Write | Inspire | Dream

Welcome to the New Year! It’s 2021, and I promise we’re making this year fabulous. I have some AMAZING content coming to you this year on La.Rue, and we are focusing on Intentional Living. I am going to help you create an Intentional Life in which you THRIVE and achieve your dreams. So, to start nice and strong, I am sharing the 5 Bad Habits you need to kick immediately to begin Living Intentionally and change your life. When I’m writing these blogs, I’d like to think that I am writing to each of you personally. My hope is that somewhere in the narrative, you find something that you truly connect with, something that makes you feel like you and I are having a conversation rather than reading what I’m writing.

So, today when you’re reading these habits, go even deeper into how they apply to you specifically. How do these habits affect your daily routine?  Your attitude? Your achievement? My recommendation is to tackle each habit one at a time. When you overwhelm yourself with change, it can take a lot out of you. If you don’t reach your goals, you face unnecessary disappointment that could have been avoided had you done one thing at a time. So when you’re on your journey through the La.Rue 30-Day Intentional Living Challenge or just starting small with your Habit Tracker, start by tackling one habit each month and see the changes grow over time. So, to welcome 2021, let’s get rid of these 5 Bad Habits!

Saying Yes when you should say NO

I think a lot of people have an issue with saying yes when they should say no, including myself. Saying yes to going out when you’re trying to save money or saying yes to hanging out with friends when you need to be getting something done. Each of us is guilty of saying we’ll do something that we need to do, and then a new opportunity comes up that distracts us from the obligations and promises we’ve made to ourselves. This becomes a bad habit when you’re too often putting others before you and the obligations you’ve made to yourself. A great way of reminding yourself to say no is seeing your obligations to yourself on paper. So make a list of good habits or things you need to do and hang it up somewhere you’ll always see it. This list will be your reminder to say no and that it’s ok to say no.

Not Committing Long Term

Another bad habit so many of us are guilty of, not committing to achieving our goals in the long term. So often, we get these bursts of energy, like when a new year comes, or we move, when all of a sudden, we’re ready to change. But, those bursts of energy fade off, and what we’re left with is a lack of drive and motivation. So, how motivated are you to achieve your dreams? La.Rue has been something I’ve been working on full time, over 40 hours a week, since June. I’ve committed my time, energy, and emotions all into making it a success. And it has not been easy at times. Achieving your dreams can be challenging, it can be excruciating, and it can feel like it’s going to take forever. But you will never achieve your dream unless you work for it.

Providing Excuses

Yet another bad habit we’re all more likely guilty of. In the Blog, Challenging Yourself to Achieve your Dreams, I discuss the potential damage the mindset of “I can do it tomorrow;” can impact on the achievement of your dreams. It’s a bad habit we’re all guilty of, and too often, I think we underestimate the damage putting something off can do until it’s too late. So, how can you change this habit? Well, once you’ve got your Intentional Living Guide & New Year’s Resolutions Guide filled out for the year, every time you want to put something off or make an excuse on why you’re not moving forward, ask yourself how much you really want that dream. Is your dream more important? Can achieving your dream really wait until tomorrow? Find your motivation and your drive; once you’ve done that, your road to success is much more clear.

Letting Failure Stop you from moving forward

This bad habit is most likely the one that is the most difficult to push beyond. Failure is not an easy thing to move past. I think for many of us, failing can feel like the universe telling us we’re not meant to be doing something. It’s difficult to go through something you really want, fail, and then pick yourself up, learn from the experience, and try again. Moving beyond failure, more than anything, takes a lot of courage. You’re putting yourself out there, again, to potentially go through failure, again. So my role here today is to offer this advice: the next time you fail at something, something that could potentially lead you to achieve a dream, remind yourself that you failed and you’re “here” for a reason. The best thing you can do to move forward and try again. Remind yourself of how much more amazing that success will feel once you’ve reached it.

Waiting for the “Right” Opportunity to come

The opportunities we all dream of receiving will come few and far between in our lives. More often than not, the only way opportunities will come is by our own making. So much of our time is wasted on waiting for opportunities to fall in our lap. A major lesson I learned in 2020 was that I have to create opportunities on my own. I knew that if I wanted to begin following my dreams, I had to take charge of my life. Let me remind you that while I haven’t achieved my overall dream, I am actively achieving a dream each day by creating La.Rue. The “right” opportunity may never come without effort and hard work. There will never be a “right” time to put everything on the line and go for it. This means the time is now; stop waiting for an opportunity or time to come to you. Make the time and opportunity for you, NOW.

Bad Habits like these are hard to kick. Although I think we all know they’re toxic to us and to our progress, we actively push the knowledge that they’re toxic aside to stay inside our comfort zone. But, it’s 2021 now, we all need to let go of the toxicity and bad habits and change our lives. It’s time to live intentionally and achieve your dreams.