Smitten with small habits
I love making my bed. Ok, I sound pretty boring haha. But for me it sets the tone for the day with a sense of accomplishment. I also love touching my toes, being able too. Haha yup most boring person award! But try it yourself thru your day: seemingly mundane acts are actually your small tangible victories.
How you do anything is how you do everything. I call them “taking the stairs” options: they’re harder than taking the lift but over time will make you stronger and more resilient. Maybe these small things seem tedious but every time you practice discomfort you feel resilience, more in control - you’re collecting evidence to show yourself you’re a strong capable human.
The real problem is every time you avoid discomfort, you're reinforcing the belief that you can't handle it. It creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more you avoid discomfort, the less capable you feel.
Practicing ”taking the stairs” discomforts doesn’t always need to be involve big gestures:
just watching the sunrise of a morning takes more effort than drinking your coffee while scrolling instagram, but it will help you feel calmer and in control
parking the car further than you need and walking 3-5min more than you would have it’s less efficient but giving yourself free health!
turning your smartphone off an hour before bed takes more effort than watching YouTube on it, but it will likely improve intimacy with your partner as well as the quality of your sleep
Your small tangible daily victories mount up when you say you’ll do them and you do! Their ripple effect inspires you to tackle bigger challenges with similar a mindset. So when a non self elected challenge arrives (& they will) you can tell myself ‘I don’t know how this is going to turn out but I am certain I can do hard things’.
Your life is essentially the sum of your daily habits and each habit not only gets your results but teaches you something even more important: to trust yourself!
