Photo by Keegan Houser: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-sitting-on-rock-on-body-of-water-1478685/
They say that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. But sometimes, that line of thinking can lead you in a comfort area that is still harming you. We often see this when people stay in bad relationships – they know they deserve better, but are worried about what separating from the life they know might mean. This isn’t to dismiss those people nor to belittle them, it really can be worrying to go it anew.
The same can be said for people who have bad habits, such as drinking a little too much at the end of the week, or smoking, or maybe struggling to control a temper. Getting a handle over the issues that have control over us can make us worry about teh future. After all, what kind of person might we be if we’re different in how we live? It’s not always easy to see.
Stepping over the boundary of a new life era isn’t always very easy. It is possible though. In this post, we intend to help you achieve the best outcome on your path forward:
Start Extremely Small
Most people get a bit nervous when a big life change is coming, but the best approach is often to shrink that goal down until it feels almost silly. For someone trying to stop drinking sugary drinks, the first step isn’t ditching all soda immediately; it could be simply swapping one daily can for water just once a week. A gentle beginning like that might give you a positive routine on Wednesdays, without the pressure of total failure hanging over everything.
That’s more of a metaphor, but you can apply it to many things. Does this metaphor work for everything? Not when the habit is tremendously bad for you, no. But it might help you improve the side issues incrementally while you focus on the main task of improvement.
Make Decisions Out Of Gentle Wellness
Decisions about life changes are so easy to frame as discipline and punishment, which can be an exhausting way to live. We’d suggest that instead of approaching a bad habit from a place of self-criticism, a better outcome can be achieved when you consider what choices promote their feeling of gentle wellness. The perspective change then moves from “I can’t do that” to “I deserve better than that.”
Then you start living with a gentle sense of self care and respect. Someone stepping away from a stressful job might not think they failed in that career; instead, they’re choosing a healthier mental space, with the willingness to value mental health. Is that a bad idea? We don’t think so.
Use A Pre-Prepared Structure If Necessary
Think about this – sometimes a sailor might know they’re going into a storm or a brand new part of the ocean, but they don’t lose their maritime training or seafaring protocols just because of that. So, trying to invent a whole new way of living from scratch is perhaps a little much, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a ready made blueprint or a plan already set up by someone else.
For example, it might be a twelve-step program, a debt consolidation process that a charity helps you with, or a specific exercise approach. That way you don’t have to reinvent the whole new approach to life and it lets you put your energy into the improvement instead.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily step over the scary boundary of a new life era.
