Habits. Just what are they? As defined by James Clear in his book “Atomic Habits,” Habits are: “Are the small actions and decisions we perform on a daily basis.” As you can probably gather, the significance of your habits is massive because they are the building blocks to everything you do each day and everything your life stands for. You can look at the way you habitually think about yourself as the foundation to a building. The way that you think about yourself is what determines what you can do with your life. If you have healthy thinking habits, you can build a crazy awesome life that you and scores of other people can enjoy. If you think in an unhealthy way about yourself, however, your building will reflect that and you won’t be able to build something to sustain yourself, let alone other people. This means that it is actually more selfish to think poorly about yourself than it is to be confident, because you cannot give what you do not have.
This poses the question, “how do I change the way that I habitually think about myself?”
The answer is quite simple, replace your negative actions with positive actions. The importance of this cannot be overstated. What you do every day is much more important than what you do one day. That being said, it can be difficult to make a complete 180-degree change. That means that we need to make changes that are subtle and small to make our adjustments long term and repeatable.
So, creating replacements is one remedy. I won’t tell you that this is the end all be all fix to your bad habits. However. I know that there are many people who struggle to start. The thing you must understand is that you DO NOT get this time back. So, you must be real with yourself. Think about your life, figure out where you want to be, and set your goal to get there 6 months from now. Do not wait and do not try and justify pushing your goal out any longer than that. The crazier the goal and the crazier the objective the more energy it creates. Want to go from overweight to marathon finisher? Get online right now and buy your entry for a marathon 6 months FROM TODAY. NO EXCUSES. Want to go from working a job you hate to financially independent in 6 months? Figure out a business you know you can be profitable in and start AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Risk creates energy.
I’m getting sidetracked, replace one habit with another one. This will be based on your triggers. I will give you examples, and it will be your responsibility to analyze your life and create changes. You are intelligent and more than capable of figuring out the best remedy for your personal situation. I will identify some typical triggers and responses, then I’ll show you some replacements.
Trigger: You get home from work and your stressed.
Response: Grab the remote and turn on the TV
Trigger: You’re having trouble sleeping.
Response: Grab your phone and start scrolling
Trigger: You’re in an uncomfortable social setting
Response: Shut down and lash out towards others
Trigger: You wake up tired to your alarm clock in the morning.
Response: snooze your alarm instead of getting up and going to the gym
Now let’s define some replacements:
Trigger: You get home from work and your stressed.
Response: Grab your running shoes and put them on.
Trigger: You’re having trouble sleeping.
Response: You pick up the book by your bed and open it.
Trigger: You’re in an uncomfortable social setting
Response: Smile.
Trigger: You wake up tired to your alarm clock in the morning.
Response: You stand up.
You are probably thinking that these things sound so simple that they are stupid. They are, in fact, not stupid, thank you. All jokes aside, this isn’t complicated. Replacements need to be easy and simple. Replacement habits need to be simple, thirty seconds or less. You are smart, and you also want to do what makes the most sense in the moment. If you put your running shoes on when you feel stressed, you are going to feel like an idiot if you take them off directly after you put them on. If you stand up when your alarm goes off, you’re going to feel stupid if you lay back down. If you are having trouble sleeping and you pick up your book and open it, aren’t you going to feel stupid if you put it back down immediately and reach for your phone? I would think so.
Don’t expect to be perfect, and don’t be too harsh on yourself. But do remember what you want. EXACTLY what you want. And never forget it. Because the habits you allow yourself to have are the habits that your kids will adopt. Do you want your kids to have the same habits as you? Pretty sobering thought, isn’t it? So do me a favor and get yourself right, otherwise it I’ll be the one to teach your kids these things. Be the one to lead your life, and sprinkle life, growth, and change everywhere you go on everyone you meet.
Be blessed.