Are your habit loops serving you?

We are talking about all things mindset! This is something that I have decided to do in 2021 and I am taking massive actions to accomplish this goal. I just want to talk about leveling up our mindset and some steps that we can take to do that. Did you know, we are on autopilot 45% of our day? This is because we are all in a habit loop. 

Habit loops are things that we subconsciously complete during the day. So let's talk about, for example, showering. If you get in the shower and do all the things, have you ever noticed that you do it in the exact same way every time? Think about it. That is because you are in a habit loop. You get in the shower, get out, and probably don’t even remember the order you did anything in because you were on autopilot. Okay, now this habit loop is most likely serving you because you don’t forget. 

Let’s now think about habit loops that may not be serving us and the goals that we are trying to reach in our lives. First, become aware. If you are not aware of the loop or problem, how can you change it? I am going to apply this to photography because that is what I do. When I first began, I used Photoshop Elements. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is a very basic photo editing program that was super simple to use. I started to outgrow it and I knew that I needed to change but, when I did it was hard. I wanted to cry and pull my hair out but I didn’t; I made it through it. Honestly, Photoshop was like second nature, I was in a habit loop, editing photos in the same order every single time. This is the same for the things that we are doing in life. Are your habit loops taking you where you want to go in your life? 

Have you ever thought, “I want that amazing job” or “ I want to chase after that amazing dream”, but you don’t know why you haven’t gotten there or why you have not been successful yet? Back to the habit loops that we are stuck in! We need to become aware of the habits that we do everyday that are potentially not serving us. Now, I know this is kind of hard to admit this and I know that I am kind of embarrassed, but something that has held me back for the last 14 years is web surfing. Web surfing! When my husband and I first got married we did not have a lot of money so I went online and searched for hours trying to find the best deals. I could have just hopped on and got exactly what I needed. Sure I might have spent a couple more dollars but the time that I could have saved, I am not going to lie, it blows my mind! 

Maybe it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to some of you guys but I can see how that has been holding me back in my business as well. If there is a new product or program that I want to buy, I will research the crap out of it for days! That is not serving me! Your time and mine is way more valuable than that. Get what you need and be done. Save the time! If you were to pay yourself for that time spent web surfing, it would have cost you a heck of a lot more than if you would have just paid a little extra the first time you found it. Ultimately I was wasting so much of my time that could have been spent doing better things like growing my business or chasing my dreams. Think about something that you want to accomplish. 

Are there habit loops or thoughts that are keeping you from getting where you want to go? Is there something in your day that you consistently do that maybe you haven’t thought about before? Maybe it just hit you; maybe you had an epiphany and realised that there are habit loops in your life. Well, I am here to push you forward!

 Let’s create new thought processes, habits, and change your life! It’s up to you! Stop blaming other people and finding excuses. Become aware of the thoughts that come through your mind during the day, think about them. Try this, when you walk past a mirror, what is your immediate thought? Is it positive? Negative? As women, we are so hard on ourselves, we need to work towards letting go of that. Get rid of the bad habit loops and reach for some new ones so that we can put them in our brains and cross out the old. If we can’t do this we will never be able to change our lives. We will be stuck in the same habit loops all our lives! I have big dreams and if you are here, I think you do too! This is what we are going to do, get a notebook or open the notes app on your phone. Use anything you can to write it down. When these thoughts pop into your head, write them down. Whether they are negative, positive, or whatever. If the thought is negative, cross it out; this is called black journaling. Don’t dwell on negative thoughts, push them out and try to put positive ones in their place. 

First, catch the thoughts and how they are helping you get to where you want to go. Second, upgrade those thoughts. Now, we do not have to go from zero to 60 right away, but we have to reach out of the negative and search for the positive. Set yourself up with reminders for success to set yourself up to reach your goals. Whether it be a sticky note on your bathroom mirror or an alarm reminder on your phone, find what works for you to push yourself forward. 

Catch your thoughts, take control, change your lives! Once you catch your thoughts, your actions should not be far behind. We begin to see opportunities that you did not have before and things will start to fall into place. You will be able to finally start creating a life that you love living in. You have to spend the rest of your life with the brain you're in, so let’s make it great. You’ve got this!