Rebuilding Trust in Our Sober Self with Micro Habits.
“Can you imagine yourself in 10 years if instead of avoiding the things you know you should do, you actually did them every single day – that’s powerful.”
I had tried so many times to stop drinking, but I always seemed to come up short. The constant stream of booze in my life had eroded my self-trust. This had created a poor self-image along with an extreme lack of self-confidence.
Making the firm commitment to stop drinking was a great first step, but it was just the start. The rebuilding of my shattered self-trust and my inner kingdom was the next task. It had to be done if I was to get the most out of my alcohol-free journey.
The commitment to rebuild.
What worked for me in re-establishing that trust was to enact micro habits: laughably easy actions that I could commit to doing every day.
Micro habits re-establish trust by creating small, daily wins to build upon and gain forward momentum.
It is a simple yet powerful concept.
One micro habit that immediately gets my day started with a win is to make up my bed. It takes thirty seconds and brings order to my physical and mental space first thing.
Other examples of micro habits:
Meditation/Prayer for 2 minutes each morning.
Reading 1 page of a book before bed.
Walking to your mailbox or around your apartment complex.
Looking one stranger in the eye each day and saying “Hello.”
Committing too much too soon can cause early burnout.
I have been overzealous before, biting off more than I can chew in attempting to change my life. It causes frustration on my part and increases the likelihood of not following through.
Micro habits help avoid burnout because they are such an easy promise to keep. They let our minds get used to the idea that we are creating a new habit in our life.
Let’s say I want to put on some muscle. Trying to sustain Eddie Hall’s workout regimen right off the bat will be discouraging. Instead, I could commit to just five push-ups a day.
That’s it.
I can do those pushups every day at the same time for a week, a month, or however long it takes until I am ready to add something else that I know I can commit to.
Micro habits, done with consistency, let the new action seep in without creating an overwhelming flood of change.
Just focus on the small step each day.
Rebuilding confidence, trust, and self-love can take time.
Committing to small, manageable actions every day will immediately begin to move us forward especially when we have gotten to such a low point of self-trust.
Focus on laying that sturdy foundation of commitment and small wins. These manageable actions will snowball and cause an exponential shift in your mindset, resulting in lasting change.
More to come.
We will expand further on our newfound idea of micro habits by incorporating them into another technique called habit stacking, but that is a post for next week. See you then!
