What I Learned From Being Intentional This Month

For the month of August, I decided to be more intentional about my health and wellness. I set a goal to do yoga every day for 30 days and to follow a morning routine for that same timeframe. I figured they wouldn’t be too difficult to do because I was so determined to follow through with them.

I. WAS. WRONG.

Here's what actually happened. I was on track the first week, and then I slowly slipped off track and wasn’t following my morning routine anymore (this included doing yoga in the mornings). I was frustrated with myself, but also decided to give myself grace and try again. After all, I'm trying to build new habits so it's going to take time. Can you guess what happened?

I. WASN’T. CONSISTENT.

I think I fell off even harder the second time! I followed the routine for like 2 days, and I was back to what was familiar. We’re going into September, and I didn’t want to keep doing what wasn’t working. So I sat back and evaluated why I kept falling off. If I wanted it so bad, why couldn’t I be consistent with it? I have a theory but I’m not sure if that’s the reason, so I’ll hold onto my why until I prove my theory true.

However, based on this theory here is what I am planning to do:

Make a Simpler Routine

I thought that the morning routine I had was simple, but I’ll be removing some items that I can add in later once my routine is a habit. My main focus is being able to wake up at a certain time, and do yoga so those are the only 2 things I’ll be focusing on.

Give Myself an Incentive

I can be honest and say I work better when I have an incentive to do so. I’ve learned to be okay with that, and not feel bad that I’m not able to just do things and doing them be enough motivation for me. Adding in an incentive will help me stay on track.

Continue Using Reminders

I have 2-3 reminders I use to keep me on track, and although I don’t always follow them I do find them helpful. Relying on my memory alone would have had me falling off track sooner than I did. Between my phone and laptop reminder and the habits tracker I have, I can’t use ‘I forgot’ as an excuse as to why I didn’t do what I was supposed to do.

Okay. I know I said I was going to hold on to my why until I proved my theory right, but I feel like some of you can relate to this. I was intentional when creating my morning routine because my morning routine involved doing something I desperately need to do but struggle with.

Slow. Down.

My brain is constantly moving thinking of everything I need to complete, and it’s hard for me to slow down and be in the present. We also live in a society that glorifies ‘hustling hard’ and I’ve been stuck in that mentality for years now. I feel like all I do is think of my next move to get me to my end goal. I wonder how many of you have also been stuck in that mentality, but didn’t realize it? I’m trying to take myself away from that mentality, and adopt a new one that fits the lifestyle I want. If I could find the in between of the ‘soft life’ and ‘hustle hard’ that is where I want to be. I need to slow down, so my focus will be on doing so this next month.

If you were more intentional this month, how did you do? What was helpful for you?