This time of year, is all about habits.
Creating good ones.
Breaking bad ones.
One thing we don’t talk much about is breaking good habits.
Some might look at that statement and think:
Why break a good habit?
My Perspective
We cycle through habits we need when we need them.
Yet, when those habits are good, we struggle to drop them.
Each year we try to add habits to accomplish other goals.
Suddenly, we are spending all day trying to make it through our long list of habits.
Once committed to a habit or routine, some are challenged to give them up.
Fear that it could be seen as a failure.
Releasing something we have committed to.
This season, I suggest thinking about habits and routines.
Keeping the ones that are serving us now.
And dropping the ones that have run their course… without guilt.
Removing habits provides space for new goals.
Goals that are tied to new habits.
Releasing the old.
Embracing the new.
My Story
I have struggled to release habits.
I feel like I’m failing on commitments to myself.
The last couple years, I’ve started thanking my annual habits.
Acknowledging the role that they played in my grow and then releasing them.
Then, I bring in the habits and routines I want for the new year.
Some come back from the past year, some don’t, and some are new.
Letting them all go and then bringing some of them back somehow feels better than “quitting”.
Your Turn
Do you struggle to let habits go?
Would releasing them all and starting over help you?
How might you release a habit each time you want to add something new?