habit change Archives

Recommitment To Life Importance

Posted on May 27, 2026 by Kristin Larsen

Today I realized something……what is important to me has faded into the distance. It is now time for a recommitment to life importance.

What have I let become more important?

The distractions, the setbacks, the daily habits I choose, the energy I choose?

What I realize is that commitment is an ongoing, consistent action. When commitment loses its consistency, much learning lies within the inconsistency.

What were the daily actions I truly wanted to take?

What core values was I neglecting?

What passions were left flameless?

What a recommitment to life importance will offer

A recommitment will offer some form of meaning and purpose. A way that efforts feel everlasting. It is part of the resilience process. A knowing that, despite not being in alignment with what is important in life, it is possible to recommit again at this moment. In the recommitment is freedom through the choice of being integrity.

Growth happens in the form of accepting the imperfection of returning to recommit. To become conscious and aware of daily choices. To have self compassion and let go of attachment to mistakes for the past choices that led to the setbacks.

The process of recommitment

Recommitment is not something that happens on its own. There is a requirement for clear intentions. A clear definition of why the intentions are important. Those commitments are daily habit changes, but most importantly, they are life changing.

A follow-through on these intentions means accepting accountability each day. It is a personal responsibility to be the living commitment to those intentions.
It is a choice of inner leadership that transforms available choices into definitive, aligned actions.

In this process, the narrative perspective shifts from self-criticism of the current circumstance to acceptance and compassionate understanding of oneself. There is a connection to motivation, recommitment to intentions, and clarity of how recommitment is important to one’s implementation.

It is all an opportunity for growth in the process. This includes all the challenges, setbacks and failures.

What might a compassionate recommitment look like?

Self compassion is the foundation of recommitment. It might acknowledge the self-judgement, but does not let it linger. It treats the intricate details with kindness.

Through this perspective, there can be a way to embrace imperfection. Being in the acceptance of imperfection can allow a universal understanding of the struggle. A realization that it is part of the human experience. There can be a choice of connection instead of staying in a state of isolation. The choice to be in connection with oneself can lead to kind acts which have small, positive effects.
Operating from a place of compassion instills the courage to move towards the pain instead of away from it.

We can act with integrity, which encourages us to be resilient in the midst of what we are experiencing.

The journey of a connected life

The learning that we take away from recommitting to life importance helps us see the shifts that diverted our attention.

In the growth, we can see that achieving external goals is less important if it does not offer internal fulfillment, authenticity, and deeper, meaningful relationships. It becomes a necessary agenda to honour our own feelings, needs, and truths.

The journey of connection to life importance means being present and consciously mindful of living intentionally with integrity. A powerful decision to allow ourselves to be authentic and overcome the fear of failing or not being perfect.

It becomes empowering to share the loving parts of ourselves without losing ourselves. Constantly maintaining alignment with self-care and core values. This also includes a healthy boundary with our expectations.

When we can commit to this path of recommitment and connection, we become more forgiving of ourselves. We take ownership of our choices, even if they have led to setbacks or challenges. The perspective changes, which helps place focus on self-acceptance rather than critical self-judgment.

Recommitment is a conscious choice to let go of perfection in the safe space of compassionate understanding to proceed.

When the Heaviness In Life Opens Up

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Kristin Larsen

Life has been feeling heavy for a while. The presence of everyday emotions that get you through the day. Then there is that moment when the heaviness in life opens up.

“The distance to get there felt like a long, over-travelled journey.”

The moment you know it opens up

Awareness is the opening. The challenging pathway is to surrender and accept. To stop fighting the emotions. Being with them provides insights into understanding the thoughts that are creating them. In the process is possibility. A “yearning” to take a step towards an action. You may want to gain perspective by seeing things from different viewpoints. A willingness to acknowledge accountability. This could mean changing a personal viewpoint, a narrative that is no longer strongly supported because it doesn’t align with your values that are important to you.

You decide to utilize resources and tools that are accessible that will assist in moving forward.

An energy force inside pulls you forward from the “glued spot” you were standing in.

You now see new ways of “being” in thought, intention and commitment.

How you arrived at that moment

It was a combination of many empowered realizations. The challenge that was encountered was viewed as an opportunity for growth. In those moments you began to see a greater potential within yourself. An acknowledgement of the resilience that has helped navigate the experiences.

There was a new perspective that released some of the heaviness. This offered clarity into what was possible. An accountable acceptance that shifted the focus of what was serving and supportive.

