How can I commit to new habits?
Understanding the Impact of Commitment on Your Daily Life.
I have wanted a new website for over a year. Since I started working on my new website, I have created, grown, and birthed a child. That child is now almost 5 months old.
Why has it taken longer to create my website than it has to create my child?
Because I have been very busy saying that I want a new website and not doing it. I have been committed to talking about a website and not creating it.
I have also been committed to quite a few beliefs that have "helped" me with my larger commitment:
I'm not tech-savvy. I don't look good in pictures. I'm better in person. I'm not ready. I don't have anything new to say. I don't deserve to have a modern functional website. Etc.
In essence, I have been working very hard to NOT have an online presence.
Our commitments not only determine what we do everyday and what we achieve in our lives but our commitments also manifest in such things as our posture, the volume of our voice, our gestures and what they say about us. What you feel on the inside manifests on the outside. What you repeat on the outside becomes the habits of your life.
Your turn: What are you committed to? You are probably committed to....
Eating healthy food, sleeping 8 hrs a night, loving your partner, being good to those around you and to yourself, yoga, meditation, etc. Or, are you really?
What would an outside observer say that you are in fact committed to?
Being on your computer 6+ hours a day. Searching the web and not doing the items on your to-do list. Spending more than you have. Credit cards. Saying you are going to drink more water, and not drinking more water. (In fact, you are committed to 3 cups of coffee a day.) Saying you'll wake up and exercise and not doing it. Having clothes in your drawer that you don't wear. Buying what you don't need. Being late to work in the morning. Being late, period. Etc etc...
So, all sorts of commitments are involved in getting us places and doing things, and being somebody and ultimately, accomplishing amazing (or not so amazing) things in this world! Commitments are powerful. They either build the life that we dream of or to keep us locked into patterns that don't serve us.
So here's what I do when I realize that I have made commitments that are no longer serving me:
I bring awareness to my commitments and acknowledge them for being what they are (no judgement). Accept that a thing is what it is.
I look at my overall vision for myself and ask: Which of these commitments are not serving my vision for myself and my life?
I pick ONE commitment to turn from a negative to a positive for a week. If that feels good, I continue for a month.
Once that commitment is turned around, I repeat steps 1-3.
It's important and empowering to recognize that we have the ability to change.
Working with your commitments in this way can be done on your own or with a coach. Something as simple as a weekly check-in can ensure that progress starts happening now.
Have you wanted to commit to working on your public speaking but haven’t had the bandwidth to follow through? I can help. With a quick phone call I can walk you through, step by step how I’ll teach you valuable skills that you will have for life and how together we’ll reset your relationship to public speaking.