Affirmation of the week: I only sit with Kings and Queens. My circle is a reflection of me.
Journal prompt of the week: If I had a talk show, my first guest would be? And why?
I hope you're loving my content and that the tips I'm sharing have been helpful. If you think any of your girls would love being part of our fam please share and let them know!
Happy Monday fam…
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend and ate some amazing food and spent time with those you love most and who give you joy & strength!
Over the past few months we've been in go-mode pursuing our wellness goals loading our summer minds, bodies and sols -- you've been killing it and I am sooo super proud of you! I also know that life has been lifing for real and despite our best plan, sometimes staying on top of our goals has been tricky. I know this, because it's been happening to me too and because someone slid into my DMs with a topic so good, I wanted to share it here.
The person shared they love all the tips and guidance but struggle with building the habits to support the goals. They start a new thing, do well for a few days, but aren't maintaining consistency and it got me thinking about how we build consistency, first through commitment and then through habits. The other comment was “it's not as easy as when we get older" and I thought how wild it is that we've been taught that building new habits is harder due to our age, but you know I love to talk my rebel ish and let you know what's truth. So here goes…
Have you noticed babies at birth, don't have habits yet?…I know…why does that matter? Ok, vibe with me as I nerd out a bit LOL. Babies have more neurons at birth…on average adults have 41% less than a newborn baby. BUT….adults are smarter and more skilled. Again…why does this matter? This is a major key to building better habits and mastering our mental and physical performance due to a phenomenon called synaptic pruning.
Synaptic pruning is essentially what our brain does with connections between neurons that don't get used - we basically drop them over time. The saying “if you don't use it you lose it” applies here. This may sound like bad news… it's not. When you start something new and continue to do it over time, you build it as a strength - a habit…this is often referred to as “muscle memory” right? You've done something so many times, you do it almost without thought. I know you're still waiting for the good news LOL…I know…well here it is:
Because of the pruning process…letting go of what we don't use…we have room for new habits AND…we do have habits that are so well formed we do them effortlessly (like brushing our teeth). And those habits are a solid foundation to add/build new habits on, so we can take advantage of a most amazing thing called habit stacking. Habit stacking is essentially identifying a strong habit you already have and stacking a new one on it.
I am not at all the authority on this topic, but in a book I read as part of my research, called Atomic Habits, (linked below) James Clear teaches us how to leverage this super cool technique and the below example comes directly from his teachings. He uses a habit stacking formula that works like this:
After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]
Are you picking up what I'm putting down? I put together a few examples of how this could work during morning and evening routines:
Morning habit stack:
While I drink my first cup of coffee, I will meditate for one minute.
After I meditate for one minute, while I am finishing my coffee, I will review & refine my to-do list for the day.
After I complete reviewing and updating my to-do list, I will immediately begin my first task.
Evening habit stack:
When I complete my workday, I will close my laptop.
After I close my laptop, I will change from my work clothes and immediately put on my workout clothes.
After I put on my workout clothes, I will grab my healthy snack and fill my water bottle and head to my workout.
When I complete my workout, I will refill my water bottle and complete my workout stretch & recovery.
You see how specific the statements are? That's one of the big keys to success because often, we are too vague in our intention which makes it tricky for our neurons to click in and adopt that new thing. When we give it specific and actionable information to work with, it allows our neurons to accept these new activities as new habits and the more we do them, the more effortless it becomes. Aside from being too vague, we also often try to make massive changes all at once and then…well…they don't stick because we didn't have the best foundation to build on. And it's not the big changes that make the most difference…it's the small and progressive changes that we actually do consistently that make the biggest impact.This formula allows us to focus our attention and intention and make the key lifestyle changes we desire and in bite sized easy to implement portions. Whew, I know that was a lot, but I would love to hear your thoughts. Is this concept new to you or have you tried it before? If you have tried it, how did it go? If this is new to you, will you try it? If you do, please keep me posted! As always, thank you being here with me…I am truly grateful that you take time out of your busy schedule to connect with me. Have an amazing week fam! Sending you big love! ❤️
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