What habits, routines, or thought patterns are no longer serving you?
Some habits are obviously bad for us, like smoking or regularly eating junk food or doom scrolling before bed. But there are also habits and routines we do all the time without realizing that they’re not necessarily in our best interest. These are the little things we do on auto-pilot that might be getting in the way of our goals or happiness.
For example, maybe you read the news first thing in the morning because you like to stay on top of the news and that’s just what you’ve always done. But, deep down, you know that this isn’t the most meaningful way to start your day. What you really want is to start off your morning on a calm and gentle note.
Or maybe when you first started your new job, you worked around the clock to learn the ropes, but now that you’re settled in, you still feel the need to overwork and prove yourself.
A habit that no longer serves you can also take the form of a thought pattern or mindset. For instance, struggling with a "scarcity mentality" and the fear of never having enough, despite the fact that you’re earning more than ever before.
Here’s how to assess your current habits to see if they’re supporting you and how to replace them with routines and beliefs that are more aligned with where you are in your life.
Define your goals
When evaluating your habits and everyday routines, the first thing you’ll want to do is consider your overall goals.
A goal gives your life a sense of direction and purpose. You can have goals related to your career, health, and self–development. Your habits and routines, the things you do everyday without really thinking about them, deeply influence the end result of your goals.
If your goal is to exercise more, for example, then you’d want to make sure that your current habits and routines are in support of that goal. You’d want to eat a healthy breakfast to help fuel your workouts or you’d want to set-up your gym bag the night before.
But if you’re having difficulty sticking with your goal, then you need to look at your current routines and habits. What habits are preventing you from meeting your goal?
Maybe you skip eating a healthy breakfast because you’re busy tidying the house. While tidying the house is a good habit to have, you might want to maximize your time by rescheduling it for another day or delegating the task to someone else.
When trying to determine whether or not your current habits are serving you, it’s essential that you figure out your goals first. You’ll want to make sure that your habits are setting you up to successfully meet your goals.
Actionable exercise: Make a list of your current goals. If you’re not sure what your goals are, then make a list of things you’d like to pursue this year or this quarter. Examples of goals include: spending less time on your phone, being more crafty, or finding more time for journal writing. Next, compare your goals to your current routines and habits. Keep the habits that are serving you and work on quitting the habits that are derailing your goals.
Adjust the cadence of your routines
You have meetings, social events, and activities in your life that are important to you. But you’re finding that some of these activities are getting in the way of your priorities. For example, let’s say you have a daily Zoom call with your work team. You like having the face-to- face time with your team, but the daily call is starting to strain your schedule and feel like a burden.
Or maybe you have a running group on the weekends and you enjoy the camaraderie and the accountability, but you’ve been maintaining your running goal for a while now, and you don’t really need the accountability as much.
If you’re not ready to abandon the activity just yet, see if you can adjust the rhythm of how often you meet. Can you reschedule to a weekly or even a monthly event? For meetings, can you delegate a team member to attend on your behalf and take notes?
Actionable exercise: Evaluate your current schedule and take note of the recurring activities or tasks. Can you delegate any of these activities? Can you reduce the frequency of how often you meet? Then, start scheduling in things you’d like to do with your free time instead. And if you feel guilty for declining an invitation or saying no, remember that you are creating space for what you’d really like to be doing with your time.
Combat limiting self beliefs
What are some preconceived notions or beliefs that you have about yourself? Are any of these self-narratives holding you back from your true potential?
Limiting beliefs are the false stories that we tell ourselves. Examples: “money doesn’t grow on trees” or “I don’t have what it takes to be a successful artist” are beliefs that seem like they’re true, but, upon closer inspection, are not grounded in actual fact.
We can pick up limiting beliefs from our parents, friends, teachers, and social and cultural messaging. If your parents constantly worried about money, then they might have passed on their money mindset to you.
We also subscribe to limiting beliefs when we cling to a past version of ourselves. If you struggled with money at some point in your life, then you might still see yourself as that person, and find it hard to accept that you are now successful.
Limiting beliefs can often get in the way of our goals and prevent us from taking risks or seizing opportunities. It’s important to combat these limiting beliefs so that we can grow and develop, and let ourselves flourish.
Actionable exercise: In your journal, write down some of your limiting beliefs. Next to the limiting belief, write down a mantra that directly reframes that belief.
- Limiting belief: Money doesn’t grow on trees.
- Mantra: I can make money easily.
Whenever you find yourself succumbing to a limiting belief, recite your new mantra to yourself or write it down. Gradually, you will replace your old thought patterns with a new, affirming belief about yourself.
Written by JiJi Lee
