So you want a new or better routine? Maybe you want to exercise more or get to bed earlier. Maybe read more books or improve that hit-or-miss morning routine.
Y’all. The key is simple. Start small.
So small.
Smaller.
No really… Smaller! I mean it.
Let’s say you want to start running. You can download an interval training app (like Couch to 5K) and expect to run three times a week. And when life gets in the way or your body is crying for more rest, you fall behind and feel like a failure. Right?
We’ve all been there and it fucking sucks.
So I challenge you to step back.
Commit to a routine but make it so small. SO SO SOOO SMALL!!!
Instead of running three times a week for 20 minutes… run once a week for 3 short circuits (maybe that means one minute each or the length of one block).
Shit, maybe you need to start even smaller! Pick one day a week to simply put on your running gear (shoes, workout clothes, headphones / choice of music). You don’t even have to go on the run yet!
Maybe you want ditch the in-bed doom scrolling to create a meaningful morning routine that starts your day off in gratitude.
What’s that look like? Think small.
Write down one line of gratitude in a journal by your bed. Don’t put pressure on yourself to start with a 30-minute meditation 7 days a week.
Hustle and grind culture (thanks patriarchy!) got us thinking that it’s all or nothing. NO PAIN, NO GAIN! Run til you bleed or it’s not worth it! Give 110% or you’re worthless!
Yet your soft, flowy, overly sensitive and anxious mind needs room to breathe. There will be days where we forget. Days where life prevents us from showing up in the way we hoped. As HSPs, we require more rest and more time to process and I believe that’s true ten-fold in our desire to change.
Change is hella confronting. We are not wired for it! Your little brain wants to stay the same. Small, comfortable, stuck. So we gotta “trick” it with baaaaby steps toward growth.
So… what are we to do? Here are some things to play with:
1) Set a more realistic schedule or goal for yourself:
+ Find a race in 6 months, not 2
+ Wake up 5 minutes earlier, not 2 hours
+ Read 10 pages of a book before bed, not an entire chapter
2) Ditch the pressure of perfection:
+ JUST SHOW UP - messy, imperfect, late, tired. But please, do show up.
+ YOU dictate what is good enough. Nothing is perfect and perfect is boring anyway.
3) Set a time limit for how long you explore this new routine:
+ Give yourself a month and re-evaluate; is it really serving you or does it feel like another must-do on the never-ending-to-do-list?
+ Literally write down your new habit/ routine in your calendar/ phone until it clicks; or set a reminder in 1 month to revisit this new routine
4) Feelings are wicked, man:
+ Set up a system to get your butt to the new routine, no matter your *feelings* (see # 2 - just show up)
+ Be honest about your self-limiting beliefs that are allowing you to continue the cycle of self-sabotage and self-doubt
+ There’s tremendous growth in learning from our resistance to change
5) If the routine isn’t quite sticking:
+ Switch the time of day you begin your practice (meditate at noon, not first thing upon waking)
+ Fuck it and find a new hobby!!!!!!