Growth: Staying the course

It’s great to launch into a new routine when you feel motivated to go after what you want. In the beginning, things are exciting. You’re setting yourself up, you’re making plans, you’re prepping for the new life & success you’re about to have. When you’re motivated, getting started is the easy part. As you go along though, it may feel harder to keep that same energy week after week.

Growing involves making different decisions than the ones you used to make. It involves making your food at home instead of relying on the drive through. It involves studying for that next level certification or exam instead of scrolling your phone. It involves putting money into investments instead of buying something new. It involves going to the gym instead of going to the bar. This can completely throw your brain for a loop.

Our brains are literally wired to put safety and security before anything else as a means of survival. Old behaviors make us feel safe. New behaviors throw us off and make us feel anxious or doubt ourselves. This is why most people revert back to their old ways just a couple weeks after starting something new.

For somebody trying to cut back on alcohol, it may be easy to order water instead of wine one night at dinner, but what happens the next day when you’re at brunch? Is it going to be water again or are you going for the mimosas like everybody else? What about at dinner that night? And the work function the night after that? Making the better choice once is a fantastic start. Making the better choice over and over again is what actually makes you better. That requires discipline.

So maybe ask yourself how many times a day you can realistically make the better choice? In the beginning, it may be only once, which is ok. That’s better than what you were doing before! (Going for better, not perfect helps new habits stick.) When that gets easier to do, try making the better choice twice a day. And so on.

Once you start making the better choice on a regular basis, you’ll likely start seeing some positive results. Those results will fuel your motivation to do it more often. Just remember it takes a little bit to get there.

Trust in yourself, trust in the process, and do the best you can. You’ve got this.