All of this translated into a renewed inner connection.

A return to self.

What you might be realizing

It’s okay to feel what I am feeling. It can be uncomfortable and messy, and there is nothing wrong with that. The experience can be as it is. Shame doesn’t have to be part of it.

There is a shift towards the willingness to heal the wounded parts of the inner self.

A dedication to discovery your own truth.

Uncovering answers to the question, “how does this experience contribute to my truth?”

Where are you being guided

Things are becoming more in focus. Those things of focus are, expanded possibilities and inner leadership.

Inner leadership says, “I will no longer suppress the emotions. I now see them as valid.” In this acceptance is a respect for being vulnerable.

A change in perception of emotional expression as strength instead of weakness.

Self compassion is breathing a new practice of returning to wholeness. Being consistently gentle with yourself in the moments that are tough.

Being connected becomes more important than struggling alone. Making space for what is supportive and doable.

The insight reveals itself, “it doesn’t have to be more.”

When the heaviness in life opens up you will surrender to release the weight. It will feel like a readiness for healing, for necessary changes, and the anticipated return to self. The continual weight of exhausted emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing reaches it’s breaking point. You feel a transformational shift from being in the inner turmoil to accepting, from the choice of isolation to being in connection.

Surrendering to heaviness is a choice to let go of the weight of failure and expand the imagination of what is possible.

When Inner Leadership Overshadows Personal Growth

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Kristin Larsen

Personal growth is an important component in the continual process of developing knowledge and wisdom to expand one’s capabilities.

It is also important to be aware of the calling when inner leadership overshadows personal growth.

What is inner leadership?

Inner leadership harnesses personal growth through inner wisdom to regulate emotions and be authentic to one’s values. It is a dedicated focus of awareness for our intentions in the process.

The connected importance of both

Personal growth is usually focused on becoming better in some way, improving, or developing something that contributes to our overall well-being.

Inner leadership takes these valuable learnings and transforms them into actionable guidance. The learnings are used as tools to help regulate emotions and behaviours. There is a prioritized consideration for “being” the chosen intentions with a commitment to integrity.

The personal growth loop

The experience of continual improvement, combined with the feeling of growth, can become an obstacle to accessing our true potential. A personal growth loop begins to form because it becomes the only main strategic choice we are familiar with.

However, when we feel the need to constantly “fix” ourselves, the focus shifts away from the purpose of what we want to improve. Fixing is the narrative the ego suggests is important because of the feelings of not being good enough. There may be an absence of self-trust to lead ourselves through the challenges. What this means is that we are not able to manage our ego’s needs effectively.

The personal growth loop continues because we are continually trying to prove our worth and validate to ourselves and others that we are good enough and worthy.

The calling for inner leadership

In times of challenges, the focus might shift from personal growth and the “needing” to be better, to answering the call of inner leadership. Self-regulation may be more important for calmness in the moment while trusting the decisions being made in that emotional state.

When the desire to lead with authenticity becomes an important choice in the process, honesty and compassion help someone let go of the attachment to outcomes. In those moments, emotional intelligence is allowed to guide the experience.

Living our core values gives direction through resilience rather than reacting to external distractions.

External distractions, such as panic, anger, or people-pleasing, are instances when reactions control our decisions.

Sometimes we feel that our achievements no longer hold the same purpose that supported our inner security. We begin to question who we really are without the accomplishments and achievements. It no longer feels safe to operate in that way.

Another thought is, if we are constantly striving to be a “better version” of ourselves, where does gratitude get lost in appreciating the person we are now?

Most often, it is fueled by comparison, perfectionism, and the need for validation.

Inner leadership ensures that performed actions are inspired by value-driven, aligned intentions.

Inner leadership in your life

Inner leadership starts by asking, “Who is leading my inner world right now?”

The answer to that question initiates awareness. In that awareness is the opportunity to choose clear intentions for how you would like to lead yourself.

It is a practice that focuses on emotional regulation. A trust in our inner wisdom to guide us during stress without the reactionary dialogue that is conditioned for our inner safety.

Allowing our values compass to lead with aligned authority to our actions.

Inner leadership is a shared partnership with personal growth. To lead ourselves effectively, it is essential to understand ourselves and develop our inner resources through personal growth resources.

Being an effective inner leader means taking responsibility by being a valuable, giving contributor to the shared human experience.

Inner leadership is an invitation to act upon the full potential that already resides within.

