I love the idea of saying “goodbye” to old habits. It’s a declaration to yourself, to your loved ones and to the world that you are in control of your own destiny. Even more powerfully, you can decide to completely rethink the behaviors and beliefs that may have become second nature, but are not necessarily in your best interest. The obvious old habits might be eating sugar every day or zoning out for hours in front of the TV after a long day. Where did these habits come from? Has it always been this way, or were these habits that formed over time due to crazy schedules, not enough time or a need to just find a little comfort in an otherwise chaotic day? It doesn’t really matter where and why the habits were formed. Just know that they can be put away and replaced with new, healthy habits that just might open you up to a powerful, more honest version of yourself.
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about one of the habits she decided to change in her life. She’s a busy mom, an entrepreneur and a wife. She is like so many women I know who are eager to reclaim a sense of passion and purpose in her life, but she was stuck in a rut. Then it hit her. She still needed to unwind after an intense day of working and being a mom, so she spent too much time channel surfing before bed and not enough time being more discerning about what she was watching. So she decided to put away the remote, sign up for Netflix and find movies that she could watch immediately right on her computer. She told me “it was such a simple thing. I really love movies about inspirational women in history, the arts and literature and there are so many movies online to choose from that tell incredible stories. It felt good being in control of where I was focusing my mind. It filled me up instead of making me feel like I was wasting my time.” Now, this patient even feels inspired to read more and to spend time in the evening acting on the inspiration she receives from great movies.
So forming new habits isn’t just about your diet or your exercise program. It’s about being fully conscious of what feeds your soul, and what doesn’t. So, what habits would you like to say “goodbye” to this month?
