The Weekly Review is an important part of the HealED Habits system. It will help you to stay on track and keep moving in the right direction. Don’t worry – like everything else in this program, we keep it simple and easy.
This review is meant to help you practise your new habit every time you’re supposed to. In other words, it’s all about helping you to ‘show up’.
So, how does it work?
It’s really simple! Each week, we’re going to take 10 minutes to reflect on your progress within the HealED Habits system.
These are:
- Looking for bright spots
- Identifying current issues
- Asking yourself, ”What would I tell my best friend if they were in the same situation?”
- Writing down what changes you’re going to make
Let’s look at each of these steps a little more closely.
Step 1: Look for the bright spots
Let’s try and maintain a positive attitude. Instead of searching for problems, let’s look for the bright spots!
Think about the past week and ask yourself, “What’s been working for me?”.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
Yet in the real world, this obvious question is almost never asked!
Some more detailed questions that you can ask yourself include:
- What strategies have been effective for me?
- What positive outcomes have I experienced?
- What techniques tend to work best?
- Most importantly, can I do more of what’s working next week?
Write down the answers that you come up with in your HealED Journal.
Step 2: Identify any issues within your habit system
If you find that you’ve been showing up each day and practising your habit consistently, that’s great. Well done! Focus on Step 1 and identify the strategies that help you do that.
However, if you notice that you’ve been skipping practising your habit, you need to take a closer look at your tactics. Your habit system might not be working as well as it could or should.
This is about your habit system and NOT about you. Try not to take any problems or setbacks personally.
It’s not a reflection of your ability to manage your life or function as a human being.
It’s not a stick for you to beat yourself with!
All it means is that your habit system may need to be slightly adjusted. 🙂
Here are some questions that can help you identify the exact issue that you’re currently facing:
Are you forgetting to practise your habit?
This is very common – especially when it comes to forming new habits.
You simply forget.
Again, this is NOT your fault. It’s simply the way your brain works. It takes some time for it to get comfortable with a new routine and until that happens, remembering to practise your new habit might be challenging.
Ask yourself what you can do to remind yourself about your routine.
Perhaps you can stick a Post-it note somewhere or put a reminder in your phone?
Simple solutions like these are usually the best ones.
Do you need to give the habit more focus?
For change to happen, we need to focus on it. The less attention you pay to your goal, the less likely you are to achieve it.
Ensure that you’ve invested enough mental energy into practising your new habit. Remind yourself why it’s important for you to build it.
Making a list of the positive outcomes that forming the habit can bring about might be helpful in this case.
Is it more challenging than you’ve expected?
Don’t feel disheartened. This is very normal. Reality doesn’t always match up to our initial expectations.
Instead of dwelling on your difficulties, embrace a learning mindset and figure out what this challenge can teach you:
- What makes this habit particularly challenging for you?
- Perhaps you miss the old habit?
- How can you help yourself transition from an old habit to a new routine?
- How can you make it easier for yourself?
Has there been a change in your circumstances?
Change happens all the time. It’s a necessary part of life. However, when it does happen, it’s important for you to recognise it and adjust your habit system, so that it caters for your changed needs or different circumstances.
Identify these changes and work on tweaking your tactics accordingly.
Are you feeling overwhelmed?
This may be a sign that you are taking too much on. There’s no need to be ashamed about taking a step back and simplifying your habit. Remember – slow and steady wins the race!
Are there any obstacles getting in your way?
- Have you encountered any personal obstacles?
- Are you experiencing problems with your friends, family members or other important people in your life?
- What about environmental obstacles?
- Have you been suffering from any health issues?
- Is financial stress affecting you?
You may need to take some time to adjust your priorities or work on solving those issues before moving on with our program.
Have you lost motivation?
It’s absolutely normal for your motivation to falter once in a while.
If this is what’s happened to you, don’t panic!
The best solution here is to take some time to chill out, rest and relax.
Do something you enjoy. Do something that involves no in-depth thinking or planning. Simply take a break and allow yourself to rest.
Life can get in the way of the most meticulous plans, so don’t feel bad if sticking to your new habit seems challenging! Remember to start small and keep it simple. Think about the tortoise, not the hare.
Step 3: Ask yourself, ”What would I tell my best friend if they were in the same situation?”
This may be the single most powerful question when it comes to making personal decisions.
It sounds deceptively simple, but we’ve witnessed its impact first-hand.
We’ve coached numerous people who were agonising about a decision for months – but when we asked them this question, the answer popped out of their mouths in as little as 10 seconds. Even our clients themselves were amazed!
Use this question to figure out what you’re going to do to overcome the challenges that you’re currently facing.
Step 4: Write down when and how you’re going to make those changes
Write it down. Write it down. Write it down!
Study after study has shown that we remember things better if we write them down (there is a lot of complex neuroscience involved here – we don’t need to get into details).
By writing down exactly what you’re going to do, you vastly increase your chances of actually doing it!
So write down:
- What changes you’re going to make
- How you’re going to make those changes
- When you’re going to start making them
You don’t have to make it long – just keep it as simple and concrete as possible.
Helpful tips
- Choose one day of the week to review your progress and pop it into your calendar. I do it on Friday afternoon. Some folks like to do it on Sunday evening, which could work well if you want to keep things fresh in your mind for Monday. Everybody’s different, so find a time that works for you. The most important thing is to do it – and the key to getting it done is scheduling it.
- Forget about judging yourself. Don’t ask yourself whether you’ve binged or not. Don’t ask yourself whether you’ve managed to lose any excess weight. Don’t measure your successes or failures. Yes, those things are important, but your goal now is to build new habits. Once you’ve done that, all of the other outcomes will naturally follow.
That’s it!
There are only 4 steps, and once you get comfortable with our program, the process of reviewing your week will take less than 10 minutes.
There’s no need to overanalyse things or get too deep into it.
All you have to do is stop for a while, sit down and ask yourself what works for you and what can be further improved.
It might seem simple – and it is – but I’ve found that the simplest solutions are also the most effective.