Through life you realize that there are things that you do naturally and other things that need work to do and you need to put in more effort in order to get results.
I have read the book: Atomic Habits - technically listened to the audible version, which I prefer while I am doing chores or designing - and this book has really shifted my perception, it helped me look at things from another perspective. Especially when I am challenged in anything.
For the longest time, I have been struggling to stick into a routine with my workout. I am a lover of sports and anything related to the body. And I realized that all my life, I would get excited into doing something, and after a while I would stop after losing the spark. And of course I always had good intentions on setting the right goals, from losing weight, to feeling better and having a healthier lifestyle. It turned out I was doing it all wrong, for several reasons.
Every time I wanted to lose weight for any reason that was outside of me, it never worked... It was always about the self image, but then after doing inner work with wonderful people, I understood the underlying reasons of why it's not sustainable to set a goal outside yourself and then those expectations would lead to disappointments.
That's when I changed the trajectory of things, I started with setting the intention to balance my hormones, to be as healthy as possible, which would lead me to weight loss and a body composition that I am comfortable with, it stopped being about a number on the scale. And the book has helped me to start with the bare minimum.
I asked myself, how many days can I commit to, with my busy schedule, with my constant travels? And I was like I can give myself two days of weight lifting non negotiable. And then I added two days of badminton for the cardio. I kept this for a full year before I decided to upgrade them to 3 days for weight lifting. While taking my supplements and protein at every meal. (keeping it simple).
And the most important point from the book was, even if you fall out, even if things happen where you cannot commit to your habit, you rise again. So for me every time I traveled for a long time, my routine would get messed up and I don't go back to what I was doing. This was the biggest obstacle that turned into the greatest shift. Because now, when I am back from my travels, the first thing I do is go back to the gym, non negotiable, even if I give 10% that day, I just show up.
I know I am sharing too many details about my workout routine, but there's a reason behind that. It's because it started translating into everything else in life. I have realized how building habits needs to start small, one thing at a time, and then you start adding to it. And thats how you build your creative well, how you build your skills, how you give yourself time to nourish your mind, body and soul.
And you realize that everything is interconnected in life. And the more you build yourself up, it starts on a conscious level and then becomes automatic, subconscious just like showering or driving a car, where you don't put effort into thinking about how you drive and so on.
And that's how I started feeling much better about myself and then knowing that whatever I want to do in life is attainable, it just needs to start with small steps, and building the habits.
One step at a time... Just show up, and the magic will happen...
Much Love,
Zaina