Health & Wellness Magazine Live + Thrive Magazine - Summer 2018 | Page 14

STARTING
A HABIT
Darya R ose
HOW TO START A HABIT
YOU DON'T ENJOY
SOMETHING AMAZING happened this morning.
Instead of hopping out of bed, having breakfast, then
plunging myself headlong into work, I casually sipped
my coffee, ate my muesli, then wandered into my
office for a 30 minute meditation session before even
turning on my computer. What’s amazing isn’t that I’ve
done this once, but that I’ve been doing it for months.
Even more amazing is that I love it. Meditation is not
an easy habit to develop, because the reward is not
immediate or obvious.
Sure I know what the reward is in theory. Meditation
is supposed to help me focus better, reduce stress
and increase contentment. It should help me be more
creative and do better work. It should help me build
deeper relationships with the people I love. It should be
easier for me to appreciate the important things.
Only it’s incredibly frustrating to try to focus on my
breath when new thoughts distract me every few
seconds. It takes time out of my day I could really
use for other important things. And during most of
the session I feel like a total failure. I want all those
benefits, but gawd I’d rather watch paint dry.
Of course meditation isn’t the only habit that fits in
the “I know I should, but this really doesn’t feel very
rewarding” category. I felt the exact same way about
flossing my teeth, which I now do daily (even on
vacation!). For you maybe it’s getting enough exercise
or eating vegetables that still feels more like a chore
than a rewarding habit.
So how can you get over the hump?
When you struggle to form a new habit the easiest
thing to do is blame yourself for being ill-equipped or
blame the world for conspiring against you. But you
and I both know that’s a cop-out. Instead of bemoaning
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