I am a liar. I break my promises. And I speak negatively.
But ONLY to myself.
I lie, to myself. I break promises, to myself. I speak negatively in my head.
I don’t know when it started really. I think it was when I became a mom and I had to put others needs before my own. How many of you have ever had to pee so bad, but you didn’t, because you didn’t want to wake the sleeping baby in your lap? How many of you forgot to eat lunch while you were busy fixing and re-fixing lunch for your kids? I would get the girls to bed, and start watching a show saying I would only watch one…only to find myself clicking the next episode button…
I would say yes to everyone else and silently say no to myself.
Over and over again...
I didn’t even realize it at first. But after a while, it became apparent that I would decide to do something good for myself and my brain would just go along with it, knowing FULL WELL that in the morning, I would again hit snooze before I got up. Or that I would say I would get out and do that 30 minutes of exercise but when the time came, my brain would revert back to all the other times in my life where I told myself I would do something and didn’t and I simply would end up NOT going and doing the exercise. And at the end of the day, I would yell at myself, again, for breaking promises to myself, again.
Maybe it’s not exercise for you? Maybe it’s healthier eating? Or maybe it’s cleaning and organizing?
Whatever it is, I finally said enough is enough. And I FORCED myself to stop lying to myself. I took small steps that I knew I could stick to and built off those successes to build even bigger and better wins. In time, this turned into habits. And habits shape where your life is going.
Here are three steps you can take today to move towards healthy habits:
1. Focus – focus on ONE habit that you want to ADD to your life. It is easier to add something in than it is to take something away. My first healthy habit that I added was drinking half my body weight in water every day. Focusing on one habit and following through with that habit trains your brain to start trusting you again.
2. Plan – a goal is just a dream, until you make a plan. For my water intake, I set an alarm in my phone for 8 am, 10 am, 12 pm, and 2 pm. Then I got myself a 20 ounce, stainless steel water bottle. I would drink it throughout the day, but when the alarm went off, if I had any water left in the bottle, I had to stop whatever I was doing and drink it. Because those alarms meant it was time to refill my water bottle. Trust me, chugging 20 ounces of water is not all that fun. So you learn, quickly, to take sips throughout the day.
3. Write it down – don’t type it, actually write it down with pencil and paper. Write down your goal. Write it on your bathroom mirror. Write it in your diary. Wherever. Everywhere. Here’s the KEY – write your goal as if you’ve already accomplished it! Positive mindset! Say it to yourself every day. Your brain will catch up to the words. Here’s mine:
I drink 80 ounces of water daily so I am fully hydrated to be the best me I can be.
You are not alone in this fight. We are a community of Mommas who are learning that implementing healthy habits doesn’t take away from those that need us, quite the opposite actually. Healthy daily habits allow us to show up the best version of ourselves – not only for our kids, our spouse, our parents and siblings, but also for ourselves.
Ready to learn more?
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