Building daily habits to create a life where negative thoughts don’t destroy your inner peace is the cornerstone of climbing the staircase of success.
When we are drowning in negative thoughts, it can seem like inner peace is a long way off and extremely difficult to obtain.
But you can find your own inner peace with the addition of some easy-to-implement changes to your daily routine.
If you struggle with negativity, it can really start impacting your ambition and motivation to do everything necessary to be successful. At that point, it can be hard to know where to start making changes and what will be most effective when you begin to do so to work towards a more positive, productive attitude.
CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy) therapists look at how our thoughts affect our feelings, and in turn, our behavior. When we begin to take that approach to our habits, we can quite rapidly introduce small habits that have a large effect on our overall mood as we go about our day-to-day lives.
The four things I’d recommend doing daily would be:
- Plan your morning the day before. Planning allows you to have a sense of direction first thing and can help instill confidence to get going before negativity gets a hold.
- To tackle the hardest job first thing in the morning stops the dread from sinking in and allows you to get a really empowering sense of achievement to set the tone for your day.
- If you notice yourself feeling negative, swap the negative thought for a more positive one, agree on a deal with yourself that you can have a treat or reward in the evening if you get XYZ done. Try to set something realistic and helpful, like a long bath, an evening walk, a fruit salad, or a drink that you enjoy.
- Evening journaling or reflecting – It doesn’t have to be an essay. Simply noting important thoughts, feelings or writing down what you did particularly well enables you to have a sense of achievement and to notice improvements over time. Becoming more self-aware of your own moods and what triggers them also empowers you to make small changes to continue making progress in areas that you may struggle with.
These really simple habits will help you to climb the staircase of success – whatever that looks like to you. And like any new habit, they take practice and repetition to become your new normal. Don’t be too hard on yourself if it isn’t automatic to begin with. Set alarms on your phone to remind you as you begin to practice them.
Final words!
Over time, as you implement these new habits, you will notice that it becomes easier to do these things automatically, as you shift from a position of not knowing what to do; where the negative thoughts could creep in and potentially disturb your entire day, to a powerful, positive, productive stance that knows the habits you have taken time to practice will be there. A successful ladder climbing, inner-peace-filled version of yourself will have the confidence to keep going.
