Day 171: Not Every Habit Is Meant to Last Forever

I saw a quiz asking just one question:

What percentage of your daily habits are automatic?

Meaning you just do them without thinking. Like how you drive home from the grocery store, or the order you load things into the dishwasher all the way up to the things you do every day in relationship, your work, and your spiritual life.

The 4 choices were 20%, 35%, 43% or 60%.

I thought about how many things I do automatically and how many times in the last year, something has caught my attention mid-habit and made me wonder why I was still doing it the way I'd always done it.

So I guessed 43%, which happened to be correct.

After I gave myself an internal high 5 for that, I thought about how many of these habits I still have that I'm completely unaware of because I've been doing them for so long.

They've become as natural as breathing, so why would I be aware of them?

I'm curious, if you stopped right now and tried to add up how many habits you are aware of just in the first hour of your day, hit reply and give me your number.

I would guess I've got at least another 50% more habits I'm still unaware of in my day.

Something interesting I've noticed as my lifestyle is changing and I've been doing this daily email to you and doing daily videos, my habits have shifted their slot in my morning routine.

Have you ever seen that happen in your life?

That brings me to a question, if they can be moved, restructured, or eliminated because of time constraints, how valuable were they to take up that space in my life in the first place?

It could be one of those things where something is only meant to be a habit for a while, and then you don't need it anymore; it's served its purpose.

But then, with all these habits we're unaware of, how many of them have overstayed their usefulness?

Most people believe that habits are forever, but are they really?

You used to read certain books, listen to certain teachers, journal a certain way.

You used to work a certain number of hours, exercise a certain way.

You used to think and react a certain way.

Some habits helped create the person you are today.

But once the lesson becomes part of you, the habit itself may no longer be necessary.

Not every habit is meant to last forever.

Some habits are only meant to carry us to the next version of ourselves.

I know, I have a lot of questions this morning.

For me, I will be focusing on my current activities, to see if my habits are still serving me, how many more I can uncover because I'm focusing on seeing them, and what I can let go of to give myself more time freedom.

And who doesn't want more of that!

Today's Gentle Practice

Choose one habit in your life and ask yourself:

Is this still serving me, or am I doing it because I've always done it?

Don't rush to change anything.

Just become curious.

Sometimes habits become so automatic that we stop noticing them.

And sometimes the habits that helped create who we are aren't necessarily the habits needed for who we're becoming.

Awareness is enough for today.

With you,

Lynn