I started reading this book yesterday. It is all about Habits, why we have them, what they are for, how we change them etc etc etc. As I read the introduction I was convicted about all the unconscious habits I have that are harming my life. Things that on their own seem small but when they are added up their tiny ripples turn into a tsunami.
We all have habits- both good and bad- that we aren't even aware of.
My question is, what will it take to change them? Obviously this is part of my motivation for reading the book... also I am constantly curious about why people do the things they do so reading stories of compulsion and change is incredibly motivating.
I feel like I've gotten really bad at forming new (and improved) habits and that I have gotten really good at keeping old habits lying around. Don't get me wrong, I believe this is something I can change (creating a habit of forming better habits... like habit inception) but I know it will be hard.
This post is an exercise in forming a new habit...
I used to write on here five days a week. FIVE. How? My brain tells me it is because I was working freelance and had time for such a luxury, but the truth is it was merely a habit. I found writing to be cathartic... healing in a way. It was hard, don't get me wrong. You know how you never (... ok I never) want to go to the gym or do that work out? But how afterwards you are so glad that you did it? That is how so much of life is. Sacrifice and reward. Give and take.
What are you giving up every time you have that cigarette you "can't live without"? What do you get when you sacrifice that extra thirty minutes of sleep in order to get in a work out first thing?
On average it takes 66 days for something to become a habit. What can you accomplish in that time? What habit do you want to form?
August 6th 2017 is your end date. Mark it in your calendar. I'd love to hear where you end up.
As for me I want to form the habit of journalling. I want to start a habit of keeping the commitments I have made to myself. And above all I want to check off each item on a very special to-do list I have created, 30 before 30. 30 things I want to do, read, experience, learn, know, before I turn 30 in 4 short months (YIKES!).
Who is with me!?
xx
P.s. the book is The Power of Habit, you should probably order it rtfn.
