By Sofie Caap
This month's guest contributor is a seasoned Personal Trainer! Sofie displays the most genuine care and passion as witnessed through collaborations and discussions related to finding the best solutions possible for her clients. Her experience and expertise is fountain of knowledge that I just had to ask her to share. When you dissect health and wellness, habits and accountability and nurturing their growth are pillars for which all else stand on. We are very grateful to have this contribution on such an important topic from Sofie Caap. Please enjoy!
Your Mind is Your Most Powerful Tool, Use it! Flex it! Nourish it and Grow with it!
Habits and Accountability
Hi! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read the F.I.T. newsletter, I am honoured to contribute to this document.
I am very passionate about habits. Recognizing that most things we do, for example brushing our teeth, putting on shoes before we leave the house, habits we have created without even consciously thinking about. Habits stick, consciously or not however, sometimes we spend more time thinking about the habits we haven’t stuck with or have made too big and consequently, we don’t set ourselves up for success. Imagine if you made that new habit a little smaller then there is a good chance you would be doing it today. There are great resources out there in regards to habit-forming and habit tracking. I am going to share two with you today.
Habit stacking is a concept from the book Atomic Habits written by James Clear. If you are thinking of starting something new then you would slide it in with something you are already doing successfully. For example, I was trying to get myself to floss daily and not just when I saw the floss, so I made a rule with myself that I could not pick up my toothbrush unless I had flossed first. Brushing was important to me so I knew I wouldn’t skip that. Take a minute right now and think of something you have been wanting to increase, improve, or decrease, and whatever it may be pair it with something that you do really well. We are all so different that it is important to acknowledge that this new habit may take some time to integrate, so be easy with yourself. It may take 3 weeks, however, it could also take 56 days. Remember adding in one thing at a time has a higher success rate than trying to add on 6 new things and suddenly 3 years have gone by and we aren’t sticking with any of them Can anyone relate to that?
The second thing that helps builds new habits is accountability. This can come in many different forms, for example, you may be motivated by making a public declaration on Facebook or Instagram to hold you accountable. Other people hate losing money and so there are programs you can set up to have a certain amount of money leave your bank account by a specific date if you fail to succeed with your goal and the money is put towards something that you otherwise would not choose. Alternatively, you may want to find an accountability buddy to share your goals with and keep you accountable. You can even download a habit tracker app to share with each other that keeps you on task, focused and checking in with each other. It is truly about figuring out what motivates us and finding ways to stay on track.
So what are you waiting for? Whether it is flossing, drinking more water, walking daily, signing up for a race, I challenge you to start today and start small. Don’t underestimate the power of your mind and remember you have already created habits you are doing now without even thinking about it. Your mind is your most powerful tool. Flex it, use it, and grow with it.
Sofie can be reached through her website at www.sofiecaap.com/.
About The Author: Sofie Caap
My name is Sofie Caap and I am a Personal Trainer based in Clarksburg, ON. I am passionate about radical self-care and helping people understand themselves better. I want my clients to know how to make positive changes within their every day and to understand that small changes have a huge impact.
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