This past Thursday, Miriam shared with us her most recent presentation,

“ How to Effect Actual Change in Your Life, part II “

Miriam shared with us ideas on how we can create a path towards transformative change in our lives. We all have learned habits that are a part of our daily routine. Say for example every day you start to get hungry at around 02:30 in the afternoon, and you reach for that bag of chips or a nice piece of chocolate. That could be an example of a learned habit that has become part of your daily routine.

It can take energy to make those changes in your life. But if you have too much stress in your life, that stress can zap your much needed energy. Having stress is our bodies reaction to something that we are experiencing.

Higher stress levels can possibly block our healthy sleep patterns.

If you’re concerned about stress in your life, start by talking to your doctor about it.  If you’re having trouble sleeping, maybe your doctor could prescribe something to help you sleep.

Try eating less processed foods as part of your diet. Make sure you go to bed at the same time every night, and wake up at the same time every morning. This will help you keep your circadian rhythms in line. Try and think about what it is that seems to be taking up all of your energy. You could try to identify some of the bad habits you may have and make a list of some of the changes you may want to make.

If you have a certain habit that you are trying to break, you could try:

-Setting an alarm at a certain time of day to remind you to do something else. If you always find yourself looking for that savory bag of chips at 02:30 in the afternoon, try setting your alarm for 02:30 to go take a walk. Or if you’re at work, go outside and take a walk around the building.

Or you could try locking up those bags of chips somewhere out of sight, and make them harder to get to.  When breaking an unwanted habit, you have to try and somehow interrupt your brain and it’s processing flow. Or if you’re triggered every time you go out with friends to a bar, try taking yourself out of the situation and suggest going out for coffee somewhere rather than to a bar. 

We have to start by learning to be more proactive and begin getting rid of the bad habits that aren’t serving us well. It all starts by interrupting your routine and identifying your bad habits and what might be triggering them.  And most importantly recruit and have an ally or a group of friends who want to do the same.