I truly believe that how we react to the moments we don’t feel like doing something is reflective of how we show up to life.
Whether it’s working out or getting a chore done, think about how you show up to the challenges in your life. No matter how big or small.
Think about how you react when you’re in an argument with your significant other. Can you set your ego aside and respond from a zoomed-out perspective, or are you going to chew their head off until you get your point across?
How we do one thing, shows up in everything else that we do.
Don’t Touch That Snooze Button
When you set your alarm before you go to bed, you do it with intention. You decide to wake up at a certain time so that you can go about your day a certain way.
When you hit snooze, over and over again, you’re throwing off your whole day. That one tiny decision reflects how you go about everything else that you do.
That touch of the button may seem harmless, but think about how that affects your morning, and eventually takes you further away from your goals.
When you make a habit of pressing snooze on your alarm, it’s kind of like pressing snooze on your life.
So get out of bed and get moving!
We Make Our Habits
Sometimes we think that we have these habits or ticks that hold us back and keep us from achieving our goals – like waking up late.
There’s a saying that each bad habit has a few buddies that hang around it.
What do I mean by that?
Think about a “bad habit” or routine that you seem to get stuck in.
Sticking with the theme, let’s use hitting snooze and sleeping in as an example. You woke up late, so you skip your morning workout or meditation, or whatever it is that gets you going in the morning. Because you’re late, you decide to skip out on breakfast. By the time you get to lunch, you’re so ravenous that you reach for something starchy, sugary, and not in line with how you want to be eating. While that gave you energy for a little bit, soon after you crash, and end up not meeting your work goals for the day. By the time you get home, you’re so tired that you neglect your passion projects or spending time with your family and instead plop on the couch for a TV binge. You go to bed feeling exhausted and unfulfilled, and the cycle continues.
See how these habits feed each other?
It’s ok to indulge sometimes, life is meant to be lived. But if your one “habit” is feeding a whole chain of other ones, it might be time to switch things up.
The cool thing is that we can change our habits.
When you change your habits and decide to get up at the first alarm, your whole life starts to change.
Show Up, Be Efficient
When we are stressed because we pressed snooze and woke up late, or are dragging our feet to get through every little thing on our to-do list, everything seems to take longer.
Showing up for your life means putting intentional energy into every task set before you, whether it’s giving a presentation in front of a boardroom, or reading your kids a bedtime story. Which funnily enough, can both help you tap into the same skill set.
Efficiency doesn’t mean rushing through things to get them done. It means using your internal and external resources wisely to meet your goals in a timely manner. Efficiency means showing up for your life because only you can do that.
Make Life Enjoyable
One of the best parts of showing up to your life full force is that you start to enjoy it more.
Finding meaning or at least contentment in every little thing you do helps you to lead a life that is fulfilling and fun.
We expect change to happen in big monumental moments, but more often than not, it happens in slow increments. We change by choosing to go about our days in more meaningful and intentional ways. We change when we decide to wake up at our first alarm, to get the workout done, to put ourselves aside, and listen to our partners in the heat of an argument.
Our habits may shape our days, but they don’t define us. We define them. So change your habits into ones that you’re proud of. Change how you do the little things in life. All these little changes help you to lead a happier, more enjoyable life.
