Last week I had a call from a friend I hadn’t spoken to for almost a year. She lives in Yorkshire but our lives had been so busy that we hadn’t had chance to catch up. It was so lovely to hear from her that I invited her to chat at the weekend.
“I can’t do Sunday because that’s when I do the big supermarket shop and clean the house,” she said on her text. “If I don’t get those jobs done on a Sunday the week ahead is chaos!”
Many of us have similar routines and we stick to them because it’s what we do, it’s like a script that an actor has to learn. Once we learn it, that’s what we do and continue to avoid the discomfort associated with change. In fact, you’re probably wondering why there’s any need to change things at all when they appear to make life easier.
Rethinking mundane routines may seem trivial but the reality is that the more we hold onto old ideas and old ways of doing things the more they creep in and the harder it becomes to break down the barriers and creating new solutions in all areas of our lives.
The New Year often starts off with a focus all about breaking habits and doing things differently but although we might think we know what needs to change in our lives to makes us happier or healthier there will be activities we do regularly that we’re not necessarily aware of.
Habits aren’t just vices we’d like to break like a desire to smoke or eat chocolate, they are patterns in our lives that have become so familiar and comfortable that we’re afraid to break them.
To become aware of your habits start by examining your daily and weekly routine. Do you go to the supermarket every Saturday morning and do you always go to the same one? Do you always have the same meals on certain nights, like Fish Friday? Do you do certain tasks on the same day each week? It’s only when you really take an honest look at your daily routine that you see how many patterns emerge that are hindering you, your time and your energy.
A simple change of habit such as having a themed meal night, how about Mexican Night or Chinese Night can make you really become consciously aware of what you eat and will expose you to different types of foods that break the monotony of the same old stuff.
So break the habits this weekend and see where it takes you…………….