Are Your “Ways” Getting in Your Way?
As the saying goes, old habits die hard. Our brains like routine. The more routines we have, the less we need to think, allowing us to use our brain power for things that require more attention and focus. However, sometimes being too set in our ways can keep us from reaching our full potential.
Case in point – I’ve been training more at the gym lately in hopes of being matched for a Muay Thai fight. (It is near impossible to find girls my size who compete!) On what I call a “super” day, the usual routine goes something like this – weights, rounds on the punching bag and then a group class. The past few days, I’ve been really frustrated with myself because I’ve been getting to the gym later than I’d like, and thus haven’t been able to fit the rounds on the bag in in time before the class starts. The same thing happened again today, and I was beating myself up (figuratively) before I realized I could simply just do my rounds after class. I was just so stuck in my way of going home once class was over that I missed such a simple solution!
The same idea can definitely apply to eating. One of my clients used to not eat breakfast because it made her feel physically ill, but she knew eating regularly was important to give her the energy she needed for the day. So, she challenged her idea of what breakfast “should” look like and started with just eating a handful of grapes in the morning, which she was able to stomach. Today, she excitedly told me that she now looks forward to eating breakfast, and also showed me some fruit she had pre-portioned for snacks during the day!
Are some of your ways getting in the way of achieving your goals? Maybe you say to yourself that you have to eat breakfast foods for breakfast, or that dinner should be a hot meal, or that you need five cups of coffee every morning, or that you keep chips in the house because the kids need it.
Take the time to step back and consider these “have to’s”, “shoulds” and “needs”. Are they really the truth? Or are they just old habits that you’ve gotten yourself stuck in? If it’s the latter, challenge yourself to turn those thoughts on their head – what would happen if you ate leftovers for breakfast? What would happen if you had a sandwich for dinner? What would happen if you just had two cups of coffee? What would happen if there were no chips in the pantry?
“Are your ‘ways’ getting in the way to a healthier you? Challenge your ‘have tos’, ‘shoulds’ and ‘needs’.”
What are some of your habits that may be worth a second look?
