Life audit: Identifying digital triggers

- Every lesson has a life audit. The purpose is to remind you to check in and really take a look at where you are today. In this life audit, I want you to identify your three biggest digital smartphone compulsive triggers. What are those triggers that keep you on your Smartphone and disconnected from yourself and your family? Is it just because you are bored? Have you become addicted? Are you just window shopping or endlessly scrolling through Instagram or Facebook? I think one of the biggest challenges is when you wake up in the middle of the night and your phone is by your bed and you see the light flashing and you can't help yourself, you check your messages. I'm asking you to begin to learn to disconnect in order to connect with who you truly are. This is a big step and it can be challenging, but I know because I've experienced it, that your life will be happier, less stressful, and much more fulfilling if you just give it a try. The best way to start this is to develop a digital detox plan. For me, the first step was taking the phone out of my bedroom completely. But find out what works for you as a first step, and then build up to your ultimate goal. Here are the steps I would suggest. First, what I would really like to see is that you take the phone out of your bedroom. Have I said that before? It really is important. It's like when you have a newborn and you want them to sleep right next to your a while, but eventually they need their own room and you both need to sleep through the night. This is that moment. Your smartphone would sleep through the night in the room next door and be all charged and ready to go in the morning, and so will you when you've had a completely restful sleep. The second thing I'd like you to do is to set aside time each day to put away your phone. This could be during a meal. For us, as a family, meals are sacred. No phones allowed, no texting, no checking notifications. It could also be when you're going for a walk with your spouse, or your child, or yourself to just walk without checking your phone. The third thing I'd love you to do is to turn off the pings and the vibrations on your phone to just disconnect all of the notifications. The fourth step is to gradually increase the number of hours that you turn off your phone each day so you can focus on what you really want to do. And above all, limit the number of times you check your devices even if they are on. Maybe once an hour versus the prevailing average, which is every six minutes. In this lesson's life audit, we also want to identify your movement goals for yourself. What do you hope to get? Are you hoping to get into a daily exercise habit? Not just in order to lose weight, but just simply because you want to walk, do yoga, or even just stretch every day. For me, my goal was that I wanted to do some of my yoga poses, even for just 10 minutes every morning. I don't make it every morning, but I make it now most mornings. So, let me summarize. First, write down your digital triggers, and that's why are you addicted to your devices? Second, start your digital detox plan. Third, identify your three movement goals for yourself. They could be really simple. They could be taking the steps rather than the elevator, getting up from your desk once an hour, and walking around the block, anything. One of my favorites is walking meetings. I know that asking ourselves these questions can be challenging, but it's the first step to changing our habits and to really thriving.