How do habits and routines improve your life? Well, in just about every way imaginable. Hear me out… I’ve always struggled to create habits and routines. And because of this I’ve also long struggled to see the value in them. I just figured that’s for other people and not a “free spirit” like me. That is, until I began to realize habits and routines could automate so many areas of my life and free up a shocking amount of time and energy to do “free spirit” stuff, pursue my goals, and in general enjoy the things I love. That’s when everything changed. But along the way I learned that habits and routines improve your life in so many more unexpected ways than I ever imagined. And I know they can do the same for you!
Habits and Routines Improve Your Life
There are so many ways in which habits and routines improve you life that I can’t possibly cover them all here! My clients are always telling me the most interesting stories of accomplishment and breakthrough that at their roots almost always lead back to habits and routines. I’m honestly often blown away. I literally had no idea how impactful they could be! And I also had no idea how easy it could be to create them (but that’s a story for a different day… don’t worry, I’ll totally spill on this topic). But for now… check out the big 5 ways habits and routines have improved my life and how they can improve yours too!
1. Build Confidence
Habits and routines set you up for success and with them you can accomplish so much more. This is because they become automated and require a lot less brain power and decision making than doing things as they come. And when you’re able to accomplish all you’ve set out to do with relatively minimal effort believe me, it feels AMAZING!
Suddenly you start seeing yourself differently. You feel much more confident and capable in your life because you are managing your day to day stuff so well without exhaustion or high effort. Honestly when your life stuff goes from overwhelming to automated, how can you not feel like you have super powers?
2. Become Your Very Best Self
Habits and routines improve your life by improving you as a person! As James Clear says, “every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become“. For those of you who don’t know, James Clear is the author of the bestselling book Atomic Habits. And listen, he’s right! The truth is we see ourselves (and judge others) by actions not words.
When we change our habits and routines we are shaping who we are and who we become. Habits and routines aren’t just about what you do, they’re about who you are. And, with intention, they add up create the very best version of you!
3. Create Time & Energy for What Matters Most
So much to do, so little time! This one is honestly the big reason why I started working on habits and routines in earnest. You see, I have 5 kids and we were running 2 businesses out of our house, and since apparently I didn’t think that was enough (because I never felt like enough), I was also a girl scout leader for 2 troops, PTA president, and so much more! I know some of you can relate to this overdoing thing. I honestly didn’t see this as a mindset issue as much as I did as a time and energy issue. So, I thought maybe creating habits and routines would help me be more productive and get it all done.
Turns out it works. Creating habits and routines took a lot of the decision making time and energy out of the equation and it also helped create more efficient and streamlined processes for getting it all done. Also turns out that with the extra time and energy I had I was able to pause long enough to realize I desperately needed to do some mindset work and spend more time being, and identifying and doing what mattered most.
4. Ditch Motivation, Willpower, and Self-Discipline FOREVER
I don’t use motivation, willpower, or self-discipline… EVER, for any reason. And y’all, this isn’t because I’m just sitting on my couch eating bonbons (whatever those are) and binging Netflix. I’m consistently pursuing new goals but instead of using motivation, willpower, and self-discipline I use a little something I created called The Small Step Method. Why? Well, because I realized that motivation, self-discipline, and willpower actually sabotage mindset and goals (which is scientifically proven). Plus, it’s much easier and more reliable to simply change my beliefs, change my actions, and change my results time and time again. And, not only that but I can easily maintain my goals inside my real life if I use this method.
Well, you might have guessed it, a big part of that second part, change your actions, is about creating habits. When we build habits and routines to accomplish our goals the begin to happen automatically so you no longer need to push yourself to make it happen. It just happens like brushing your teeth or eating. You don’t even have to think about it so you no longer need motivation, self-discipline or willpower to get it done.
5. Accomplish & Maintain Your Goals With Ease
One of my favorite ways that habits and routines improve your life is by making it super easy to not only accomplish but also maintain goals. Once your goal work becomes automated through the use of habits and routines, you never really have to think about it again. You maintain your health goals through your automatic habits related to health, you maintain your tidy house through your automatic habits related to home management, you maintain your business through your automatic work habits. Pretty sure you get where I’m going. And the best part is when life changes and you need to make adjustments or you want to set a more challenging goal (like scaling your business) you simply tweak the habits and routines you already have.
Habits and Routines Make it Easy to Build a Life You’re Proud Of
Overall, creating habits and routines makes it crazy easy to build a life you’re proud of. You no longer have to think about what you’re doing, what you need to do, or how to do it because you’ve taken out all the guess work and created automated processes. This frees up so much space in your life for new goals and pursuits, and to simply enjoy the fruits of your labor. And y’all, that’s something to be truly proud of!
