Portfolio of Why's (wise)

Creating new habits isn’t exactly a walk in the park. We all know that our motivation to stick with something can be so fleeting. Knowing your “Why” or in this case, your “Why’s” is a wise move if you want a positive, new habit.

As I’ve developed practices over the years it has been very helpful to create what I call a “portfolio of why’s” which includes all the reasons I can think of for wanting to make that change. Instead of just having one “why,” show yourself that there are a whole slew of reasons why this is important to you.

When I began my meditation practice, I fell in and out of it and was inconsistent. One day I took a giant size post it note out and started writing down a list of 15-20 reasons why I wanted to become a meditator. I found it interesting to see what reasons I came up with - some of which I was totally unaware of before doing the exercise.

Seeing this long list in front of me showed me that there was a lot of value in sticking to this practice for me. I could see all the ways it would elevate my life and help me be more of who I wan to be in the world.

You can do this too for a new habit, routine or ritual you are working on. Grab a big, blank piece of paper (or if you’re the type of person who also has giant post-it notes, use that!) and write down as many reasons as you can for doing the thing want to become consistent with. How will you be a different person sticking to this habit? How might your life, relationships, health look different? What benefits will you receive?

Spend 5-10 minutes writing down at least 10 “why’s” for the habit you’re creating.