How many times have you heard yourself say, “I really want to do some walking”, or “I’d love to start meditation”, or “I really should learn to relax more”?
Starting a new habit can be challenging. We tend to look at how much hard work it will take instead of focusing on what wonderful outcomes could possibly result from our new habit.
I think some of that comes from some of those old tapes running in our head from childhood. Things like:
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Ugh, that’s a lot of pressure. I feel like a failure before I even get started.
Practice makes perfect. I’ll never get perfect at it so why waste the energy to even start.
You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. That sounds like it’ll take way too long. I just don’t have the energy to make that big of a commitment.
I see this often with clients. They feel like if they can’t meditate for 30 minutes, do rounds for an hour, or visualize the perfect beach vacation, they may as well not even try. They can begin to feel like they’re a failure because they can’t do things the “right” way. This can’t be further from the truth!
Any investment you can make in your mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual wellbeing will always always always be worth the time and energy. In fact, taking baby steps is the most effective way to begin any new endeavor. Starting slow and small allows you to do several things like:
1. create a style that works for you. We’re all different. Even though an expert can teach you how to do something, there are always ways to personalize your new endeavor to make it more workable, motivating, and fun for you. Starting slow allows you to create a style unique to you, which increases your likelihood to keep going.
2. build a firm foundation. Starting slow allows you to learn how to do things right, without cutting corners. This helps you in the long run to better meet your goals.
3. integrate your new habits into what you’re already doing. We only have so much time and energy. It’s pretty overwhelming to out of the blue add an hour or two of new habits into our lives. Starting with baby steps allows us to gently and incrementally add what works for us in a way that’s doable and practical.
4. stay motivated and inspired. There’s nothing worse than feeling like a failure because you couldn’t do something perfectly from the start. It’s not that you’re a failure. It’s most likely just that the approach wasn’t right for you. Don’t give up – start slow and build up in a way that allows you to enjoy your new habit and keeps you motivated and inspired to keep moving forward.
5. set yourself up for success. So often we get in over our heads because we have such big expectations of ourselves to be perfect. We can’t live up to that expectation, so we quit and feel like a “failure”. These old experiences make us hesitant to start yet again because we’re feeling like we just don’t have it in us to try (and fail) again. When we start with baby steps, we can celebrate the little successes which keeps us motivated to take the next small doable step.
What’s one baby step that you can do today to move you closer to your goals? Maybe it’s something as small as take a few minutes today to just slow down and take some deep breaths. Or to be grateful for the beautiful blue sky. Or to connect with a friend. Whatever it is, that baby step takes you one step further along your journey. Congratulate yourself on a job well done!
If you need help coming up with baby steps to allow you to be successful, motivated and inspired, feel free to contact me here for a free 30 minute session. I’d love to share tools to help you create a practice that moves you along your journey.
