I’m starting new workout, sleep, and mindfulness routines this year. It’s taken me a week to get it going. Why?
Because I didn’t account for family still being in my house until now. I wasn’t aware of the impact young grandchildren and three extra adults would have on getting to bed on time etc.
Now that they are gone, I have done a better job of accounting (awareness) for any obstacles that could impede my goals.
Well-being is something I want. Researchers have found that well-being is a function of integrating one’s upstairs (cognitive) and downstairs (subconscious) brains.
Well-being is:
- the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy
- emotional, physical, and spiritual safety
- a state where self-trust and self-respect are omnipresent
In the same body of research we learn that self-regulation is neural integration. Self-regulation comes after self-awareness.
When I set my new goals, my self-regulation faltered first, I went to bed later than planned, I got up later than planned and when I got up, instead of working out and following my protocols, I was interrupted by my four-year old granddaughter and her cuteness, among other things.
When self-regulation falters is it because self-awareness is not present. I failed to consider my space. After processing the first couple of days failing in my quest, I adjusted my goals while they were still in the house and re-engaged when they left.
Paying attention can be expensive because the cost of paying for the attention is energy, grit, focus, and a sense of reality.