How to Stop Being Too Negotiable with Yourself

As an entrepreneur, myself, I’ve found it difficult at times to practice my non-negotiables. What does that mean? Let me start with a story.

When I started my journey to live Simple Clean and Whole, I practiced a bunch of rituals that became habits. But I noticed that when I became negotiable with my rituals, everything else that keeps me physically and emotionally healthy became negotiable, too.

If you’re like me, then whether you’re at your desk in an office among your peers or working alone in an office in your home, you’re constantly surrounded by distractions. Phone calls, coworkers, lunch, morning meetings, pets, the kids, etc.

The problem is once you let these distractions take hold, a domino effect begins. Everything you’ve practiced to be healthier and happier falls to the wayside as the negotiables rise to the top and what should be your non-negotiables sink to the bottom.

Here’s what happened to me. I became negotiable with working out (and how many of us haven’t done that at some point?), but that led me to be negotiable with my water intake. If I was negotiable with the amount of water I had each day, then I began to crave CRAP (carbohydrates, refined sugars, additives, and preservatives)! Once I started to crave CRAP, my sleep was thrown off, and once my sleep was off, my stress would go up. Can you guess what happened next? Once I was stressed, my entire emotional being was a mess! Can you relate?

A Non-Negotiable Practice to Keep Things Afloat

I use and coach my clients on a number of practices to avoid giving into those distractions. However, I keep one non-negotiable practice in my back pocket because it has a profound effect on how I move about my day. I even do this practice when I’m home with my kids, and I’ve become so much more efficient with my time and my desire to feel whole as a result.

First, you need to understand that this is a practice. Remember, practicing new habits turns them into rituals, and rituals then turn into non-negotiables. When you’re practicing your non-negotiables, shifts happen. And when shifts happen, they become you. That’s when you begin to transform!

With that said, here’s my Negotiable vs. Non-negotiable Practice that you can use on a daily basis to jump start your own shift:

1. Start the week by writing your “to do list” on a piece of paper. Go ahead and list all of your to do’s in a column on the left side of the paper.
2. In the right column, write your “to be list.” In this column, answer the question, “How do you want to be while you are doing?”

What happens is we tend to go through our day checking off our to do items without being aware of our desire to live a life filled with health and wellness. Once you become the entrepreneur who just checks off boxes, you lose out on your creativity, brilliance, and flexibility. Your days become monotonous and uneventful with little or no passion. It’s like a task instead of a desire. Does that sound familiar to you? Using the Negotiable vs. Non-Negotiable Practice, you’ll be able to reprioritize, avoid distractions, and improve your physical and emotional wellness.

Here’s a short example to get you thinking about what to put on your own daily list:

We’re so blessed and lucky to be able to make choices! However, you have to get your non-negotiables in order so you can begin to shift your old patterns and habits into new ones. Practicing your non-negotiables is your ultimate investment in your overall health and wellness!

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Jen Meister

Jen Meister is on a mission to educate, empower, and inspire people on a journey toward whole health and wellness. Through her coaching practice, Simple Clean and Whole, she helps people sustain a healthy lifestyle while living in a world filled with distractions. Jen holds a Master in Education degree from New York University and is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor who has coached hundreds of people and spoken to thousands over the past 10 years about how they can transform themselves without fear or stress so they can be truly healthy and happy. Jen offers private and group coaching options, including one-on-one coaching, group cleanses, group nutrition and lifestyle programs, and online group programs.

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