What Happens When You Fall Off the Good Habit Wagon

Have You Let Your Good Habit, Routine, or Practice Slide?
So, I let my morning routine fall by the wayside.  There could be numerous reasons that this happens.  Stress, excitement, a busy schedule.  The reasons behind it are numerous.  You skip your morning meditation and say oh I’ll find some time later and then something else pops up and before you know it a few weeks have passed and your morning routine feels like a distant memory.  You realize you’re a little left of center, you’re not as eager about your days.  Anxiety, frustration, and resentment creep up a bit more often.  It’s not even this grand aha! moment, just a subtle awareness that you’re not quite as on top of the world as you were before.  If it sounds like I get it, it’s because I do.  This just happened to me.  (if you follow me on TikTok or Instagram you know)

In my case, this time, it was excitement about a project I’m working on mixed with a busy time of year for my wine industry work.  I realized it had been weeks since I had meditated, set my intention for the day, pulled a morning card or journaled.  It felt like something had been missing and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I did. When I realized that the unsettled, anxious, frustrated feelings I had been having correlated with the amount of time I had let my morning routine fall off I knew it was time to get started again.  The funny thing was my morning routine would have set me up for success with all my work so I’m not even sure why I slacked off.  And it was so tempting to judge myself for it.  SO TEMPTING.  But I caught myself and jumped right back into those great habits.  The effects were instantaneous and since then I’ve felt jubilant.
 
Why Do We Give Up On Stuff That Makes Us Feel Good?
For me it was my morning routine, but this honestly holds true for any good habit, routine, or practice that you have.  It could be exercising, or quality time with your loved ones, date night, volunteering, and the list goes on.  It’s so funny to me that we’ll cling to the stuff that doesn’t serve us but are so quick to let the good stuff fall by the wayside.  And I have a sneaking suspicion that part of that is because our good stuff is inherently “selfish”.  It makes us feel good but doesn’t yield a tangible output.  So, when we do the thing, it doesn’t feel like work.  It feels frivolous and self-indulgent and like we’re not taking enough action.  Especially in the case of the things I do (and recommend doing) in a morning routine.  As humans we feel like we have to work for and earn everything good that comes our way.  We treat the good stuff as a reward for hard work and diligent effort.  When that’s not actually how life works, contrary to what we’ve been taught to believe.

Take this project I’m working on (that I’m super excited about and can’t wait to share it with you all).  I felt like if I buckled down, gave myself a deadline to reach certain goals, and really went at it then clearly I was putting in the hard work that would produce results.  Honestly, nothing could have been further from the truth.  I’m creating a course for people who want to feel joy in their life, either again or for the very first time.  I want to make sure everybody knows that well-being is your birthright and if you let it flow to you it can be instantaneous.  That it really is that simple to tap into your joy.  And there I was forcing it.  Totally wrong energy to be putting into a project that means so much to me.  But I see why I was doing what I was doing, I see why I let the “frivolous” stuff fall off.  Because I have years (honestly generations) of programming that says you have to work hard for what you want.  That nothing worth having comes easy.  The habit energy of putting everything else above my mental health and well-being kicked in.  If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, habit energies are sneaky little bitches that can be really hard to recognize.  But when you do recognize them, oh the sense of freedom!
 
The Quick & Easy Fix
Ok so what can we do if we realize we let our good habits and routines fizzle out?  First, remember why you did those things in the first place.  I mean, the number one reason is that they made you feel good right?  You felt joy in the doing of those things and in the lingering effects from doing those things.  Make a list of those reasons, write them down.  (For those of you who know me, and my love of lists, quit laughing at me they work!)  Next, take stock of how you felt while you weren’t doing those things.  But don’t judge yourself when you’re examining everything.  Get clinical, get curious, be honest, but don’t judge.  We’re human, not perfect.  And everything we do gets us to where we are now.  And if where you are now is wanting to feel your best, to be happy, to live a joyful life…well that’s a pretty good place to be no?  Finally, remember that every single second of every single day is an opportunity to start fresh.  It’s tempting to say, oh I’ll start back up on Monday.  But why wait?  Pick that good stuff, the stuff that feels frivolous, the stuff that feels like it might even be a “waste of time”, right back up.

If it still feels difficult to you to dive back into that good stuff consider this… anything you do when you aren’t at your best isn’t going to yield the kind of results you’re looking for.  When you’re vibrating high and being your best version things click.  Think about it, when you’ve felt really on your game how does everything pan out for you?  Your loved ones feel truly loved and appreciated, your work is top notch, your health is vibrant, and everything seems to fall into place, right?  Now look back at a time when you weren’t embracing those good habits and routines.  How were your relationships?  Did you feel motivated?  What was the quality of your work?  Was your health great?  How about your mental health?  Were your emotions stable?  If you aren’t making yourself a priority, making sure that you’re at 100%, then everything else is getting less than your best.  And does it ever feel good when you know you just phoned something in?  That you were there but not present?  I don’t love that feeling so I’m guessing you don’t either.
 
Less Than Your Best Doesn’t Always = Bad
I want to make something crystal clear so I’m going to use my recent situation to help make my point.  Step One, the why.  So why did I have my morning routine? Well, it lets me know I love myself, I value myself enough to start my day deliberately, it helps me feel aligned with source, it amps up my joy, and motivates me to make the day my best day ever.  I can list tons more reasons but for the sake of not going on too long on to Step Two.  How did I feel when I wasn’t doing it?  I slogged through my day, I felt like there wasn’t enough time, I didn’t have focus, I experienced anxiety symptoms frequently, I got really ill, and my temper was quick to flare at slight inconveniences that honestly didn’t matter.  So, the second I realized I missed my meditating and setting intentions and journaling and all that good stuff I dove right back in that second (aka Step Three).  I didn’t wait until the next morning, I sat down and meditated right then. 

Here's that point I wanted to make though, I was never unhappy in all that time.  Sure, I had stress, and my motivation was lacking, my emotions were a bit heightened, but at no time did I ever feel upset or sad.  In fact, I had moments of awesome joy and productivity.  That’s because overall I’ve gotten myself to this wonderful place and I’m just not capable of feeling as unhappy as I was, which is the beautiful part of transformation, but I digress.  You don’t have to feel bad or sad or depressed to still have “negative” effects from giving up stuff that brings you joy.  It boils down to being a past version of you, one that isn’t vibrating high, one that isn’t focused on your highest good.  It doesn’t have to be a bad version to not be your best version.  And you absolutely, 100%, deserve to be your best version.  To feel the joy that comes along with allowing your authentic self to shine through all that you do.  So pick that habit back up, dive back into your routine.  It’s time to shine baby, it’s time to shine.  And if you don’t know what your best version is try giving LBL Week a shot!