Choose intentional habits that serve you
This blog is one of a series, you can find the last one here if you missed it.
Knowing how coaches love to collaborate and use their knowledge to support others, we went out to our network to ask if they would share one piece of advice to help us adapt and thrive in periods of unexpected change. We had a lot of brilliant advice which we’ve broken down into these articles.
Building on previous advice, coaches Zoe Dickinson, https://zoedickinson.org, and Alison O Dornan, https://thebreakthroughpro.com, both emphasise the importance of looking after ourselves in a very intentional way.
Zoe says:
“Don’t neglect your personal wellbeing. In fact, take it more seriously than ever. It’s very easy to neglect our wellbeing in times of change and uncertainty and slip into survival mode. Taking time for exercise, rest or activities that we love, can feel self-indulgent and unrealistic. Yet experience and science shows us that these are the very habits that will enable us to adapt, change and possibly even thrive in the face of so much uncertainty. What do you need most right now? Give yourself permission to stop and do something for your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
Alison O Dornan emphasises the importance of a morning routine. Here’s what she recommends:
The way you start your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. Exceptional results and happy lives are the result of consistent daily choices and nowhere is this more apparent than in your morning routine! Even in the situation you find yourself in right now, there is a choice.
Do you know those days when you just don’t seem to be able to get your act together? You skip the shower, or your morning exercise routine.
Three things I do every morning and recommend all my clients do:
1. Setting your mindset – for me this involves listening to some Isochronic meditative music, and then spending up to 5 mins visualising 3 things I want to get done that day that will make me feel good by bed time.
2. Physical Movement. – I love an app called Seven, it’s a seven-minute HIIT routine that really does only take seven minutes, it leaves you with your heart pumping, your endorphins flowing and a sense of achievement before you have even started your day.
3. A cold shower – yup I did say that. Although before you now dismiss everything else, I have said and label me as a ‘freak’… I am not hardcore, I do have a hot shower first, but then I gradually turn it down until it is on full cold. It is reputed to improve the way you manage stress; it makes you feel refreshed, giving you even more of those great endorphins!
If you’d like more information please feel free to contact Zoe or Alison, using the links provided. You can also be in touch with us at Fionareithcoaching@gmail.com or lauraduggal@outlook.com