Emotional Mastery

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Kristin Larsen

What is the true meaning of emotional mastery?

One definition could be; “Exercising the ability to understand, manage, regulate, and intentionally utilize emotions as a tool to shape one’s responses to life in ways that align with inner harmony.”

To master emotions, it is essential to understand where emotions begin.

The Response

There are parts of the brain that are triggered in response to situations or experiences. The relevance of their purpose is related to the response we choose in various situations.

The Amygdala is the brain’s emotional center. It is an important processor of fear, anxiety, and anger, while also linking emotions to memories.

The Hypothalamus controls the body’s physical reactions to emotions, such as increased heart rate. It also manages mood, hunger, and temperature.

The Hippocampus forms new memories, which are essential for remembering emotional experiences and their associated contexts.

The Prefrontal Cortex is located at the front of the brain. Its function is to regulate emotional responses, decision-making, and personality.

The stories and context that we associate with our experiences can sometimes feel uncontrollable, as they are interpreted as being re-experienced or relived. It can be difficult to acknowledge or see that the facts of what we are thinking about are from the past.

We can allow ourselves to know we are safe now and have the power to have safety in the present.

Complications such as long periods of depression add to the complexity of having mastery of emotions. However, the brain is moldable.

Emotional Mastery Tools

Regulating emotions can take on many forms. It could start with bringing awareness to the body through breathing, meditation, and muscle relaxation techniques.

It could be doing something practical to activate the frontal lobe, prefrontal cortex of the brain, which helps to manage and modify emotional responses.

Emotions can be addressed by talking to someone, journaling, or expressing yourself in a way that helps convey what emotions are being experienced.

Within awareness is the choice to reframe thoughts to help shift the story and perspective into a supportive view. This can useful to understand what situations or thoughts spark intense emotions.

Give yourself self-compassion and treat yourself with kindness. Acknowledging that the emotions you’re experiencing are valid.

There are supportive nervous system habits such as exercise, eating meals with balanced essential nutrients, and adequate sleep.

A helpful physical tool to reference is an emotion wheel. This can be useful for identifying what emotion(s) are being experienced.

What Emotional Mastery Is Not

Emotional mastery is not about focusing on eliminating emotions. The intention is not to label emotions as bad, negative or illogical disruptors. They can be treated as valuable messengers containing sources of information that can be processed as insights into our inner experiences. Acceptance and acknowledgement of the full spectrum of emotions is important to understand their display.

Controlling emotions is not realistic or supportive. It is more effective to manage and regulate emotions, leading to clarity about which emotions are not serving our best interests. They can help encourage setting boundaries that reinforce support for the emotions.

Emotion Traps

Emotions can form into habits that allow negativity to escalate. This could lead to stuck-ness, or self-sabotage. It can feel impossible to escape a situation, often driven by fears or shutting down internally. The focus is directed to unsupportive thoughts. In the emotion trap, many people experience physical tension, or unproductive behaviours that prevent growth in a situation.

In this state, it is powerful to be able to regulate and have awareness of what emotions are happening. There are thoughts behind the emotions, and the awareness of those thoughts becomes awareness of those emotions when they are happening. You can begin to understand where the emotions originate from. It means regulating them, being present with them, and having an understanding of one’s emotions. Sometimes the understanding isn’t there, but an option is to navigate to understand them with appreciation.

Mastering emotions is striving to be consciously present in each experience with valid acknowledgement and compassionate understanding.

Coming Back To The Connected Self

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Kristin Larsen

The feelings of disconnection, disarray, being uncentred, feeling dysfunctional, and disassociation have taken over. How is coming back to the connected self possible?

Recalibrate to connect

Attunement is the gift waiting to be recognized. Feeling the breath and regulating it’s alignment to a calmness that feels safe.

Each breath is slowing and pausing with a deepness that exudes a state of peace. It is the starting point of the transition to be fully present with oneself.

Practice what brings presence and inner harmony

The practice requires discipline in moments of presence and inner harmony. The practice in those moments is when the gradual transition occurs during the moments of disconnection and hardship.

Simplicity is usually easier to implement than complexity. A routine that consists of rituals that are easily repeatable supports a stronger foundation than an occasional practice. It is a commitment to condition the mind that can transform coming back to presence in any situation.

Essential support outlets

Taking accountability and solving challenges in your own way is an important part of learning and growth. It doesn’t mean that necessary support is disregarded in the process. It is essential to recognize that when proper support outlets are utilized, they can help us move forward or overcome obstacles in our own way of thinking or operating. It means not confusing determination with shame. The feelings of unworthiness can also prevent many people from utilizing the essential support outlets.

