It’s no surprise to you that life can often throw us curveballs. That’s for sure! Living the life you desire may seem out of reach especially when you feel like you’ve been thrown too many curveballs in a row. It can be difficult to inspire or motivate yourself out of your current space into a more positive and productive space. This is completely normal when we lack the tools or knowledge to do so. It’s also completely normal and a part of the way that we are wired that making conscious efforts in our life leads to internal and external changes.

If you find yourself struggling to introduce better habits, or you keep falling into self-sabotaging behaviors or thoughts, then stay tuned. We’ve put together all the tips and advice that we know in order to help you make positive changes in your life. 

Morning Routine 

Developing a morning routine is often a key to success. This doesn’t have to be anything too crazy, it can just be adding in a glass of warm water each morning or a little stretch in bed or as soon as you hop out. Adding some kind of conscious action as soon as you wake up is a great way to bring your energy and focus back to yourself. It’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of work, responsibilities, and commitment that we often forget the biggest responsibility we have; ourselves. 

Developing a morning routine that incorporates a conscious act will help you snap out of autopilot and bring your focus back to yourself. In this way, you can fill up your cup before going out into the world and spilling your energy out by working and interacting with others. Whilst these aren’t inherently bad things, we don’t realize how much time and energy we give away to others. By giving yourself your energy first thing in the morning, you will notice that you find yourself more present throughout the day. 

Other ideas you can add are, taking a few deep breaths as soon as you wake up, journaling or meditation. Doesn’t matter what you choose, it should resonate with you because the more it resonates, the more impact it will have. If you’re a  disciplined person, you can add more structure or a more packed morning. If you find yourself to be someone who prefers to go with the flow, then just incorporate whatever you feel like every morning. You can change it up every day or add your activities at whatever point you need to in the morning. 

Mindfulness exercises also help start the morning right. It can put you in the right mood and mindset to tackle the day’s challenges. One exercise to try is smudging. You burn an aromatic white sage smudge stick and let the smoke and fragrance purify and rejuvenate your mind and body. It takes only five minutes or less to do and goes a long way of getting you ready for the day.

Habit Building 

Once you have a nice morning routine going, move onto some good habits. Once again, choose something that resonates. Maybe you want to drink more water, incorporate more movement, or read more. Whatever it is, start small. We often feel inspired and motivated and set ourselves big goals of exercising 5 days a week or finish reading a book in a week. This is all great, if only you see the likelihood of it becoming a part of your lifestyle in long term. 

Instead, you should start small and build your way up. If you barely exercise now, it’s difficult to leap to working out 5 days a week. And that’s because our brain is built like that. We develop neural pathways based on our habitual patterns and thoughts. To rewire these pathways through neuroplasticity, you want to start small to avoid your brain sabotaging you. Even though it doesn’t mean to, it merely wants to protect you. Start small and work your way up. In this way, you create new pathways in the brain which when tended to be stronger,  will become the pathways your brain naturally relies upon. 

Discipline 

One of the key aspects of making positive changes in your life is to rely upon discipline, not motivation. Motivation feels good. It feels nice to have a rush of chemicals tell you that you’re going to change your life and feel better if you do XYZ. But guess what? Motivation doesn’t last. What does last however is cultivating discipline. You can do this by following the steps laid out, build a morning routine and good habits, even on the days you don’t want to and on the days that feel hard. Assess yourself and your energy and notice what makes you feel good and what doesn’t. Naturopathic clinic Toronto doctors recommend biohacking as a way to develop mental and emotional resilience. This helps you to overcome and deal with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Simple ways to bio-hack are getting daily sunlight exposure, exercise, and meditation. 

Affirmations 

Affirmations are a great way to rewire your brain towards positivity, good behaviors, and thought patterns. They help train you to see the good in yourself and the world surrounding you. We often don’t realize the amount of negative programming we surround ourselves with or the programming we have in our heads. Take some time every day to interrupt your automatic thought patterns with positive affirmations. It’s important to find what works for you as everyone is different. You may enjoy playing affirmations each morning, saying them out loud, writing them on your phone wallpaper or mirror. Play with a few different ways until you find a way that resonates. Don’t just give up immediately because it feels silly or doesn’t seem to be working. Neurons that fire together, wire together. You will need to keep reinforcing the positive affirmations until you develop new neural pathways wired towards positivity. 

Follow this guide to create healthy, positive habits in your life. You will certainly have your difficult moments however, this is all part of the process. Every stumble is an opportunity to pick yourself up with even more focus and knowledge than you previously had. It’s difficult to track how far you’ve come or how much progress you’ve made if your progress is only linear. Take some time to congratulate yourself for even reading this – change is hard but always worth it.

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