Before I reveal it to you, it's important to acknowledge the resistance you'll likely feel to doing this new thing every single day. There's no need to feel bad about it because it's human nature.

You're here because you're committed to evolving yourself into the best version and that means facing the part of you that will do everything it can to convince you that you don't need my advice. Your current identity [AKA ego] will tell you, "You don't need this practice" or "This is silly and doesn't actually do anything to change your life".

Wrong. So very wrong and there are countless studies that prove this works.

Let me remind you: It's not your responsibility to appeal to anyone's ego, your own included. That's not what you're here for.

In this blog post, I'm going to share more with you about why it's hard to change and create new habits, what the one thing is that you can do every day to change your life, and some tips for fighting off your inner critic and ego when they show up for battle. Let's do this.

Creating A New Habit Can Feel Like Trying to Mix Oil and Water

Part of being human is possessing a mind that loves what's familiar. What's not familiar is foreign so it feels uncomfortable and like it's not supposed to be there; it doesn't seem to mix or blend well, like oil and water.

Introducing new thoughts and emotional states will feel like a threat to your subconscious mind at first. This is why it's so natural for us to sabotage when we're creating new habits. Part of us, our higher self, knows that it's what's best for us; it's what's healthiest and it's what's right. But the version of us we are today feels threatened on a primal level. 

Through repetition, we make new things familiar and our subconscious mind learns to feel safe. It can take determination and discipline to make a new positive habit stick, but the components I've found to be most effective are:

1. finding a form of accountability to keep you in line on the hard days and
2. simple hacks that make your new habit feel exciting and pleasurable.

What's the Secret? What's the One Thing?

The one thing you can do every single day to massively change your life is to create a gratitude practice. Notice what came up in your mind as you read that. Did you mentally or physically roll your eyes? Did you think "I already know that"?

If you already know it, are you practicing it? Is your energy consistently where you want it to be?

Knowing something is one thing that doesn't really matter much if you aren't executing it. That's why embracing the following reframe as a new belief is something that will be another game changer:

I am never too good for basic information because I can always take what I know a level deeper and master it further.

Train Your Mind to Become Familiar and Comfortable in a State of Gratitude

The state of gratitude is a fertile place for your manifestation wishes to come to fruition. Not only that, but it's peaceful and calm.

If your current comfort zone and normal everyday life are ones of chaos and stress, then you'll likely have much more internal resistance to creating a gratitude practice. Again, the mind loves what's familiar, even if it's misery. That's why repetition is essential. You are training your mind, and also like a muscle, it can grow with consistency over time.

Creating a gratitude practice doesn't need to look any particular way in order for it to work for you. Below I've listed some ideas for things you can try out and see what feels best and what fits within your lifestyle.

PRO TIP: pick the one that fits within your ideal lifestyle. Showing up and taking action as the version of you who has everything you want already is the key to manifesting.

• Journal a list of what you're grateful for over your morning coffee
• Post 3 things you're grateful for to your IG story before you scroll
• Say "Thank you Universe for ____" and list off verbally everything you can think of on your drive to work
• Dedicate an appreciation journal to the people in your life and maintain a page for every person, Write things as you think of them or stories as they happen, and read this journal consistently to remind you of what you love about your people.
• Make a running list of all of the little things and simple pleasures that you love on a notes page on your phone
• List 5 things you're proud of yourself for from the day before falling asleep
• Set an intention every morning to seek out something unique each day that makes you smile and then acknowledge it internally when you witness it or share it with a friend later 
• Listen to a guided gratitude meditation 
• Practice savoring your wins or other things that touch your heart

Blow It Up And Savor It

The last one on the list above references a practice I've been doing for years that I call savoring. Savoring is when I take a moment and blow it up to make the emotions behind it feel really big and then hold space within me to really feel them. 

I savor the moment and create a lasting positive memory.

I've done this in special moments with my kids, when clients have had massive breakthroughs, when I stood up to my ego and pushed through to accomplish something that I was scared to do, when money came in when I really needed it, and many countless other times when I noticed something small that I appreciated try to slip by.

Savoring pulls me out of sadness and sorrow. It pulls me out of my critical mind. In moments when I'm backsliding into victimhood or feeling unsupported, I acknowledge what I'm feeling and sit with it and then use this practice to pull myself out.

Catch Your Self-Criticism When It Pops Up

Resistance to implementing a new practice will come up. It just will. You can't avoid it but you can interrupt it and prevent yourself from being hypercritical when it does.

So you created a new morning gratitude practice and then skipped it all last week because you didn't think it was important. So what? That's fine. You can start again.

Beating yourself up over your imperfections and the fact that you are human isn't necessary. When those critical thoughts come up, observe them neutrally and with curiosity. 

Practice the Catch-Check-Change method:

Catch the thoughts and observe them. Check on them: is this really true? Allow your higher self to come in and bring compassion. Change them with the reframe you're working on making your dominant thought and new belief.

What We Know To Be True

Your beliefs shape the filters through which you see the world and your emotional state is another filter you're observing through. Filtering your world through the lens of gratitude and appreciation consistently will change your life in limitless ways.