7 Ways to Shift Your Lifestyle
7 Ways to shift Your Lifestyle!
One of the simplest ways to improve our lives in a massive way without necessarily taking a massive step (because those can be daunting) is by changing some of our habits. It doesn't take much, just a few little steps in the right direction over time can really set us on a whole lifestyle shift.
Reduce sugar as much as possible.
A study that was done shows that elevated sugar levels have been found to suppress the immune system. This affects the bodies ability to fight off sickness, disease, and inflammation. Along with a slew of other things like increased brain fog, low energy, mood swings, problem skin, weight gain and more - there are more and more reasons to reduce sugar every day.
Plan your food.
Meal planning can feel like an elaborate + detailed plan however it doesn't have to be. Have a few breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas ready at the start of the week so that when it comes time to prepare the meal you can skip the part where you have to figure it out. Already having it planned will feel like a weight is lifted off your shoulders
Write down your goal
What is an area you'd like to focus on right now? Is it to start making health more of a priority? Or to start a new habit? Or to spend more time with friends? Whatever it might be - Write 1-3 goals down now! A goal in your mind is just a wish.
Be clear on the goal. Instead of "I’m going to work out more", try "I'm going to walk 6 days a week". Begin with a few small action steps you can start taking right away and then start!
Read your goal every day. Commit to it. And keep doing the work. There will be days where you fall off the wagon, don't beat yourself up about it, just get back to the commitment you made to yourself because you're important!
Create healthy disciplines
Humans work pretty well around routines (consistency is something we crave even from birth) so if you create healthy easy to do routines supporting your goal you’ll be more likely to stick to it. For example- leave your running shoes in your bathroom so in the morning you wake up, get dressed in workout clothes and put your shoes on and head to your workout space to do your thing. Or if your goal is to drink more water - have a glass of water beside you always so you're often reminded to drink water!
Creating these healthy disciplines will start to feel easy and just part of the routine after a while. And if you create the routine there is more likely you'll stay on course!
Catch the energy drainers.
We all have them whether its a person, a device (hello phone I'm referring to you), a habit, a thought process, the list is endless. These energy suckers are out there and can cause us to spiral downhill on even the best of days.
1st - Determine what they are for you. Maybe this means doing a review of how you feel at checkpoints during the day. You'll get an idea of when you feel good and when you don't and why. What foods did you eat, people you encountered, activities you did that made you feel that way? Some of you reading this already know exactly what those energy drainers are already.
2nd - Once you're aware - CREATE HEALTHY BOUNDARIES around these or if possible CLEAR THEM all together. If checking social media is one of these for you then maybe checking your phone first thing in the day is NOT the best choice for you. Knowing yourself and having awareness around this is a great place to start mastering your energy!
SET A REWARD
Accomplishing goals is great and all - but if we just go from one goal to the next without rewarding ourselves it can be boring. When you set a goal - also SET A REWARD. A reward that will be worth putting in the work for. Doing the hard stuff can get less motivating as the excitement fades, so keep trekking along and remember you’ll have the prize at the end to look forward. This is new for me, I’ve set a lot of goals but have never really thought about rewarding myself for them. This is something I'm challenging myself to this year and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes for myself.
When setting your reward, set it in relation to the size of the goal. Don't set a tiny reward for a MAJOR goal. And be sure to honor yourself by actually giving and enjoying the reward once you accomplish it.
Build your toolbox
As we go through life there are many obstacles and challenges we are faced with. Our energy is going to be up and down, and sometimes we're not going to know what hit us. For myself, having a toolbox of different "tools" so to speak has helped bring me back to balance when I've needed it. Tools like yoga, music, meditation, podcasts, kale, running, taking my dog for a walk - all of these things help to bring me back 'home' or to my centered and balanced self.
As we go about our lives growing and overcoming challenges we should keep in mind different things we can do (tools we can use) to help bring us back home.
So there are 7 habits to shift our lifestyle. What habit speaks to you the most? What 1 or 2 are you able to implement into your life this week? Which one do you feel the most resistance towards? I challenge you to try out 1 in the next few weeks and see how it goes. And remember success isn't sustainable when we jump in with all we've got. Success works better when we make small incremental changes over a period of time.
Thanks for reading,
Jen xo