Hi bb’s and HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can’t believe it’s 2019.. wow.. 2018 really flew by! This is my very first blog post of the new year and I feel like it’s very fitting as so many of us (myself included) have our journals filled with goals and resolutions for the year ahead; but the goals and resolutions we have jotted down are just words on a page without action, and for me personally over the last year I have struggled with the taking action aspect of my goals, which really just boils down to a lack of SELF-DISCIPLINE.

Question: Are you making choices that are in alignment with your goals? Are you making consistent choices that support you feeling your best and living your best life?
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Every year I set goals for myself (all very achievable I might add) I get clear on what I need to do and how I’ll get there, but over the last year when it came time for me to take ACTION I struggled. 2018 was no doubt a year of transition for me, but looking back in an honest way I can clearly see I made a lot of excuses when it came time to taking action towards my goals + doing the things I know make me feel my best. I let my self-discipline slip each time I made a choice that was out of alignment with the goals I had set for myself. I can think back on nearly every single time I made a choice that was out of alignment with my goals and in the moment I did it because I told myself I “needed a break” or I was “tired” or because I deserved some slack since I had been “working 24/7 for 2 years and needed to recoup”…. which is all valid; but to an extent. As I sat quietly reflecting on 2018 on NYE I had a realization that what I was doing was not taking a break, what I had been doing was more so something a long the lines of mild self-sabotage, with a big side of excuses. There is a big difference between taking a break and quitting.
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Why do we avoid the things we know will make us feel good? Why are we so afraid of putting in the work when it comes to things we really want? How can we stop the cycle?
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This year I have FULLY committed to going ALL IN for myself + my goals. No more excuses. Self-discipline is self-love! If we can change the way we look at things we can change our habits. This whole idea is NOT about punishing ourselves, or restricting ourselves.. it’s about asking ourselves honestly what it is we want, and committing to doing what it takes to get there in an honest and loving way.

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I’m only 4 days in on this self-discipline journey so I don’t have all the answers but so far here is what has been helping me!

GET CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT: Get clear about what you want and what your goals are! Sit down, meditate, and really think about what brings you joy, what makes you feel good and what your goals for the future are. I’m not just talking about work related or fitness goals, but overall LIFE goals! Take a look at your eating habits, your health, your relationships, your social life and even your routines. What do you want your days to look like? How do you want to feel? Getting clear about these things will help you decided what type of choices you need to be making on a daily basis!

SCHEDULE OUT YOUR DAYS IN ADVANCE: If you are working on implementing new habits taking time the night before to schedule out your day and/or write a specific to do list is extremely helpful!

TAKE ACTION: Like I said above, the goals and resolutions we have jotted down are just words on a page without action! Once you decide what you want you have to decide what things will not help you get there and then nix those things immediately. Do you want to get up earlier? Then no more staying up until 2am. You can’t look at nixing the old habits as restricting yourself, you’ve got to look at it like this: I love myself and want the best for myself so I am going to make myself go to sleep early because I really want to wake up earlier in the morning. Remember this: you’re not losing anything of value, you’re gaining your goals!

GROUP TASKS: One way I have been incorporating new habits is by grouping it along with something I already routinely do. For example: one of my goals is to meditate more: what’s something I already routinely do? Drive. I am in the car a lot going from studio to client to workout etc. so every time I have to be somewhere I leave EARLY so I arrive to my destination early and then before I go in to where I am going I take 5-10 minutes to meditate in the car. Boom. Easy. Another thing is to take more yoga classes: since I already teach 7 classes a week I have decided that I will stay for the class after mine, I book it out in my calendar as BUSY so I have no excuse not to! Find daily tasks that you already routinely do and tack on a new habit you want to implement!

CHECK IN WITH YOURSELF: When it comes to implementing new habits you have to be mindful, present and honest. If you start to notice yourself making excuses take a moment to do an honest check-in. For example: one of my goals is to take more yoga classes, more specifically to stay for the yoga class after the one I teach. Today I had planned to stay and take the class after mine but when it came time to stay I started to complain about how much work I had to do, how hungry I was, and how I was sore from the class the day prior and I ALMOST let myself off the hook… but as I walked to my car I stopped and asked myself are these really valid feelings or am I making BS excuses? What do I want? Is the choice I am making supporting what I want? How will I feel if I skip? How will I feel if I stay? I decided that I was not really that sore or tired, and that I was not starving.. in fact all I was really doing was making excuses.. so I turned back around and walked back to the studio and took the class…. and I am SO HAPPY I DID! That little choice to turn back around was a big step in cutting the excuses and truly implementing the new habit that I want to form. Building a new habit really is as simple as making a new choice. Choice by choice.

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Breaking habits ain’t easy.. but it CAN be done. Just like falling out of a habit becomes easier the longer you don’t do it, rising into a new one will become easier the more you DO do it! It may take some extra effort in the beginning but just think of how good you will feel when you’re on a roll! Do you have any good tips?? Leave them in a comment below!! I am gathering all the good self-discipline tips I can get my hands on! 😉 Alright, thats all for today my loves.. in the mean time make sure you’re following me on Instagram for daily tips and tricks, yoga, fitness and inspiration!