The arrival of autumn means cooler temperatures, a peek at the upcoming holidays, and pumpkin-scented everything. This year, I encourage you to add something new: a spruce-up of your habits.
Have you ever heard the sentiment, “show me your habits and I will show you your future?” Habits are learned behaviors that we have done so many times that we don’t even have to think about them anymore. How we pick up our toothbrush, sort through the mail, eat our meals, and make our coffee all started out as things we had to learn how to do. But after years of daily practice, we can now practically do them in our sleep.
Sometimes that's a really good thing: having a habit of immediately putting on your seat belt when getting into the car will keep you safe. On the other hand, a habit of wolfing down a plate of food beyond the point of being hungry will result in sneaky weight gain over time.
That's why it's important to wake ourselves up from our trance once in a while and make sure that our habits are helpful and positive, not setting us up for sabotage down the road. The beginning of a new season is a great time to spruce them up!
Become an observer of yourself.
Imagine that you are able to follow yourself around during the day and jot down observations about your decisions and habits, like a detective on a trail. What would you discover? Would you see someone going through the motions of life, doing the same things day in and day out whether they were productive or not? Would you hear yourself saying, “maybe later,” or “I’ll do better next time,” when the opportunity for healthy choices comes along? Pay attention for a few days and just notice your habits. Resist the temptation to make any judgements about what you notice. Just observe with curiosity about what you might discover.
Decide whether you need something new.
Once we take the time to observe ourselves without judgement, just simply noticing our tendencies and taking note of them, we can decide whether or not we could benefit from something new. Do you see an opportunity? Do you need a gap that needs to be filled? Perhaps you notice that your morning walk only happens on the days when your shoes and house keys are by the door, and doesn’t happen on days when you have to look for them. With this non-judgmental observation, you can easily see that a new habit of putting your shoes and keys by the door could be helpful.
Give yourself a helping hand.
Now the magic happens! Once you can see the opportunities for new habits to form, give yourself a hand and give them a try. Set a coaching session with your Wellview advisor to brainstorm and create the goals, identify the action steps needed to make it happen, and connect with the support and accountability that makes it easier.
It’s a wonderful time to spruce things up. Are you ready for something new?
Click HERE to learn more about the Wellview services available to you. We can’t wait to work with you!
– HEATHER FUSELIER, CHWC, CFP, TTS
Health Advisor, Personal Trainer
