OK, so tell me this – why am I finding it so darn hard to find time to do something I love at the moment?

Yoga is my passion. It’s up there with chocolate for goodness sake! And yet, recently, since I moved down to London really, I’ve got out of my daily yoga habit. Very out of it.

I wonder whether it’s because it doesn’t quite feel the same when it’s not on a beautiful balcony in Italy in the evening sunshine, but actually, I was doing yoga fine before I moved out to Italy, so why not when I get back?

The thing about habits, is that that is what they are – habits. Habits are formed. Habits are created. Habits are a conscious decision….well, actually habits can be formed quite unconsciously, but they’re normally the bad ones.

So I have broken my once good habit. I broke it quite simply by taking a day off, then another one, one because I was really tired from work, one because I had to go and explore London and it took all day, and then we went out to dinner…and before you know it, the habit’s gone. That longing to do it, feeling lost if you don’t…POOF…just like that!

My next big push then, is to get this habit back. I know I can do it. I’ve done it before. I did it when I worked long hours and was studying as well. It’s not that difficult to find 15 minutes a day.

One thing it is important to do if you’re trying to get back in to a habit like me, or indeed starting a new one, is to not beat yourself up about it. Making it in to one big chore is not going to encourage you to do it. It might be a habit you might not necessarily like to begin with, but you know will pay off in the longer run, for example, going to the gym, and that’s OK. What I mean is don’t make yourself feel horrible for not having this habit already.

Don’t beat yourself up because you’re not perfect and sometimes you have to make the effort. Everyone has to make the effort at something.

But what if you are starting a habit that is going to take a bit of effort to get going? How do you go about actually making sure it happens so you don’t end up feeling rubbish and like you’ve failed all over again?

It takes approximately 30-40 days to form a habit apparently.

So all you have to do, is stick at it for one month. Take out the calendar, count out your 30 days and but a big smiley face on that day. Awesome! You’ve done it!

Now work out, realistically, what you can do. For me, I know I can make time for 15 minutes of yoga everyday. For me it isn’t that difficult, but for you, if you want to go to the gym more but you have two kids, a job, a husband and the gym’s 15 minutes drive away, it’s unlikely you’re going to get there everyday. So look at your routine, see what you can move, and schedule in some time. It doesn’t matter how much time at first. It’s much better you set an easy target and succeed than say you’re going to go everyday then beat yourself up because it doesn’t happen (see note above – DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP!).

Once you’ve got this set, I’m afraid it’s down to sticking to your guns for those 30 days. Cross those days off, focus on your goal, and you’ll get there in no time.

Once you’re at your thirty days, you’ll find a habit has formed, it’s easier to do it than not do it…and that’s when things really start to get interesting…that’s when you realise you can do anything!

Take the 30 day challenge, let me know how you get on!

Did you like this? If you’ve already subscribed to the extra resources, you might like to get un-stuck with me, either online or in London…