First Published 24 August 2023

I’ve had the song ‘Going through the motions’ stuck in my head for a wee while now.  I blame Start Trek! (the recent musical episode had me thinking of the Buffy musical episode and that’s where the song came from!)

Have you ever thought about how you do certain things?

When you put on your socks, do you always put on the left or right first?  Similarly with trousers – which leg first?  Is it always the same?

When you brush your teeth, which hand do you use and do you always start with the same tooth?

So, while there are aspects of our life where we are just going through the motions and that’s all good, there are other aspects where it would be beneficial to be more mindful/aware of what we are doing.

If there are any habits that you have that are ingrained, can you do a mini audit to work out which ones are beneficial?

For me, making my bed in the morning is an unconscious habit – I just do it automatically.  And going to certain places, I will typically always drive the same route – so I don’t get lost 😉, perhaps though it might be nice to see a change of scenery?

Less helpful ones are perhaps my eating habits – I tend to read while I eat – which then means that there is a good chance I will eat more than I need to.

When it comes to the assessment of your habits, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• when did I start doing this?
• why do I do it?
• did I do it differently before?
• is it productive?
• is it healthy?
• will it help me achieve my goals/the life I want to live?
• is it just comfortable, or is there a real benefit to doing this in this way?

You might be surprised by what you find.  If you think it would be beneficial to do something differently, my suggestion would be to work out if a rip the plaster off approach is the best option to then do something completely different, or would it be easier/more sustainable to make a more gradual change?

The same question is worth pondering when it comes to forming new habits or deleting ones that don’t serve you.

What ever you chose to do, think it through and make a mindful and conscious decision – and live your life in a way that fulfils you and helps you reach the life you want rather than just going through the motions.  

If you would like some help on working out what’s useful or not and what new habits or tweaks would be helpful, do reach out for a chat – I am sure this is something I can help with 😊.

PS if you want to share my earworm, here’s a link to Going through the motions on Spotify (other music platforms are available)