I’m really bad at sticking to things. Every time I try to do something slow and good for me, I do it for a month or two tops and I just revert back into the habits that are bad for me.
For example, I did weightlifting for 2-3 months and I had a lot of fun doing it but I just slowly lost interest and stopped. I did daily journaling and meditation and it gave me a lot of peace and clarity but it only took one mental breakdown for me to quit. I read books daily for a month but I eventually got sucked back into consuming mostly digital media.
I know that all of the former activities were good for me and I genuinely enjoyed doing all of them but I just eventually get sucked back into my old bad habits. How do you break away from that?
For some additional information: I get therapy every 2 weeks and I’m not on any medication. Clinically diagnosed with depression and anxiety
I use an app that gamifies tasks to stay accountable. Habitica- you have a character (a mage or warrior etc) and you gain xp by ticking off the things on your list. You can join parties with other people and do quests, so if you don’t complete tasks on time it impacts the team.
I also force myself to do things in a way that I know will work for me. So for example I know that if I go home between work and an activity, I will definitely not go back out. So I will make myself stay outside, maybe treat myself to a coffee, so I make myself do the activity. 9 times out of 10 I’m glad I did.
I think it’s important not to beat yourself up too much though if you slip up and I know it’s much easier said than done. Everyone has off days, it’s ok if sometimes you don’t get everything done that you need to. Sometimes just getting to the next day is enough.