Would you like to live an aligned life?
Recently I came across the concept of an aligned life.
An aligned life is “a state of being where our intentions and our actions are in full agreement.”
aligned life
When our actions support our intentions we are able to create and live a life that we have actually considered.
In order to live an aligned life, our behaviour – made up of our choices and habits – needs to support our desires.
For example –
- if we want to get fit, we need to choose exercise regularly over Netflix.
- if we want to achieve good health, we need to eat nutritious foods regularly rather than junk.
- if we want to create a business we love, we need to put the work in every day.
I am creating a business focused on improving our lifestyles, simply.
So this concept of alignment fits in very well.
“…true alignment is a constant practice. It involves pausing first to really consider our desires and then to create habits that truly support them.”
“… an aligned life involves a holistic approach to our entire lifestyle.”
the aligned life”
Step 1 – Self Knowledge
In order to live an aligned life, the first step involves getting to know ourselves and then getting acquainted with our dreams and desires.
Self-focus is something I ahem, focus on in this blog and on Instagram – where I recently posted:
Have you ever had the feeling that you no longer know who you are or how you got here?
I have. Previously.
Which is why I started taking small steps to prioritise myself again. I realised I had to change something. So I started reading and learning and slowly began to turn the spotlight back on me. For many years I had shone all my light outwards and into caring for others.
The more a simple beautiful life develops, the more it becomes about increasing our self-knowledge and taking personal responsibility to create a quality of life that we love.
a simple beautiful life
Without self-knowledge and self-awareness, it is challenging to make any positive changes in our lives.
We need to take personal responsibility for our lives. We need to invest the time, energy and often money in ourselves before we can make changes. We gave to direct the energy into ourselves.
Once we know ourselves, we can get to know how we want to live. We can then start to create the habits that support this.
Step 2 – Create Supportive Habits to Live an Aligned Life
Once we know the lifestyle we want and the elements that comprise it, we can begin to take small, manageable steps to create it.
I am a big believer in multiple, doable actions repeated until they have developed into a habit. In my experience giant leaps in my behaviour or lifestyle have not stuck, because I am not able to remain consistent.
There are many articles written about the length of time it takes to create a new habit. I usually try a new habit for a month. I find that is a sufficient amount of time to indicate if a habit will stick, or if I feel it is ok to let it go.
Forming new habits DOES take time and it DOES require some self-control. After a while, however, it usually gets easier overall. I find that if a habit is serving me, and if it is generally in place, it will affect my life. There may however be small undulations in the general trend.
To explain more clearly – I meditate regularly. Generally, I meditate every day. Some days I just struggle too much. Some weeks I let meditation go entirely. But, I come back to it. So in general I meditate regularly, and it has improved my quality of life.
A Note About Habits
The right habits will support us to live an aligned life – because habits are simply our repeated behaviour.
“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.”
Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote the best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking, next on my reading list
For many years I have been interested in habit change to improve my quality of life. I have followed Leo Babauta’s habit-change ideas. I am a big fan of setting challenges and then holding myself on course with some form of accountability. I have written a number of blog posts about the monthly challenges I set myself. You can read a summary of a year of monthly challenges here.
Regarding habits –
- I believe there is always room for personal improvement.
- I do not think that we should exhaust ourselves always striving to be better or more.
- I strongly believe that many more of us could find personal peace in the belief that we are enough.
- I do also however feel that developing positive habits is worthwhile effort.
There is a balance to be found between improving our quality of life through positive habit change, and accepting who we are and where we are on our journey right now.
Start to Live an Aligned Life
So, if you want to live an aligned life, the choices you make and the habits you form need to support your desires.
“Self-discovery and rediscovery are very personal. Everyone who finds themselves on this journey knows it comes with individualized timing.”
Lisa Gerard Braun
With that in mind, and if the timing is right for you, here is your start.
Below is a simple system to get you going on your beautiful journey back to you!
Sign up below for a copy of my freebie called Scattered to Serene which gives you the same systems I use every day to live a life I have considered and created through simple habit changes.