not obvious others.
As we move up the proverbial tree, we need to seek out a mirror. Ask those who know you best, what behavioral patterns do they notice? Which ones are continually getting in our way? We are looking for the ones that are stopping us from showing up the way we want to and keeping us from being more successful.
To be successful with this request, you are going to have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. You are going to have to let your guard down and have a real adult conversation. Accept and express your gratitude for the feedback you receive.
Awareness is a gift and we don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
Once we are aware, we have choice to make. We can choose to ignore this information we receive or we can take action to add this behavior to our habit detox list.
3. Aligning ourselves with our cares. What matters most to us?
This is tree top introspective work. There is nothing quick about it. Finding our connection to what matters most renews our focus and instills clarity.
Only then can we take steps towards eliminating our old self-limiting habits. The more focused we are, the more willing we are to take action. We think more creatively, make better decisions, and move rapidly towards our desires. We become aligned with who our soul desires us to be.
Conceptually, this exercise is simple enough. Surface responses are readily available. Digging deeper and really finding out what matters most to us requires time, reflection, and a commitment to cut your way through the roadblocks we have placed on our path.
This is not a homework assignment or a task you have to complete. Don’t over think it. My best advice would be to get out of your head and listen to your heart when you work on it.
Focus on the what matters to you in these 7 domains of your life.
- Financial
- Learning & Self-Development
- Public Identity
- Customer Relations
- Impact In The World
- Health & Renewal
- Family Relationships.
You can go as deep or shallow as you would like and each group could have unlimited items or just one. What matters most to you is not set in stone. If you keep working at it, this list will ebb-n-flow and guide your actions.
Make this exercise a fun self-exploration journey. The more connected you become to your true essences, the more what matters most to you will guide you down life’s path.
Tree top work will lead to replacing outdated habit patterns with habits that support what matters most to us.
Committing to identifying and changing habits that not longer serve us is a life-long journey. A journey worth embarking on.
Make a decision to begin your habit detox journey today. You will not regret it!
Still unsure a habit detox is for you, leave me a message and let chat about it.
