My natural instinct is to be lazy. To sleep a lot. To eat like shit. To be in my prime from about 11am – 3pm. Sometimes I want to hustle from 6am and stay up super late on my laptop. But most of the time I want to sleep until 10 and be lazy.

Just because I WANT to do that, doesn’t mean that’s what I get to do.

My alarm goes off at 6am. I’m outta bed by 6:30am. Which I don’t like. I am not a morning person, no matter how many times I write it in my journal and try to be. But I do it.

Because on days when I don’t, everything else is off. You see, the past two weeks or so I’ve been not feeling well. I’ve been going nonstop and it caught up with me. So, my first thought (and the thought that won) is to sleep. To sleep a lot. Because my past experiences tell me that that will make me feel better and heal my body.

So, what happened when I slept a lot? My morning routine slipped away. My subconscious was all excited and saying “Yes, good girl. Lots of sleep. You’ll be better in no time” But the rest of me was left feeling like I was walking through the clouds.

Now yes, I did have an ear infection and a case of dehydration so I was sick BUT the head in the clouds thing… that could have been avoided. The sluggish-ness for most of the day, that could have been avoided.

You see, our subconscious mind is a tricky bitch. She’s there to protect you. To keep any sort of harm from reaching you. And she’s there to leap into action anytime you do feel any sort of discomfort, to bring you back to where you’re in a place of “safe”.

Basically, the slightest chance of danger and she shoves you into a padded room, strokes your hair, and tells you it’s all going to be okay, if you stay right here.

And you do. Because, well…your brain is wire this way. It all happens so fast that you don’t even realize it does, until you’re already standing in that padded room like, “hold on, where am I?”

This isn’t a story I’m making up or some hocus pocus bullshit, this is a legit defense mechanism that we all have. It comes in many shapes and sizes and jumps into action in sometimes some of the strangest situations. But I want you to be aware of it. Start paying attention to your fight or flight. Start paying attention to those instincts.

Because you CAN change them.

Yes, it takes work. A lot of work. A lot of digging. And it’s exhausting. And scary. And confusing. BUT SO ENLIGHTENING AND EMPOWERING IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to not be in control of things like that. So, knowing that I can put in the work to control those reactions and be able to consciously DECIDE for myself how I react and if I go into that padded room, or if I wake up at 6am like I damn plan on it.

So how do you do it?

Well, I’m no expert and there are much more deep ways to dive into retraining your subconscious but those typically involve a lot of money and some smart drugs so I’ll tell you about the things you can start doing right NOW to retrain your brain.

-Pay attention

I know that sounds simple, but it’s not. Not on these types of reactions. These are things that have been programmed in your brain for 10-20 years in some cases. So, you have to pay attention. You must start looking at situations and realizing WHY you instinctively did something or stopped yourself. Notice when it is happening and identify if it’s healthy or not. If it’s not, dive into making the changes on that one.

-Make small shifts

You can start with your language around a subject. Shift the words you use. Start to retrain your mind to think and feel differently about the subject. Use expressions of feelings to make your mind realize that it’s not actually unsafe, it’s not something you need saving from.

Example: I do not like getting up at 6am. So daily I write in my journal: ‘I always wake up before my alarm. I wake up every morning feeling excited and energized. I always get a good night’s sleep’.

Things like that, if used consistently can reprogram your reality. It can make that your new normal. It makes it comfortable.

-Override the excuses

You know that voice in your head that tells you “it’s okay if you miss the gym” “hit snooze one more time” and then starts rationalizing with you in your mind all the reasons why it’s okay if you don’t do the thing you know you need to do? Ya, that’s what you’re trying to override. So, every time you’re stronger than that voice, it will get quieter. It will get easier to ignore.
Each time you make the CHOICE to get up versus letting the excuses your brain feeds you win, YOU WIN. You’re in control and you get to choose how you’re going to run your life, not your fear-based way of thinking.

This isn’t a scientific way to reprogram your subconscious, but it is a way to start being in control in a deeper way. It’s a way to help make the changes/choices you want to make in life a little more habitual. It’s a way to recreate what is normal in your life, based off what you want.

I want to be a morning person. And I’ve been working on it for years. Sometimes I slip up, but when I do I am aware enough now that I can stop to think about it for a moment and realize that it’s the lack of routine in the morning that had been throwing things out of whack for me. So that’s an easy fix, right? Back to the morning routine. And the more present you are, the shorter those little “fell off the wagon” moments become.

It’s a beautiful thing.

Now go create something intentional in your life. Have a kick ass day.