Stop outsourcing your inner expertise to external experts and instead balance their advice with your own internal wisdom. Pay attention to how different approaches make you feel (energy, sleep, mood, gut) to discern what truly works for you.
Implement a daily practice of solitude (journaling, meditation, breath work, silent walk/coffee) to develop the skill of listening to your body’s signals and learning about yourself, which is crucial for making lasting changes. Stick to the same practice at the same time daily to build intuition.
Recognize that every behavior serves a role in your life; you won’t change it long-term unless you understand this. Use the ‘Freedom Exercise’ (Feel, Feed, Find) to identify the underlying emotion driving a behavior and find alternative, healthier ways to address it.
Redefine success by assessing and nourishing five basic human needs: Work, Family, Friendship, Health, and Passions. Identify neglected areas and find simple ways to address them, as imbalances can lead to burnout and problematic compensatory behaviors.
Develop the skill of saying ’no’ firmly, resolutely, and gracefully to things that don’t serve you, especially if you tend to people-please. Get clear on your priorities and practice setting boundaries to protect your time, energy, and self-respect, allowing you to focus on what truly matters.
To form lasting habits, make desired behaviors easy to do, attach them to an existing daily habit as a trigger, and arrange your environment to support them. This reduces reliance on fluctuating motivation and willpower.
Start each day by asking, ‘What is the most important thing I have to do today?’ to intentionally decide and state your top priority in a world of never-ending to-do lists.
Regularly increase your heart rate and work out your muscles through physical exercise. This increases interoceptive awareness, helping you become more attuned to your body’s signals and feel more capable and in control.
Learn the skill of not taking offense by recognizing that nothing is inherently offensive and you have the power to choose how you react. This helps avoid emotional stress and excessive people-pleasing.