A good habit is a behavior that is beneficial to one’s physical or mental health, often linked to a high level of discipline and self-control. As we grow up we’re being taught habits left and right, from our parents, peer groups, teachers, TV, social media etc. However not everything you see on TV is good for you, right?
Your habits = your lifestyle. You can’t stop going to the gym and expect your muscle to continue to grow or do a diet for 2 weeks and then go back to eating ice cream for dinner – you know it doesn’t work that way… Therefor your motivation for doing the new habit must come from within, if you want it to last. You must have a compelling want for this new habit more than the status quo.
Why Change?
Maybe you’re moving away from something (I don’t want to end up like my cousin) or moving towards something (I want to look like that)?
It doesn’t matter to get you started as long as your motivation is coming from a desire that you want things to be different.
“You can change your habits easier than you think. There’s a process and system, you don’t have to guess.”
– Jim Kwik
Understanding Your Habits:
Below is from a conversation between Jim Kwik and BJ Fogg on Jim’s podcast KWIK BRAIN. >> Listen to the episode here <<
LEARNING ABOUT YOUR HABITS
- Habits are things we do automatically, without thinking.
- Think about your habits as plants: your collection of habits is like a garden. You can avoid doing anything to the garden and let anything grow, or deliberately design how you want the garden to grow.
- “I want to read more” is an abstract concept. To transform it into a habit, you need to create a tiny, specific step you can take first, like opening the book.
- You also need to figure out where the tiny habit will fit into your life, e.g. you could open your book after you sit down on the subway every day.
- Tiny steps are not hard to sustain, as they require very little energy and effort. If you do the tiny version of an activity, then you can always do more.
- Pick the tiniest thing that has meaning to you. This could mean after you click your seat belt, you turn on the audio book player, and listen to one whole paragraph, or two.
FORMING A HABIT
- How long it takes you to form a habit depends on the intensity of your emotion while doing a behavior, rather than the duration you do it for, or the frequency.
- Try to inject emotion as you’re doing the behavior or immediately afterwards, so your brain associates positive feelings with the thing you want to become a habit.
- There is no evidence that frequency of behavior creates habits: it is often quoted that it takes 21 days, 30 days, or 66 days to create a habit, but this is conceptually wrong.
- Using the number of days concept also reinforces that habit creation should be about suffering and endurance, but these negative states won’t assist your brain to wire in habits.
- You can create habits in a positive, uplifting way.
- If there is a life-threatening or serious addiction or habit problem, please seek professional help rather than relying on any book.
- Some habits are easier to shake or create than others: untangling negative habits can be a difficult process.
GREAT BOOKS ON HABITS
HABITS TO AVOID
7 habits to avoid: Gossip – Judging – Negativity – Complaining – Excuses – Lying – Dogmatism
How to speak so that people want to listen | Julian Treasure
This TED talk is actually about speaking, but I wanted to include it here because he starts with introducing habits to avoid. You probably didn’t even know that these things were actually habits? These tiny things we have a tendency to do and think about shapes how we speak to the world and internally! That voice inside your head does it too… If you’re having trouble with one of these bad habits try asking yourself or journal about it:
- What do I get out of judging this person ?
- What do I get out of the complaint ?
- What are the benefits to lying for me ?
- What is this excuse really covering up ?
HOW YOUR MIND REALLY WORKS
The moment you decide to make a different choice: Get ready because it’s going to feel uncomfortable.
You are the creator of your world | Dr. Joe Dispenzia
A habit is a redundant set of automatic, unconscious thoughts, behaviors and emotions that’s acquired through repetition.
A habit is when you’ve done something so many times that your body now knows how to do it better than your mind.
You can also check out the full transcript here.
“It is the little things we do every day that makes up who we become”
– BeBetter.Coach
Pay Yourself for Good Habits
Learn how to use the Mental Bank to re-write your subconscious life-script to create more prosperity, improve habits and relationships, and upgrade your life in any area you choose.
The Mental Bank system is a fun and motivating way to practice positive habits. You can find the step-by-step instructions about the system >>here<<.
Can’t Find Motivation?
You say you want things to be different…
But you’re finding yourself not being able to stick to a new habit. Try to ask yourself why that is? When you have that answer, ask yourself why again… Do this as many times as you need to, to get to the truth.
Maybe the truth is that you are content with where you are in life today (lack of internal motivation). And that’s okay, stop trying to change then.
Or maybe the truth is you’re focusing on the wrong thing? Maybe you say you want to lose weight, but if you go 7 why’s down, it turns out that you’re actually struggling with loving yourself. So instead of trying to lose weight, maybe focus on how you can love yourself more…
Track Your Progress
Taking action everyday is important, even if it’s small.
Remember you’re really creating a lifestyle, not just a habit. You’re practicing being the person you’re meant to be.
Doing something towards your goals and new habits every single day is very important, this worksheet can help you keep track and measure your progress. Remember to reward yourself for your successes!
via thissomebody.com
- Wake up earlier
- Ditch the scarcity mindset
- Invest in yourself
- Test your limits
- Invest in experiences
- Deepen your relationships
- Be okay with saying no
- Know yourself better
- Diversify your income streams
- Create more things
- Embrace the small things
- Go green
- Challenge your views
- Spend more time in nature
- Shop smarter
- Choose the right friends
- Protect your skin
- Meditate daily
- Eat mindfully
- Stay active
- Make gut health a priority
- Cook your own meals
- Drink more water
- Practice gratitude
- Track your goals
- Do the hardest tasks first
- Hold yourself accountable
- Have days where you don’t do anything
- Stay inspired
- Take action
SWAP YOUR HABIT FOR A NEW ONE
Try this!