Being intentional

Commitment is a crucial detail in being intentional. To come back to the connected self means shifting to a new vision of being intentional about fully integrating the desired actions. It means deeply embracing the integrity of connection. It is necessary to be aware of things that get in the way of upholding integrity. Awareness is the opportunity to make the adjustments to align with integrity. Specifically, when integrity has been broken.

Nourishment of mind, body, and soul

The inner self knows when parts of ourselves are not in alignment with connection. Usually, a feeling of unease and a lack of fulfillment in the three areas of mind, body, and soul are often key signs of disconnection. There are many ways to nourish the mind, body, and soul with various tools and resources. It can begin with a simple implementation and increase habits that nourish what is lacking over time.

Affirming faith

Faith can be an integral element of being connected spiritually. The other element of affirming faith is the trust that gets created in the process. Trust is a guiding principle in coming back to connection. The trust also supports maintaining connectedness in all aspects of life.

Sitting with the discomfort

It doesn’t usually feel pleasant to sit with discomfort. What can be realized in the discomfort is an opportunity. There is an opportunity for new perspectives through an awareness of what is being experienced in the discomfort. There is a choice to surrender to it, which eases the discomfort. Surrendering is another choice to let go of what is creating the discomfort. We can also acknowledge what is being experienced. This helps to move the feelings around within and shift the thoughts of stuck-ness.

What is required to reconnect

In a deeper context, what may be required to reconnect to self are things such as;

habit change
new learning
adapting new perspectives
pausing and slowing down
self compassion
mindset recalibrating

Focus will determine the duration of disconnection and the transition back into reconnection with self.

Disconnection can simply be a choice of focus. The mind will follow where the focus goes.

The Illusion Of Our Deepest Fear

Posted on September 1, 2025 by Kristin Larsen

Fear of failure. Fear of judgement. Fear of the unknown and uncertainty. Fear of no control. Fear of change. Fear of rejection. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of loneliness.

What if our deepest fear might extend deeper than these common, intricate fears?

Misinterpreting the fear

Initially, the first thought might be that our fear is obvious. To be with the fear in it’s fullest could take some time to extract what it really means in our interpretation.

However, what if the fear funneled towards a doubt that maintains the illumination of what we interpret the fear to be?

What if our fear was really that we question being enough or worthy to let go of the fear we question?

For example, what if we were not afraid of failing?

What would contribute to not being afraid of failing?
We might embody some attributes of trust, faith, conviction, belief in self, focus on being our best, utilizing our strengths, and being open to possibility, etc.

In the experience, there is room for growth and learning. Maybe we acknowledge that and believe that we are enough in that moment and worthy to succeed?

The decision to shift our focus from the fear

When the decision is made to acknowledge the true potential within, fear begins to dissipate.

Shifting the perspective away from the feared “what if’s” of fully acknowledging our true potential.

The “what if’s” are what we think our deepest fear is. I might be thinking, “If I fully embrace my full potential and fail, how will that look to others, will it mean I’m not good enough, will I still be accepted by others, what if I don’t know all the answers, etc.

Letting go of past stories and meanings

When the stories and meanings are not attached to what our true potential really is, possibility is an open canvas.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to let go of the attachment to the past. Healing and reconfiguring the meanings of experiences can assist in letting go and finally moving forward without the constant, looming doubt that reinforces the fear.

A shift towards the belief in the current state of being that embodies what it means to embrace one’s full potential.

A new state of being

What if I trusted myself, what would I need to trust fully within myself?

What if I believed in myself, what would I need to believe about myself?

What if I were being my best, what would I need to do to be my best?

What if I were to utilize my strengths, what strengths would help me navigate this experience effectively?

What if I chose to believe in possibility, what possibilities would be open to me now?

The focus is no longer on the fear. It is shifted to a new state of being that can be adapted when “being enough” and “being worthy” are embraced.

Embracing our full potential acknowledges being enough and worthy to radiate our true light within the full acceptance of integrity to self.

What Is The Human Experience?

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Kristin Larsen

How do we interpret what we think the human experience is?

One person’s interpretation may differ from another person’s interpretation of what they believe the human experience is.

What influences someone’s belief in their interpretation of what the human experience is?

