Your Habits Shape Your Life (But They’re Not Who You Are)
Abstract:
When people crave a change in their lives, they’re often a little intimidated by the magnitude of what they’re trying to achieve. I’m here to tell you that it’s easier than you think.
If you’re aware of certain principles and use them, you can change dramatically without too much effort. In this video, I’ll show you one such principle.
Your mission today is to learn why your habits shape your life, and how to easily change them.
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Task 1: Learn what habits really are
Ok, so we all know that habits are things we do without thinking much about it. We pick up habits and once they’re established, it can be a challenge to change them.
The thing is that our lives are determined by our habits by a much larger extent than we like to think. Estimates hover around 80% of your life that’s based on many small things you do habitually.
People often identify with their habits, not fully realising that these are acquired behaviour. They’re not who you are and they certainly aren’t set in stone.
Task 2: How to change efficiently
If you’ve ever tried to change a habit – like picking up your phone all the time – you’re probably thinking that this is hard! Didn’t I just say it was easy?
This is where the principle comes into play that I mentioned earlier. You see, habits are based on beliefs. And beliefs are for the most part subconscious.
To change a belief, you have to become conscious of it. A coach can help you with this, but you can also try for yourself:
Look at the habit you’d like to change and ask yourself what makes you hold on to it. For example, if you’d like to stop lazing around in bed in the morning and exercise instead, your underlying belief might be that exercise is strenuous and unfun.
Once you’ve got your belief, you can change. Find counterexamples. Look up people who prove you wrong (like folks who love running). Think of times you did something strenuous and felt good afterwards.
Now that you’ve weakened the old belief, replace it with a productive new one such as: I love how alive exercise makes me feel! Then put it into practice immediately.
It’ll take upwards of three weeks to establish the new belief and habit. Then it’ll be easy, and you’ll wonder whatever took you so long!