How many of you know they should change something in their life, whether it is their job, their house, their eating habit or workout routine, but they just don’t do it?

How many of you have been willing to change a habit or routine, but never got to do it and feel quite frustrated about it?

How many of you get annoyed by all the “health posts” they see on Social Media, and it is actually because the feel bad about themselves and kind of envy those who can have a healthy lifestyle?

Changing a tiny habit in your life can be the most difficult task ever. Whatever it is: giving up smoking, reducing the number of coffee cups, adding 10min of meditation in the morning, going for a walk at lunch time, having some coaching sessions 1-2 times a week, going to bed earlier….. Any change, as tiny as it may be, can be scary and even if your mind wants to do it, you might experience some inner resistance to it. Why is that? Why can’t we just make the change and stop wasting this time overthinking it without doing anything about it?

These are my personal thoughts about it. Please feel free to comment if you have anything to add or say about it :-)

The first reason I think is the Inner shift that needs to take place. When you have to change a daily habit, it means you are changing your deep core values. Suddenly, something different and/or new becomes more important to you and you cannot ignore it anymore. That’s why you have to make that change and you don’t have the choice anymore. So take a step back and meditate on it: is this really what you want? Does this new habit make you feel good on the inside? Do you feel aligned with it, does it just feel right? Do you see it as something now that is part of you and that you HAVE TO integrate in your life? If yes, it means you are on the right track. But if you feel that this new habit you wanted to make is just something that is socially expected from you, or that suits someone else’s expectations, but that is not defined in your own deep core values, than here you have the answer. You can’t make sustainable changes if you don’t do them for yourself. People can support you but the shift has to happen on the inside. If this is your case, it might be time to figure out why you got yourself into this situation and what might be blocking you on a deeper level.

Most of the time, when that inner shift happens, it is because you are raising your own standards. Athletes have high expectations of themselves, and cannot consider being unfit and not being able to move their bodies around. This is all in their inner values and the standards they set up for themselves. So if you are tired of being tired, if you know you have to make a change, think like this person that you are looking up to. Think like this person you are being inspired by. Would they allow themselves to eat crappy food and malnourish their own body? Would they allow themselves to be disconnected with their Inner Self just because they are losing themselves in the hectic modern stressful lifestyle? Changing a habit starts with changing your priorities. If YOU become your highest priority, before work and before anyone else, you will be able to do any change that is required in order to feel good and energized again. RAISE YOUR STANDARDS HIGH. Being your own priority doesn’t mean you are a selfish self-centered person. This is what we have been told for too long. How can you give to others what you don’t have? Ie, Love or Happiness? By making sure you are doing the right things for yourself, your energy levels rise, you become a better you with much more love, time, happiness and compassion to give to anyone else. So yes, just raise your standards, change your priorities, this should make you feel good about yourself, and it should even empower you. Setting up new priorities that resonate with you is like opening a door to a new life full of new opportunities. Don’t wait any longer and start making your own personal list of new priorities.

Don’t start with massive changes, all at once. Unless you really had a deep breakthrough and that you can not do it any other way! Most of the time, a step-by-step approach is much more sustainable and gives you time to adapt to this new lifestyle. For example, decide to do one tiny change over one week or two. Then, when it feels comfortable and that you don’t even think about it anymore, add a second change, and so on. For a new habit to become fully integrated in your daily routine, you need to do it at least for a month NON STOP, which means, you cannot drop it one day and start again. You have to do it constantly for a whole month in a row. So yes, some discipline might be required at the beginning. But I can guarantee you that this is truly worth it.

Life is Movement. Things change because we change, our body, our mind and soul change, and therefore they have new needs, new priorities that need to take place. Being open to those changes and accepting them with no resistance is the easiest way to deal with it. Some people might really feel out of their comfort zone just because they stop taking the car and walk 10 minutes more each day…! And if this is the case, it shows how important this change was. Get out of your comfort zone and play with your life. It can be so much fun, you can learn so much about yourself on the way. And the more you understand your own struggles, your own blockages or limiting beliefs, the more you can love yourself and finally see how truly beautiful you are, from the inside out. Stop comparing yourself to anyone else. You are the unique you, and there is a good reason for it. Don’t compare your life to anyone else’s. There is a good reason why the journey is different for each one of us.

What I personally realized as I was changing my lifestyle for a healthy holistic one, is that we cannot dissociate the body from the mind and soul. Some people work out non stop but never meditate, never take a step back to figure out what is emotionally happening inside of them. And for some people it is the opposite. They meditate a lot but never move their body or take care of it. This separation creates a big gap inside of yourself. It is all about balance. Exercise but rest. Be creative and productive but stop overthinking and be mindful and present at other times. Socialize and see people, but have your own quiet time as well. Many intellectuals don’t see the point of taking care of their body by moving it and nourishing it with good food. I challenge them to start acknowledging more time to their body and see how this will boost and improve their cognitive strength.

You are not a body. You are a beautiful Soul in a beautiful body.

Take care of both and make yourself a priority. It is never too late to start.

In Love and Happiness,

Stephanie