New (and Old) Habits for a New Perspective

As I wrote in the previous two articles, in 2024, I began to really internalize two lessons: that heart change must come before habit change and I must account for ever-changing circumstances when setting goals and building habits.

Before, incorporating new habits into my routine felt monumental and goal setting was reduced to an extra task list. But as my perspective began to shift, so did my priorities and my motivations. It’s been an incremental shift, but over the last six months, I have begun implementing new habits and meeting goals almost passively–all because my heart began to see habits and goals as a means to steward well all that God has given me, not just accomplish a task for my own gain.

That said, there are some new habits I implemented towards the end of last year that have carried over to this year. And while I didn’t do any proactive goal setting for 2025, there are some goals I’m passively considering as we begin this year. I’m listing them below with a brief explanation, in case there are any ideas you may find helpful as you seek to implement better habits:

Getting up early. A couple of years ago, I wrote that getting up early was the keystone habit upon which all my other habits are built. I have struggled to maintain consistency in that. Pressing snooze multiple times most mornings left little room for a fruitful quiet time, much less a shower or any kind of work I’d like to do before my kids got up. When I realized that I might actually have time to implement an exercise routine into my morning by just not pressing snooze, I decided to try to trick my brain into getting up.

You see, I’ve read enough about habit formation to understand how habits are formed when neural pathways develop in our brains in response to a trigger- i.e. the bad habit of pressing snooze when the alarm goes off. For me, though I tried using two alarms (one of which is super annoying), I was still crawling back into bed every ten minutes for half an hour. So, I simply switched the order in which my alarms go off. By making that switch, I still get to press snooze, but only once. When the annoying alarm goes off, I don’t snooze it. I get up because I don’t want to hear that alarm go off again. That little switch was enough to snap me out of the snooze-habit, and I’ve been getting up with enough time to exercise, shower, pray, read my Bible, and make breakfast– all before I have to get my kids up for school.
Regular exercise. I hate exercising. Or, I used to hate it. But, along with pressing snooze too much and eating poorly, I was beginning to feel rather slothful. I’m also quickly approaching 40 and already noticing that my body just doesn’t move and work like it used to. So, while my daughter was on a break from school, I decided to test out a new morning routine while the pressure of getting her to school on time was lifted.

As I mentioned above, I began getting up on time again, and testing whether a 30-minute exercise routine would fit into my morning while still allowing for me to be completely ready, without rushing, to get my kids up for school. Turns out, I had time.

The problem was, I still hated exercising. So, I made two choices. First, I decided to simplify my goal- do 30 minutes of something, 5 times per week. That’s what my doctor has recommended and what most articles I’ve read about maintaining heart health recommend. I did not set out to lose weight, tone, anything. I just aimed to do something. That means that I get up and I do what I feel like doing, as long as it’s a bit of a challenge. Most days, that’s some type of cardio, though once I got really set into a routine, I began incorporating strength training. And on days where I have to be at work early, or when my kids have had a rough night, or on rest days, I still aim to move my body as soon as I get up– even if it’s just stretching for 10 minutes– to really solidify the habit of movement first thing in the morning.

The second choice I’ve made always gets a laugh when I tell people, because it’s absurd. But I know myself. I know that I dislike exercise so much that the tiniest of barriers will become an excuse not to do it–even having to change clothes. So, I decided to start sleeping in my exercise clothes. They’re basically like lounge clothes anyway, so it’s not like it’s uncomfortable. But I knew that, particularly in the cold of winter, if I had to get up and even change clothes, I wouldn’t do it.

As it turns out, it’s worked. For the first time ever, I’ve exercised regularly. And I honestly feel like it’s a vital part of my daily routine, now. I don’t hate it. I don’t necessarily love it, but I’m mostly grateful to be able to exercise and for how it’s made me feel.
Memorizing Scripture. For years, it has been my goal to start memorizing Scripture, but 2024 was the year it happened. Part of the changes God has been making in my heart has been seeing more clearly than ever the battle my flesh wages against me. For me, that manifests in anxiety, fear, control, and anger. It’s a spiritual battle, one that must be fought with tools that are far greater than mere behavior modifications.

I started memorizing Scripture as a way to go on the offensive against so many of my root sins. What I noticed, is that when I would begin to struggle, God’s word came to mind so much more easily and quickly. I know the Bible, and I know what truth is found in it, but before I began actively memorizing it, I would have trouble bringing to mind it’s truth when I’d get into a pit of struggle.

I memorize verses the old school way, by writing them down on an index card. I prefer this over the phone because a phone app comes with all the distractions of everything else on the phone. However, because it requires the extra time to sit down and handwrite out which verses I want to memorize, this discipline is one I still have a bit of trouble with–that is, while I’ve got twelve verses down pat, I haven’t made time to add more. I’d like to add many more to that and also begin memorizing whole chapters of the Bible. I just don’t make time to sit do it. So, that’s part of my goal for 2025.
Eating well. This is a 2025 aspiration. I don’t call it a goal, per se, because I’m not sure what this looks like for me and my family and I recognize that I may very well not figure that out this year. But while I’m grateful for the health that regular exercise has given me, I know that if my diet doesn’t follow, then exercise can only go so far.
Flexibility. Given one of the lessons I learned last year, my prayer for 2025 is that the Lord will help me hold my own agenda with open hands. I beleive my lack of flexibility (and fear of man) is my greatest barrier to sharing the gospel with others, and I don’t share the gospel like I should. So, while I continue to pray specifically about my own personal evangelism, I’m also trying to go after the root sins that are my greatest barriers to evangelism.

I have no idea what this will look like, and it’s a prayer I’ve been a bit nervous to pray because inflexibility is so deeply rooted in my personality. Lately, I’ve simply been trying to be aware of and adjust my reactions when something spontaneous or last-minute comes up, particularly because the first quarter of each year is a really busy season of work and I have historically not handled the stress very well. Time will tell!