Happiness starts at home. Learning gratitude starts at home. Creating the life you want to live starts at home. Our sanctuaries are powerful spaces that serve a purpose beyond shelter. They offer a safe haven in which to grow and develop. One way Dwayne practices what he preaches is by intentionally building positive habits into his daily routine. Now he’s sharing some easy ways to incorporate them into your life in a meaningful way. The key is to keep your big picture goal in mind, then establish stepping stones and goal posts along the way to keep you on track, accountable and propelling ever forward.
Similar to a resolution, but less fleeting, goals can be as finite or ambiguous as you want. It’s not just a number on the scale or a task to master, but a feeling you can’t quite put your finger on. Your big picture goal should be your idea of the best version of yourself. Identifying what that means to you starts from within. Do you want to feel more confident in your skin or perhaps take control of your body and health? How about making more time for important things or learning something new? If those accomplishments will lead to you feeling like your best self, you’re that much closer to identifying your goals.
Think about what in your life brings you joy, frustration, stress, and relief. Understanding what causes each emotion can help you determine what areas of your daily life are working well and therefore should be nurtured, and which could use some love. Once you’ve got a sense of your areas of improvement, you can start laying the foundation for the steps it’ll take to realize them. Start small with tweaks to your daily routine. Kick off your day with a morning stretch, then you might turn that into a walk. You might find that you love how invigorated you feel and eventually make a morning workout part of your regiment. Let your success in certain areas influence the momentum of others. For example, a morning workout is likely to help you make healthier choices throughout the day so as to not undo the work you woke up early to accomplish!
The key to achieving any goal is meaningful, measurable, and manageable steps along the way. Mark your achievements, big and small with celebrations! Check in with yourself along the way to make sure your progress is staying on course but be kind to yourself if it took a different direction than you initially intended. It’s important to identify milestones along the way to your big picture goal because they serve as motivation. Keeping your eye on the prize is great, but can often become idealized, making you lose sight of all the necessary steps that have to happen along the way. Keeping yourself accountable for both is a recipe for success!