Superficially, the interpretation of the human experience could be conceived as the theory of cause and effect. One of the meanings of cause and effect is described as; “the direct relationship between an action or event and its consequence or result.”

Logic prevails in seeking interpretation. Beliefs reinforce the conceptual understanding of what the human experience is supposed to be.

If you look back at your childhood, and every five years after, how is your interpretation of the human experience compared to this current moment?

Did it change or is it the same?

If it changed, what created the change?

What has allowed it to remain the same?

The external environment, culture, or society is usually a contributing influencer to how someone may interpret the human experience as their reality.

Psychologically, cognitive rationality is essential to form a sense of reality in the living moment.

What is the relationship between the interpretation of the human experience and reality?

Can there be a right or wrong interpretation of the human experience? If each person has their beliefs of what the human experience is, can it be a neutral experience?

What we are born to know is the physical, mental, and emotional side of the human experience. The spiritual element can be learned, practiced or realized.

The physical side is the realization of birth, growth, emotions, and death.

The emotional side is the internal feelings that are associated with the emotion.

The mental side is how our thoughts, emotions, and perceptions are processed.

The spiritual side is the connection to something greater than self, which contains meaning, purpose, and a sense of belonging.

Residing deeper within the main elements of the human experience is profound consciousness. It involves being aware of what is being experienced within the elements.

The riveting part of awareness is choice. A choice to live into experiences as an individual or an interconnected being.

The interpretation of our experiences is always evolving. What is deemed important about our experiences today, may not hold the same importance tomorrow.

The acceptance of the human experience is what leads to fulfillment within it. Setbacks, grief, and suffering don’t feel the same as opportunity, joy, or love. Acceptance is the possibility to invite appreciation to the whole human experience. To transform what is perceived as negative, into a deeper awareness of what is within the experience. An appreciation for the challenge, the opportunity within it, the connection, the love, the possibility, and the shared moments.

Is it the continual quest for meaning and purpose that clarifies what our interpretation of the human experience is?

If you knew it was your final day to live in this physical world, what interpretations would become clear about what the human experience is?

To accept the whole human experience with appreciation introduces a choice for conscious awareness of the deeper elements within it.

Spiritual Side of Personal Growth

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Kristin Larsen

Various moments in life invite a call to access our inner capabilities. In those moments are growth opportunities. There is a spiritual side of personal growth that is often unrealized.

It is a continual learning process that never stops if it is allowed to develop.

Important attributes of personal growth could be habits and behaviors that assist with achievement or facilitate a desired outcome.

It is important to acknowledge that personal growth assists with learning new skills, completing goals, taking responsive action while embracing challenges that arise.

Personal growth is an important part of life. It necessitates “doing” what is envisioned in life.

Unrealized Side Personal Growth

What is the unrealized side of personal growth?

Awareness is one unrealized spiritual aspect of personal growth. Awareness initiates the inner path of authentic transformation when practiced and developed.

It can involve developing self-reflection practices, deepening intuition, and learning to maintain alignment with self.

A second unrealized spiritual aspect of personal growth is redefining and aligning to what success is through the lens of spirit.

Incorporating the objective of being into the process of doing infuses purpose into achievement. Alignment with values becomes an important consideration as the task of growth develops. Awakening to evolvement of inner self.

The third unrealized spiritual aspect of personal growth is to listen to your inner knowing. In that listening is trust and connectedness to the spiritual self.

The fourth unrealized spiritual aspect of personal growth is the embodiment of wholeness. The practice of awareness enhances the ability to balance ambition and alignment with oneself. The priority is placed upon honoring the soul side of performance.

Layering Personal Growth with Spiritual Growth

Using spirituality as a source for personal growth cultivates a deepening of the soul.

The presence of spiritual embodiment invites compassion and connection. Emphasizing understanding for others and self through empathy. One can develop a sense of unity and connection with humanity. This can enhance the strengthening of relationships with alignment to something greater than self through choices.

A pathway to inner peace and resilience is formed in the spiritual embodiment. This supports grounding in calm throughout uncertainty and challenges.

Cultivating Habits of Spiritual Growth

Spiritual growth habits that support personal growth are traditional practices that promote mindfulness, gratitude, and forgiveness.

Some practices may include:

mindful breathing
body scan
meditation
self reflection journaling
self compassion practice
forgiveness letters

Integrating some of these practices into your daily life can create a positive and fulfilling life. This can support both sides of personal growth.

Spiritual embodiment supports the evolving fulfillment of personal growth with the constructs of inner alignment.