Reserve that Decision

What habit or activity are you having a hard time with at the moment? Which one do you want to do, but usually end up putting on the back burner? Be honest. It happens to all of us. Let’s look at why a planned activity might get pushed aside.

What I have noticed most often in my 25 years + in the Health, Wellness and Self-Development fields, is that we make decisions about a “later in the day” activity at a point in the day when we are stressed, overwhelmed or feeling low. We get caught in a spiral of negative self-talk and justification that sabotages later planned activities.

It often goes something like this:

Rising in the early morning, and after a restless night of sleep, one begins to say “I don’t have the energy for my class today at 4pm.” “I didn’t sleep well again, and I feel really tired.” “I am going to skip class today as I know I won’t be able to manage that.”

Well, let me ask you, how do you actually know you’ll still feel tired at 4 pm? Isn’t it entirely possible that the day might go in a different direction and you’ll feel quite able to attend class by that time? But, if you’ve already made up your mind at 6 am, that you’re not going to a class at 4 pm, you’ve really closed your mind to that possibility, haven’t you?

And, don’t you find if you get caught in this kind of spiral of self-talk, that it is a huge waste of energy? Might you have actually spent more energy in defending and worrying about your decision of not going to class versus how much energy would be required for class?

Finally, I invite you to begin to notice when you start to talk yourself out of things…….simply ask yourself to stop. Look at the clock and say “too early for that decision. I will re-evaluate in 3 hours.”

Start the day with an open mind, ready for all that might come your way. Set yourself up for success, because I know you can do it!

Deanna