Small Habits for Wellbeing
Our own well-being is SO important, very often we overlook it - and certainly, as women, tend to put others above ourselves - and that’s when overwhelm can creep in. This is why I love using the aeroplane oxygen mask analogy: it’s crucial that you look after own wellbeing first, because if you are not looking after yours, then you are not best placed to look after others. And as mothers, if we are not close to 100%, how can we give our children all that they need? You cannot pour from an empty cup.
So - when we take care of ourselves we start feeling better and looking better, and then we attract better. It all starts with YOU.
Small wellbeing habits can make a huge difference. Habits are automatic choices that influence our conscious decisions that then follow. Creating a habit is saying this is the identity I want to have – e.g. “I want to be the type of person that exercises” or “I want to be the type of person who read before bed.”
Tips for creating a new habit:
Start small… think about what is the smallest thing you can do to make a difference, to feel calmer, less stressed, more positive. This will be specific to you.
Add it into your day for just 5 mins to start with (e.g. exercise, gratitude, meditation, reading, walk, rest, phone a friend).
Make it achievable and realistic – this will make sure it is motivating for you.
It needs to feels enjoyable straight after, otherwise it will be hard to make it stick
I talk about starting small because I like to refer to the staircase analogy – standing at the bottom looking up it looks enormous, but if you can break it down and take it step by step - when you look down then you will see how far you have come and realise all the progress you have made. Small steps make BIG progress.
I love this visual from @lizandmollie below which sums it up perfectly:
So - Where do you start?
Pick 1 thing to increase your wellbeing for you – remember this will be different for everyone (e.g. healthy eating, good sleep, fresh air, exercise, drink water, exercise, see friends, relax, read, hobby – anything that will make you feel better)
Habit stacking (James Clear “Atomic Habits”) add the new habit to the end of another habit that you already do – e.g. after brushing your teeth at night, then read your book for 5 mins. If it slots into your daily routine it is so much easier thing to do.
Focus on just 1 thing that will make a difference to you. Add in just 5/10mins per day (don’t go straight into working out x3 per week for 30 mins – that will be harder to start and even harder to sustain.)
Importance of baby steps
Look at schedule for habit stacking slots.
On my recent podcast on this topic I referred to James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits” which is a great book to read, in brief I have set out his 4 steps to creating a good habit below:
How to Create a Good Habit
Cue: Make It Obvious
make the cues of good habits obvious and visible (e.g. leave the book on your pillow)
Craving: Make It Attractive
use temptation bundling – pair an action you want to do with one you need to do (e.g. work out just before washing your hair)
Response: Make It Easy
practice not planning: take action, repetition, human behaviours follow the law of least effort – create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible (e.g. put out work out clothes the night before)
Reward: Make It Satisfying
i’s so important that there are feelings of pleasure immediately after as that is what human brain will repeat. The need is to feel immediately successful and enjoyable for the habit to last.
To listen to my podcast on Small Habits for Wellbeing with Suzanne George (no: 2/4 from our mini series) follow this link:
