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Personal Development

Don’t Set Resolutions, Create Habits

December 10, 2017January 12, 2019 Leila Leave a comment

Most New Year resolutions are broken by February. Why? Setting goals is simply not enough for success. You need to develop habits. Read how at LivinglikeLeila.com

Last year I wrote this post about setting New Year goals/resolutions and actually sticking to them. It’s a great post, but looking back I’ve realized my perspective has changed.

A lot of those changes have come throughout my journey of self-improvement. I read a lot of online articles. On of my favorite writers is James Clear and he has tons of amazing posts about habits.

I would consider myself a pretty motivated person, but motivation is crap. Motivation is temporary. You can’t rely solely on motivation because there is no way that anyone is motivated every day and every minute of their life. What it really comes down to is habit.

What you do day in and day out is key to reaching your goals. These are your non-negotiables. Habits take time though. Good/positive habits take more time to form and they’re easier to give up while bad/negative habits are the exact opposite.

You can set lofty goals with every intention to succeed and all the desire in the world, but if your habits and actions don’t match that you probably won’t get very far.

Us humans love instant satisfaction. This is why we take naps rather than finishing that assignment that’s due next week. This is why we eat 10 cookies even though we’re trying to lose weight. This is why we scroll through Instagram before bed instead of reading a book. That’s why we hit snooze 10 times rather than waking up right away.

In the moment those things are fulfilling and gratifying, yet we don’t realize how those little things impact our future.

That 2 hour nap you took instead of finishing your assignment? Well the due date is here and you never got around to finishing it. An emergency came up, you worked, other things got in the way, etc. Now your grade/career is impacted.

Those 10 cookies you ate? Caused a whole day of eating junk, which turned into a whole week of eating junk, and eventually most days you ended up eating like trash. 2 months later you’ve gained 7 pounds rather than losing the 5 that you wanted to.

Scrolling through Instagram at night? How is that benefitting your future? Are you now feeling jealous of other people’s lives or bodies? Wouldn’t an inspiring book put positive subconscious thoughts into your mind before bed and help you wake up fresh with ideas and motivation?

It sure feels great to snooze an extra 15-20 minutes every morning, but you’ve just subconsciously told yourself that your life isn’t worth getting up for. You’re creating a reactive/negative mindset every. single. morning of your life. You just set your standard for life and I’ll tell you right now it’s not very high.

It’s easy to say and think that things will be better next year. I’m guilty of it too. Time is on no ones side, and the older I get the faster the years seem to go by (and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way). So, absolutely set some goals for the New Year, but don’t expect anything if you’re not taking action.

How do you develop a habit?

Just do it

I hate to say it but I just did. Just do it. There’s no secret to positive habits or building your dream life. It’s just a matter of starting and taking action. There’s a quote on the front door of my gym that says, “Just showing up is half the battle.” This goes for everything. I mean seriously think about it. You walk into the gym…you’re there…what else would you do other than go work out?!? Just start, just show up every single day.

You have to really want it

Just about everything in life has to be earned, things aren’t just given to us without some form of sacrifice. If you’re putting in the work, if you’re dedicated, if you have developed a habit toward your goal YOU WILL reach it. If you’re doing everything it takes to get there it will eventually come, just keep going and remain patient. If you’re not reaching those goal, but you know you could do more to improve, you really don’t want it bad enough.

You probably do want it really bad, but those instant gratifications are getting in your way. If you really want something you will do what it takes to get there, the journey is different for everyone. That’s the thing, self-development takes time and it’s never too late to start making changes!

Keep track

I’ve heard it takes about 30-90 days to develop a habit. Whatever the number is just know that it takes time. Having a visual of your habit can be really beneficial, try the Seinfield method where you put an X over everyday that you “do” your habit. It forms a chain and it’s gonna feel really horrible to break that chain. No one is perfect and you’ll likely miss a day or 2, but don’t miss more than 3 days in a row. Just jump right back into it and continue.

 

I’ve also come to realize that positive habits, The Law of Attraction, and self-development requires a lot of self-talk. I constantly “speak” to myself in my head and sometimes out loud. Some days you just have to look in the mirror and say “It’s ok, I’m going to do x, y, and z and it’s going to be a great day.” Negative thoughts creep into everyone’s mind, procrastination is something everyone deals with, it’s how you react to and handle them that ultimately defines you. Just keep going!!


2017 has easily been the worse year of my whole life, so I’m quite eager for 2018 to begin. However, I’m grateful for the struggles I went through, because it has shaped me and made me stronger. There were also many positive things that came into my life in 2017, so I can’t discredit that! Life is what we make it, and unfortunately this past year I attracted negative energy into mine. I will continue to get better and manifest greatness! I wish the same to all of you!

