Creating Habits that Stick
Episode 712: Show Notes
The onset of a New Year is often accompanied by an inordinate amount of pressure. From the onslaught of 30-day health and wellness challenges to the call to “be more productive,” it seems like we are constantly being asked to do more and be better. But what does “better” mean exactly? And who are we doing it for?
In today’s episode, we unpack how to create better habits that actually stick and discuss ways to bring positivity and intentionality to both our personal and professional lives. We discovered long ago that New Year's resolutions just aren’t designed for us and that everyone has a preference when it comes to building healthier habits. Tune in as we discuss everything from starting your morning with positive intentions to crafting a mission statement for your business, and much more!
If you’d like additional guidance on how to create more time freedom while running your business, we encourage you to apply for the Incubator.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
The Power of Slow Dopamine Mornings
Many of us have heard the term “dopamine,” but might not be sure of its exact meaning. Every time you complete a task or see something novel on your smartphone, your brain releases a chemical called dopamine, which activates the reward center of your brain. As human beings, we are hard-wired to respond positively to dopamine and actively seek it out. While there are tons of benefits to this chemical, there are also some downsides to its constant availability. And with the rise of smartphones, we are now living in an age where the potential for a quick hit of dopamine is always at our fingertips!
One solution to the constant availability of dopamine is to implement “slow dopamine mornings.” So, rather than checking your social media first thing, you might start your morning without your phone and focus instead on meditation, enjoying your cup of coffee, or cooking a nutritious breakfast. That way, your baseline requirement for dopamine is much lower and sets you up to not constantly be itching to go on TikTok or check your posts throughout the day.
An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions
We have mixed emotions when it comes to New Year's resolutions. While it’s great to have a fresh start, it can often feel like committing to something for a full 365 days is simply setting us up for failure. Something we’ve done as an alternative to this is choosing words to clarify our theme for the year and provide us with direction. This year, we’ve chosen to focus on words like “ease” and “romanticizing.” There is so much to be gained from appreciating your everyday life. Like using the “nice” cutlery and crockery when your friends come over instead of saving it for a special day that maybe comes around once a year!
How To Be Intentional
One of the key parts of creating habits that stick is to start small. This is why starting your day with a positive intention can be so powerful! There are methods you can use to help you with this if you’re struggling with a negative mindset. One of the approaches that we are truly fond of is the “lucky girl” approach. With this approach, instead of framing your day like this: “I’m so stressed, I have so much I need to get done,” you can change your mindset and tell yourself: “I’m so lucky to have so much to do and to have such a full life.” The same is true for your relationships. If you look for the positive, it ends up having a ripple effect across your life.
Consciously Finding Joy
As a global community, we’ve been going through some stuff. From the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, there has been no shortage of trauma, sorrow, and pain. Similarly, many of us have been going through our own seasons of sorrow in our personal lives and friendships. While sharing your pain can be an essential way to lighten the load, intentionally bringing joy into your conversations with friends and loved ones can also lift everyone up and remind us of the pleasure there is to be had in life.
Aligning Your Business With Your Customers
When it comes to being more intentional in business, it can be easy to feel like we have little to no control over what comes our way. But, much like choosing to be more intentional in our thinking, there are steps we can take that will help us attract our ideal clients and projects. Ask yourself who you want to be serving. Who is your ideal client? What problems do they face? And how can you solve them?
Once you become clear on your ideal client and how you can serve them, you can take the necessary steps to ensure that your messaging (and price point) are in alignment with the customers you want to attract. It may sound simple, but these clarifying steps can make such a big difference to your business!
Finding Your Core Values
Finding your core values as a company is crucial. It’s also critical that you and everyone else in your company understands those values. Your mission statement and core values serve as guidance for your entire team. Unfortunately, defining our values or mission statement often comes with a lot of pressure. We expect our mission statements to be earth-shattering and reach these lofty ideals. But you don’t have the same resources that billionaires do, so why would you put the same expectations on yourself?! Luckily we’ve got some fun and simple suggestions for how to define your values and craft your mission statement to help you and your team discover a newfound sense of clarity and purpose.
Honor Your Methods
There is no one method for building better habits that work for everyone. Not everyone’s personality (or schedule) is suited to doing little bits of work every day. Some of us may get more done in two days than we would have accomplished if we tried to do a little bit of work every day for a month.
Ultimately, it’s about finding what works for you and helping yourself feel rewarded when you accomplish something, rather than shaming yourself for not accomplishing it in the way that someone else wants you to. So, whether you use a habit tracker or implement habits over short bursts of time, find what you can do to feel good about your habits, however you choose to accomplish them!
Tools for Extra Support
Head into a refreshing, positive new year with our 2023 Mindset Refresh Journal. Inside this PDF, we give you one prompt per day for 30 days which include journaling, affirmations, and small action items you can take to live a more mindful, confident, and content life.
Stay motivated by creating your own visual inspiration with our 2023 Vision Board Templates. You can visually set goals and intentions for the new year and use it as a source of inspiration for who you want to be and how you want to grow.
Quote This
There's always going to be sorrow, but there is also always joy. Finding it and having that balance is what's needed.
Highlights
The Power of Slow Dopamine Mornings [0:12:25]
An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions [0:14:57]
How To Be Intentional [0:19:17]
Consciously Finding Joy [0:27:39]
Aligning Your Business With Your Customers [0:29:47]
Finding Your Core Values [0:35:20]
Honor Your Methods [0:43:41]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
Habits, Dopamine, Resolutions, Being intentional, Pressure, Stress, Productivity, Finding joy, Mission statement, Core values, Habit tracker
