Resetting and Refocusing
Focus on the why, rather than the what.
This week, I took the decision to take a total break from pursuing self-development. I had maintained a streak of 60 days in a row of meditating, journaling, tracking my calories, and tracking my spending. All of this with the aim of asserting some self-control over areas in my life which I felt needed it:
Finances
Health
Focus
However, I found that I was maintaining these habits just to keep the streak alive. In other words, I had lost sight of why I was doing these things every day. I found myself squeezing these important practises into the end of my day; paying them lip service just to tick a box, rather than doing them for the direct - and tangible - benefits to my life.
And don’t get me wrong. Maintaining these habits has really helped me - not only to make incredible progress with my projects, but also in feeling focused and in communication with myself.
But I took the decision to actively leave these habits alone for a few days. I needed a reset. I needed to put these powerful practises where they belong - at the foundation of my happy life, rather than as a footnote.
And I guess what I’d like to pass on from this experience is that sometimes it’s easy to focus too tightly on the details and forget the bigger picture. So if you find yourself doing something because it’s conventional, or because that’s what you’ve always done; maybe it’s time to take a step back and understand why you started doing this thing in the first place.
Keeping the streak alive isn’t worth it just to tick that box. And whilst I think the ongoing gamification of habit-tracking and self-development is a powerful way to ensure consistency, it’s also an easy way to lose track of why you’re doing that thing in the first place!
You might find that some perspective gives you those benefits back.
Rich