It started like any other day. Great intentions.
Big plans. Amazing goals.
Healthy eating (maybe even a protein shake!)
It’s working….I’m doing it….than the workday ends and the tension starts building.
I’ve been working hard all day to white-knuckle it and make my intentions work, but then I get tired. I get hungry. And the stress of the day builds with nowhere to go but back to my pet pattern. Further evidence that New Year Resolutions don’t work!
You tell yourself, “it’s okay, I had a stressful day, I deserve to indulge this habit/pattern, it’s time to chill”.
So you do it, you quit on yourself. You quit on your goals and the progress you made during the day.
You know the feeling. The feeling of shame, because you broke the promise to yourself again. Nobody knows about the broken promise, but you!
You are good at hiding it from others because it’s just (you fill in the blank).
It’s no big deal, right?

Wrong!

It’s a big deal because it’s a big deal to you! It’s something you want and that you don’t know how to get and it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says to you. It’s your life and this is about you honoring your promises to yourself.
Every time you quit on yourself, you are building that into your brain.
It’s not really your fault, because it’s a habit/pattern you’ve built into your brain (this is neuroscience).

You see, your brain will always take the easy route when it’s the end of a stressful day UNLESS YOU BREAK THE OVER/UNDER CYCLE.

These patterns show up in many shapes and sizes:
-thought patterns that were no longer serving me
-scrolling on social that was keeping me from the relationships I want
-eating the late-night snack that sabotages your healthy living goals
-skipping the workout to have the cocktail instead
-taking my work home, so that I can get ahead tomorrow and sacrificing what matters most to me
You get the idea. These are all patterns that can be changed, no judgment, no shame, with a systematic plan.

Here’s three tips to get started:

1. What is it you want to build into your life, or remove from your life that is no longer serving you? Get specific and intentional. Give yourself the gift of space to think through what you want to see in your life in 2022. Write it down in detail.
2. Why do you want to build this habit or pattern into your life? Write down as many reasons as you can think of why you desire to make this change. Really think through them in a deep way.
3. What will the outcome be if you do not make these changes? Think through in detail the chain reaction of remaining in this brain pattern for a prolonged period of time. How will it affect your work? How will it affect your family? How will it affect your health? How will it affect your dreams?