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I've been vegan for 5 years as of yesterday. It's I've been vegan for 5 years as of yesterday.  It's still the best decision of my life.  I've gained the most strength and look my best as a vegan.  It's also worth mentioning I was vegetarian for 13 years before going vegan, which is why I had to bust out a double bi in photo 3 lol  So yes, I do get enough protein despite not eating animals 😏  As a vegan I've also learned to cook better, eat more types of foods, and have discovered amazing restaurants, recipes, and vegan alternatives all without harming animals.  I never want to push veganism on anyone, but I encourage everyone to explore this lifestyle.  Personally, having an animal suffer for my food, clothes, and products just isn't worth it. Being a perfect vegan isn't necessary, but even small changes can make a large difference.  My sister (@loka1089) made this shirt for me for Christmas by the way!!  #vegan #bekindtoeverykind #veganfortheanimals #veganweightlifting #vegangains #strongvegan #veganwoman #vegananniversary #GoVegan #veganbodybuilding #anythingyoucaneaticaneatvegan #LivinglikeLeila
Happy March!  An update on my February goals:
▪️Pay off my car ✅✅✅🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️  ▪️Jump rope for at least 2 minutes daily ✅ (Well, I missed ONE day but otherwise I enjoyed this challenge a lot)  ▪️Start 'Phase 2' of my training program ✅ (it's more intense than I expected but my strength and body are improving!)  ▪️Finish reading 2-4 books ❌ (I finished 0. I stopped reading a fiction book because it was boring. I've been taking my time reading The Brain That Changes Itself because it requires focus lol)  ▪️Stick to my usual habits better ❌ (Feb was tough for me honestly. Sometimes I have bouts of intense fatigue and lack of motivation which I believe is associated with PMDD. Idk honestly)  March is usually a pretty transformative month for me, so here are my goals:  ▪️Put at least $600 to student loan savings
▪️Make over $1K online
▪️Finish The Brain That Changes Itself
▪️5 minutes of abs daily (new challenge!)
▪️Walk 10K steps daily again
▪️Stick to my habits/routine (for real this time!! I'm feeling better 😊)  #NewMonth #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #blogger #youtuber #goals #february #habits #march #personaldevelopment #strong2021 #fitness #vegan #fitnessgoals #health #healthy #LivinglikeLeila #DebtOverIt
I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the l I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the love and kind words on my previous post ❤🥺  It amazes me that I have this growing community of support and I'm so grateful for it.  I know paying off a car and paying off debt isn't a big thing for everyone, but it's a huge part of my life and I genuinely appreciate that everyone is proud of me and celebrating with me!!  I do hope my progress and my openness on my finances encourages more people to look into theirs and improve it. Improving my finances has made a HUGE difference in my life.  No, money may not buy happiness. But when shit is in order you have less stress, more clarity, and more faith in what's to come👌  These blue light glasses are from @tijneyewear 👓 (gifted)  #thankyou #financialindependence #finance #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #DebtOverIt #blogger #financialcoach #debtcoach #personaldevelopment #neverstopimproving #LivinglikeLeila
I paid off my car today 🙂 27 months EARLY!!! T I paid off my car today 🙂 27 months EARLY!!!  This car should have cost me about $22K, but it ended up being about $30K!!! I'll break down why that is in a future video.  But for the first time in my adult life I am paying $0 in interest right now 😭  I started my debt free journey in June 2018 with $82,200 of debt... I'm now down to ONLY my student loans of $36,200. Which are in forbearance and at 0% interest right now.  This is like a little preview of the debt free life 🥺  Not to mention, my minimum car payment was $382.55 and if I invested that monthly, it would grow to over $200,000 in 20 years.  You may be able to afford that car payment, but it comes with a HUGE sacrifice.  My debt free journey has changed my life and I'm so, so excited for my financial future. 🙏💰  #cardebtfree #finances #debtoverit #cardebt #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #money #finance #studentloandebt #financialfreedom #financialindependence #firemovement #financialindependenceretireearly #TransferTuesday
'Living like Leila' will always be my first born b 'Living like Leila' will always be my first born baby business, but as my personal finance business has significantly grown I've realized I just want LLL to encompass Me.  If you haven't noticed, I am VERY multi-passionate. I love fitness, finance, personal development, veganism, plants, books, food, planning, habits, business. I literally lose sleep at night because I CONSTANTLY have ideas lol  So I know this IG and my LLL YouTube covers everything under the sun, but that's exactly what I want it to be. It's just a digital journal of my life and even though it can be a lot, it's just a reflection of my life and the things I value.  This has allowed me to put less pressure on myself for the content I create, and I truly just enjoy it all as a hobby now.  So I understand that some of my content may not resonate with everyone, but I appreciate ya'll being here 😊❤  And as a side note, if you decide to start an online business...niche down to ONE topic. It will go a lot further, at least from my experience 👀  #multipassionate #livinglikeleila #vegan #personaldevelopment #books #debtfreecommunity #finance #debtfreejourney #business #onlinebusiness #habits #fitness #life
Post-filming, pre-workout selfie ✌ hence the mes Post-filming, pre-workout selfie ✌ hence the mess.  My January finance update and February budget will be up Friday 😊  Also these are the best leggings ever from @ptulaactive  #ptulafamily #ptulaactive #ptula #youtuber #health #fitness #vegan #fit #igfitness #blogger #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #debtoverit #budget #finance #livinglikeleila
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