We are such creatures of habit

We are such creatures of habit, often returning to routines that comfort us and patterns of behaviour that we believe are protecting us.

We often unwittingly seek to repeat our situation time and time again, it’s familiarity reassuring us that things are the way they are meant to be. The way they have always been.

I’m starting to think around this, as it seems that I am repeating a few habits. And not all of them are good.

For example, I have been working in a stressful environment for a considerable amount of time. When I analyse this, it is all justified around business growth and responsibilities etc, etc, etc. But when I really think about it, being in a stressful place is actually something I’m comfortable in.

By comfortable, I mean it’s literally where I’ve been for so long that it feels normal – whereas I should be thinking through things more to recognise that no, it’s not normal to feel comfortable in times of elongated stress.

So here’s the thing. I realise that I’ve come to relate stress to working hard and therefore, if I’m not stressed and pushed, then subconsciously I feel that I mustn’t be working hard enough. How ridiculous is that?

Equally ridiculous, yet an incredibly hard habit to break, is the midnight “Monkey on the Brain”. Like clockwork, I wake from a seemingly deep sleep between 12.30pm and 1am and tick tick tick … my mind goes at a million miles an hour, reviewing all the things I haven’t done yet from a single item on my work task list to lifelong goals and big picture achievements.

Here’s the bad part – I’m so used to this occurring, that I have completely accepted that I don’t sleep from 1am to 4am most nights. And so it continues, because I’m comfortable with the fact I will wake I’ve come to expect it – and therefore have stopped trying to break the habit.

To change habits, we have to break them. We have to have a clear intention to stop something from being the way it “has always been” and have an action plan to overcome it.

When you actually pause and think about it, it is really quite exciting to realise you have a new goal … So my goal is simple: Support myself better.

I don’t want to change my business, but I do want to break the habit of letting stress overtake the positive things that happen. And I want to wake from a great sleep rather than letting stress creep into that as well.

It’s quite a beast to tackle, but they all become so interlinked it’s only when we step back and get some perspective that we can see some of the habits we have formed.

What a woman wants is for peaceful days and restful nights, but what a woman needs to remember is that the reality of the world often means we live hand in hand with stressful situations. The key is to break bad habits that let them overtake all that you are.

Please prioritise yourself this month, have a look at some of the things you might be accepting in your life that really you should be focusing on changing.

Your happiness, your peace of mind, your enjoyment of every day should be the frame in which we assess how we are doing. To break the bad habits takes commitment – but wouldn’t it be wonderful to break them?

Good luck this month,

With love

Abby

PS you can reach me at [email protected]. I love receiving your emails thank you. x