Springing Forward into New Habits for Your Overall Wellbeing

Here in Central New York, we are very slowly working our way towards spring. For many of us, the first signs of sunlight and warmth come with a wave of motivation and readiness to leave old habits behind, replacing them with ones that we’ve kept on the back burner for a while. January 1st may be when New Year Resolution starts, but for those of us barely coming out of the brutal winter weather, traction for new habits come later. There’s no better time than now, so let’s talk a little bit about how you can gain consistency as you implement your chosen new habits.

First step is knowing what old habits you want to leave behind and what new habits you want to bring into your routine. Get clear with yourself. You might want to develop new habits at work, becoming more organized or have administrative tasks completed at a certain time each day. You might be considering your mental and emotional health, implementing the new habit of processing each day through writing instead of doom scrolling on social media. You may be struggling with anxiety, wanting to replace the habit of stress eating or smoking with something like meditation, walking or writing. When working with anxiety, we don’t necessarily just want to find a new distraction from the anxious feeling, but rather become more confident and comfortable to sit with the discomfort that anxiety brings. Practices such as meditation and mindfully walking can allow one to stay present with themselves, connecting with thoughts and feelings from a place of curiosity. In doing this, we can break the old habit of distracting and replace it with connecting to self, ultimately improving anxious symptoms over time.

After we know what habit changes we plan to make, we make a decision. Are we ready to make that change and willing to take steps towards that new habit? Do we need more time to let that readiness develop, or ask ourselves what is holding us back? We also want to consider how we will be able to stay flexible. If the new habit is that every day you’ll do some form of exercise, consider what is the least you can do on a bad day? You won’t have the energy every single day of your life to get in an intense workout, so it’s important to also consider how you can achieve this habit even on low energy days. For example, you may decide that going for a short walk is a manageable goal for those harder days.

Once you have your baseline, get to habituating. Pay attention to your thoughts during this time. Remember the positive reasons you are implementing this new habit, the desire it is fulfilling, and speak positively to yourself about your efforts. If we talk down to ourselves about the things we are doing, or have little faith in ourselves in being able to achieve our goals and establish new patterns, it will show. The way you talk to yourself makes a difference, so be mindful of the way you speak to yourself, and make adjustments when you notice that you’re being hard on yourself. You might replace like “I better get my workout in or else I’m an unfit failure” with something like “I’m grateful I can take a walk outside today. It makes me feel good to move my body and give it the nourishment through movement it deserves”.

When we have clarity about the habits we are leaving behind and the ones we are bringing in, we give ourselves options. We can get specific around how we are going to practice these new habits through our behavior on good days and bad - manage your expectations. Staying connected to how you are feeling and how you are thinking as you practice new habits will make a difference in how consistent you stay. Hold yourself accountable, stay clear yet flexible, and give yourself some grace.