Habits….forming good ones…
And getting rid of bad ones!
Listen here
Habits can be easy to form, sometimes challenging to get rid of. There are in addition habits that we form and that we are not aware of…Sometimes a friend or work colleague may bring these to your attention if they are considered to be a potential concern.
In the simplest form it’s vital that you identify the bad habits, what is the trigger and when/why they happen. Similarly identifying the replacement behaviours (where applicable). Some people find it helpful to write these down.
Good habits are almost akin to goals, something that you want to achieve and that are important to you.
We live our lives on our perceptions of reality and not always the reality! Our behaviours (habits) are based on what we think…Very different to the actual! We are all conditioned based on all of our experiences (good and bad), and these can be external influences or our own self talk.
From our conditioning, our beliefs are formed and these then determine the attitudes that we display in any situation. As a consequence our feelings & emotions are formed…And from there we develop our behaviours! In this case habits.
All of our experiences are held in our “sub conscious mind”…This constantly feeds our conscious mind so that we always behave to stereotype. Our brain tells us to behave based on stored experiences.
Now that we know why we behave in certain ways, we need to rewire our thinking, to get new behaviours. Our self talk is vital. Re-affirming what we want and are good at…And slaying our demons. All of our thoughts are transmitted in our brains via dendrites…Mini computers! We have dendrites for all of our behaviours…Similarly, we have both positive and negative dendrites. Good and bad! We want to get rid of the bad and replace with good.
When we want to create new habits and behaviours we need to form new dendrites. The more that we think of this behaviour in a very positive light and constantly reinforce this new and improved thinking, the dendrite thickens and becomes more powerful…Over time the new behaviour becomes the norm.
The reverse also applies…To rid ourselves of bad habits, we need to determine what the triggers are…Our conditioning that leads ultimately to our behaviours. Understand why! What behaviours do you want to display instead?
Create goals for the new habits…why they are important and how you will feel when you achieve them will drive your self talk…The creation of powerful images and thoughts…Great new habits! These become the messages that the dendrites carry…The more you think about the new behaviour, the more you celebrate the success, the more powerful the dendrite becomes. This creates lasting change.
Slay your bad habits by identifying triggers and changing your thinking…The new and improved thinking! Replace with new self talk that creates improved and lasting change. Everything is possible, but you have to understand the cause and change your thinking!
To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behaviour.
Maxwell Maltz