“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John C. Maxwell
Back in July, I decided I wanted to challenge myself to creating a new habit around drinking.
Living in the wine country, there are certain times a year when the wine flows a little too readily and summer is one of those times. While I was perusing a blog, the author mentioned joining her for “Dry July,” — a personal challenge she had set for herself so she could lose weight.
When I read the words “Dry July” something clicked. It was the perfect, attainable challenge to take on to break a bad habit and create a new, nourishing one… but it wasn’t going to be easy.
My friends like to party. They are fun, gregarious and love to imbibe. When I told them about my “Dry July” commitment, a few of them stared at me silently… just confused. Why would I choose one of the biggest drinking months in the wine country to stop drinking??? I think a few of them thought I was crazy and a few thought that it would be impossible.
After I told them that I was dealing with a funky ovary and I wanted to boost my health, they got it. And they supported me (not by teetotaling, that would be absurd! but by respecting my choice).
At the beginning of the month I heard, “When is it going to be August already?!?!?! I can’t wait til you can start drinking again!” But as the month wore on, my friends came to appreciate this commitment I made to myself. They started cheering me on…and at all the parties and summer gatherings, they began creating fun mocktails for me to enjoy and telling me how awesome it was that I was doing this for my health.
Now, no one wanted to see me drinking. They wanted to see me healthy and to see me win!
I’m hooked on personal challenges!
Throughout July, I began to realize when and how I was using alcohol in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Eliminating that one thing created the opportunity for self-reflection on all levels. It went beyond drinking to other habits and patterns in my life.
When you’re healing, there are so many changes you’re faced with making in order to rebalance and thrive… many of which we are resistant to.
Personal challenges can help us identify and break through those barriers. I heartily recommend choosing one thing to commit to each month to discover more about yourself, your patterns, your habits, and what does and does not have a hold on you.
My nourishing commitment for August was twofold: not to eat French fries and to retrain myself to live without being constantly in contact via the computer and my iPhone. I feel like all of these vices have taken over my life in a way that’s made me less present, less connected to myself and to my friends and family (well not the French fries, of course; that’s just a plain ol’ food addiction!)
My commitment to myself is to find better balance. After seeing the impact that changing one daily habit had on my mind, body and spirit, I’m excited to see what arises this month!
How to use a personal challenge to create healing habits:
- Choose ONE small, specific thing to tackle. The smaller, more specific, and more “bite-sized” your goal, the more likely you are to succeed.
- Make a 100 percent commitment to your goal. No cheat days, no exceptions. For many people, it’s actually harder to climb back on the wagon after a cheat day than it is to go without.
- Choose a daily habit. Make your challenge something you do, or don’t do, daily. I chose not to drink every day, but you might choose to add something to your routine, like journaling, drinking water, or exercising.
- Make it easy to win! Rather than saying that you will work out for an hour every day or meditate for an hour, make your goal bite-sized. Commit to doing an 8-minute workout or meditating for five minutes a day instead; you can always increase the time you practice later. Be realistic with yourself and your expectations.
- Choose a habit that will have the most impact. Some research suggests that choosing a habit that has a positive impact on you physiologically will have the biggest “win” overall. Think about what small goal would have the biggest impact on your life and go for that.
I’d love to hear what your personal challenge for this month would be. You can head over there now in the Facebook group (I’ll be posting my September challenge to myself there too)! And if you find you need some extra support, I highly encourage you to try The Thyroid Fix in 6 for healing thyroid. While you can see results in as little as six weeks, you could also approach the program as a series of mini personal health challenges.
The Thyroid Fix in 6 is a wonderful complement to this kind of deep personal healing work, because it goes way beyond the medical aspects of your condition to have a real impact on your overall health and wellbeing.
Big love,
Jen
If you’re ready for a personal challenge and want some support, I provide a ton of resources on healing your thyroid naturally, including:
- Our totally free Thyroid Healing Type Assessment, Report and Coaching Sessions
- Right here on my blog, where I talk about what’s worked best for me and my clients, as well as the latest research and resources I come across. You can subscribe to get new blog posts delivered right to your email by signing up on the righthand side of the page.
- My book, Healing Hashimoto’s Naturally — part memoir, part instruction manual for how I personally healed my Hashimoto’s disease.
- My exclusive free 6 Thyroid Myths That Can Keep You From Healing workshop — with info on the comprehensive Thyroid Fix in 6 program, which walks you through, step-by-step, the exact actions you need to take to heal your thyroid and get your life back! We’ve seen hundreds of participants in the Thyroid Fix in 6 avoid, decrease, or even eliminate the need need for thyroid medications.
- The incredible Your Best Thyroid Life Video Bundle, in which I personally invited 27 of the world’s top health experts to share their best tips for living with and healing thyroid disease.
Remember, changing your life is as simple as changing one small thing every day! Keep taking small daily action and you can heal and have a normal life again.
Jen Wittman is a Certified Holistic Health Expert, Chef, Author & Vitality Coach, who teaches women how to reverse thyroid and autoimmune conditions naturally. She’s helped hundreds of women decrease (or even eliminate) their thyroid medications and has helped others stay off thyroid medication entirely.
Through her free Thyroid Healing Type Assessment, Jen teaches easy and simple steps to thyroid healing that can fit into your busy day. She also provides print outs to bring to your next doctor’s appointment so you can get the support and respect you deserve.