“Oh No! My habits disappeared!”

I’m not talking about the garb a nun wears! I mean habits that we use in our personal and professional lives: morning routine, what you do with the mail when you bring it in the house, what you do (or don’t do) as exercise, how you process your email, etc.

I believe there are five Beacon Habits: movement,  nutrition, rest, anchoring, and mindset. These are routines that lead to a more fulfilling life and which lay the foundation for all other tendencies.

I had some great habits in place prior to rotator cuff surgery on my dominant shoulder! I drank a minimum of 91 ounces of water (hydration is part of nutrition) most days. A useful tool for me is the free version of the Drink Water Aquarium app. I tried to take a minimum of 35,000 steps (movement) per week. Not the 10,000 per day that many people strive for, however a minimum that I was working to raise. My accountability buddies and my fitness watch help me keep in motion. I wrote down three things I was grateful (mindset) for at the end of each day. I tracked all of this in my Bullet Journal.

Before the surgery, I’d adjusted my perspective to reflect that I would take fewer steps and write fewer words of gratitude during the first week of my recovery. I knew I’d need to rely more on my compact elliptical to keep in motion. I also recognized that writing with my left (non-dominant) hand would take longer and be less legible. I was fine with both accommodations since I knew they were temporary.

I’m fascinated by how the brain forms practices. No, I’m not going to give you a lesson on habit formation. What’s important from a brain science perspective?

• You have to be intentional to create the habits you desire.
• Patterns are easily broken.
• It’s more difficult to form the same routines a second time.

So imagine my dismay when the three habits mentioned above fell apart not even a week into my recovery! All went well the first two days, I even laughed at my extremely messy handwriting. Then…nothing.

I knew what I was – or in this case, wasn’t – doing. Yes, it was easy to give myself a bye for the movement habit. With mindset, I could write one item and think of the other two, yet I didn’t. The hydration is the most perplexing because there wasn’t anything standing in my way! I always had a water bottle within reach. While I recorded the amount of water I consumed in my app, I wasn’t motivated to get it to 100% of my goal.

After a few weeks, I gave myself a good talking to: “Self, when you’re fully recovered, you’re going to be very upset if you have to develop these habits again from the beginning. You know how difficult that is! What teeny, tiny thing can you do to keep each habit moving forward?”

I decided I’d record the water and steps in my Bullet Journal, regardless of the amount. I wouldn’t record my eating, which is on the same chart. I’d write a minimum of one thing I was thankful for each day. After doing that for a week or so, I’d set or raise my minimum effort.

I haven’t been perfect since then. There have been a couple of days when I didn’t record anything. And my steps and water have been up-and-down a little more than I’d like. However, I’m thrilled that I’ve been more intentional!

Why write about this? Because it’s easy for hard-won habits to vanish. Life gets chaotic. Your brain is most happy and efficient when it has routines, yet it doesn’t know the difference between actions by default or by design. It does what’s easiest.

I wanted to show you that you’re not alone if you struggle to develop healthy habits. I hope you got a nugget of information that will help you regain a desired practice.

I’d love to know what habit you’d most like to reclaim. Leave a comment below and I’ll respond with an idea or two.