When was the last time you thought about your daily habits?
I am not just talking about what you call bad habits, but I am talking about the activities you do the same way every day without thinking about why you are doing them.
The habits I am talking about can include when you wake up in the morning, what you have for breakfast, or how you brush your teeth. Think about those activities for a moment
What about after getting out of bed and getting moving? Do you go to work the same way, eat lunch with the same people, and go home the same way? When you get home, do you change into the same style of clothes, follow the same dinner schedule, and watch the same television shows before falling asleep?
How to Know When to Change Habits
Let’s talk about a simple habit for a moment . . . brushing our teeth. How do you brush your teeth? Are you an up and down person, side to side, or do you do the little circles as you were told to do by your dentist?
Now ask yourself, what are the results? Does your brushing keep you cavity free or do you always find yourself facing the drill and a hefty dentist bill?
If getting a nice big filling is not the result you are after, then why don’t you change your brushing style, your diet, or flossing habits?
Does Changing a Habit Have to be Difficult?
As irrational beings, we often know what will get us the results we desire but we don’t want to change the habits are preventing us from getting those results. We reach a level of comfort in how we do things and we find it difficult to change those habits, even if it could mean a beneficial outcome in the future.
Does it really need to be that difficult? Can’t we stop buying Pretzel M&Ms, eating ice cream, or making excuses for not exercising? Of course we can, but we often don’t because we are not focused on the results.
Are You Feeling the Pain?
Too often we focus on the pain of ridding ourselves of a habit instead of focusing on the pleasure of an optimal result. It can be very painful to stop a habit, but starting to focus on the pleasure of an improved result and being to get your focus on changing the habit.
While focusing on the outcome can help move you forward, what will continue you down the path to change your habits are two things:
- An inventory of the habits that are not delivering the results you seek.
- Accountability for changing your habits.
A Habit Inventory
Sometimes we don’t realize what habits we even have that could be holding us back. To capture our habits, for a week, perform a time audit of your activities. For seven days, track in as close to 5 minute intervals as possible, every activity you perform through the day. If possible, review your activities and find a trusted mate or friend to review them and confirm which of your activities are negatively habitual.
Being Held Accountable
Once you have made a commitment to change, find someone that will help you change your habits every day. Then before you go to bed every evening, review the habits you are trying to change and call your accountability partner to tell them if you were able to avoid the habits that are not serving you. I recommend doing this exercise for at least 90 days or longer if possible. You will find that if you are kept truly accountable, then you will begin to break the habits that are not serving you.
For many of us, changing habits is a difficult task. It can be painful to change your morning routine or your after work routine. To really change your habits, you have to focus on the positive outcome you are trying to reach, know what habits are holding you back, and be held accountable for changing the habits.
Once you change the habits that are holding you back, you will start to set yourself free.
Watch the blog for more information on creating freedom in the coming weeks. Until then, tell me a habit you want to change in the comments and why it is painful for you to change that habit.
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Wow! These are great suggestions, and few of them are approaches I’ve not heard before. I think the ‘habit inventory’ is marvelous!! =)
Okay, you asked what habits we would like to change. I think the one I would most like to make walk the plank (and this is a habit I’ve had for 36 years, argh!) is how negatively I talk to myself. =( I’ve been trying to become more aware of when I’m doing it, giving me the ability to challenge it, but it’s so long-standing and seems so overwhelming that well, I just feel stuck. Something that has been helpful is knowing where it comes from and WHY it’s developed into a habitual response. I got some great information from the following FREE e-book by Richard Fast(yes, free, I was giddy) about changing a habit I highly recommend it. I feel I’ve got a better grip on the ‘whys’ and now I’m moving into, I guess, the ‘hows’.
Thanks for the post. I’ll check back and see what futher info there is on this subject. =)