July 5. Freedom from Old Habits

                                                                              

Zoe rushing and Anna hoarding pebbles

I recently acquired something and after showing it to my friend, Elle, felt my heart sink as she declared, "You just got yourself a sandbag." I admire her honesty and the ease with which Elle uses minimalism to create simplicity and peace in her life. She is incredibly organized, efficient and able to prioritize things. Her ability to streamline and reduce clutter is amazing. I decided I was happy with my purchase, even though it was labeled a sandbag, and will use her sandbag approach to release other things that slow me down and need to go.

I've read that creating a new habit takes an average of 21 days. The repetition eventually creates small changes in the brain, allowing it to recognize and accept different ways of doing something. Here, I've listed some general guidelines for beginning steps in releasing old habits to create a freer you.

• Identify the habit you'd like to release. I like to visualize it as a sandbag, like the ones used for hot air ballooning.

•  Sketch and label it

                                                        

Name your sandbags

• Self Talk.   Read the following and fill in the blanks.

(Your name here), you've had this habit of (name of habit here) for a while now. In a way, it has served you well. Things are changing now and you will be better off, and feel freer, to let this habit of (name of habit) go now.
(Your name here), you know you can do it. When you decide to engage in (habit), you can tell yourself you'd rather choose to be free instead.

• Go easy on yourself.

Tomorrow, we'll look at specific habits to release. What habit do you most want to free yourself from starting now?