Creating Healthy Habits in 2021
Image via Goop
Happy February, everyone! Is it just me or did January absolutely fly by?! Can’t believe we’re already 1 month into 2021.
After a slow start to the year (I took the entire month of January to flow into my New Year’s reset, which you can read more about here), by the time February rolled in I was ready to start thinking about what I wanted to actually start doing this year. And the one thing I kept coming back to was wanting - no needing - to create healthy habits.
2020 really derailed a lot of my routines and habits - this is normal. The year was a sh*tshow. There’s no way around that. I went from a routine of waking up early to either teach or go to yoga before work almost every day, to rolling out of bed 5 minutes before I needed to be online, not washing my face until 5pm, staying in my pajamas all day and watching hours of television at night. No wonder I was an anxious mess and spent a lot of time feeling like sh*t.
Rather than beat myself up about all of this, I decided to let it go. We’re in unprecedented times, so all rules have flown out the window. BUT, I knew that I wanted to find my healthy habits and routines again this year. The pandemic is far from over, and it’s time to snap out of it and get back to a healthier day-to-day. Who’s with me?!
For February, I’ve decided to focus on creating 3 healthier habits by adding in things that I know make me feel amazing, and letting go of things that don’t. Plain and simple! When we’re adding in healthy habits we have less space for the sh*tty ones. My 3 habits that I’m committed to DAILY in February are:
Practicing yoga (even a wind-down stretch before bed counts!)
Following a consistent morning routine (15-minute meditation, The Daily Stoic reading & journaling, & one lesson from A Course in Miracles)
Drinking 72 oz. of water (I just got a cute new Hydroflask bottle which motivates me to drink more water)
To track my habits and hold myself accountable, I’ve added them into each day in my planner with little checkmark boxes next to them. This way, I’m reminded on a daily basis that I’ve committed to doing these things every single day, and because the type A side of me loves to “check something off” (I love to-do lists and really hate when I can’t check something off) I’m much more likely to actually follow through.
To start creating your own healthy habits:
Think about what makes you feel good, and also what makes you feel not-so-good.
Ask yourself how you want to feel and write down what can help you feel that way.
Pick 1-3 habits you want to add to your routine this month and make sure you don’t go overboard! You don’t want to overwhelm yourself, and change happens in small, manageable steps.
Create some sort of tracker to track your habits and progress. You can use a planner like me, or calendar reminders, a journal, spreadsheet or your notepad app - whatever works best for you!
Find an accountability buddy. Someone you can share your goals with and who you trust to hold you accountable. Maybe they’ll even want to join you! When we share our goals and intentions with others, we’re more likely to follow through on them.
Commit! Commit to yourself, your health, your healing, your wellbeing. The experts say that it takes 21 days to create a habit, so commit for at least 21 days.
I hope that this has been helpful for you and you’re feeling inspired to start building some new, healthy habits and routines in 2021! I’d love to hear what your healthy habits are, so please share in the comments so we can all inspire each other.
xo,
Kelsey