The Right Habits

The Right Habits

Let’s look a little closer at the meaning of the word habit. Random House dictionary defines habit in this way:

Habit: An acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it becomes almost involuntary.
The important words in this definition are acquired and almost involuntary. Let me ask you a question. When is the last time you sat down and said to yourself? “Today I am going to add a new habit to my life?” I guess that you have probably never said those words. So what is a positive habit? A positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make part of your life. Why is there such great power in positive habits to effect change? Because habits; by their very nature, are automatic.After a period of time they can become permanent.
So how do we go about adding new positive habit’s to our life? It’s really quite simple.

You simply begin repeating an action, attitude or thought process every day for at least 21 days.
Research has shown that an action that is repeated for a minimum of 21 days is likely to become a habit.
Remember that positive habits have positive benefits and you will reap those benefits for as long as you maintain that habit.

Brian Tracy states the Law of Habit as: -
“In the absence of a specific decision on your part to change some aspect of your life, the natural tendency will be to go on the same way indefinitely. Ninety-five percent of what we do is habit.”
You can create a new habit by just repeating an activity over and over again for approximately 21 days

An explanation of habit by way of a poem

I am your constant companion
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure
I am completely at your command
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn them over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly
I am easily managed; you must be firm with me
Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a
Few lessons I will do it automatically
I am the servant of all great men
And, alas, of all failures as well
Those who are great, I have made great
Those who are failures, I have made failures
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision
of a machine. Plus, the intelligence of a man
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no
difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world
At your feet
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you
Who am I?
I am a HABIT!
- Author Unknown


Kick Your Bad Habit – And Keep it Away for Good Getting started on a bad habit is easy, but quitting it can be very difficult. So how do you quit a bad habit you’ve been meaning to? Well, if you’re looking for answers; Here are some tips on making a bad habit a thing of the past.

1. Define Your Goals.
First, you have to identify the habit you are trying to kick out. This is the most important step in kicking a habit. If you don’t accept that you have a problem, you won’t be able to solve it. Write it down and why you want to rid yourself of it. When you have written it down, proceed to naming your goals. If
your goal is to lose weight or quit smoking, then state it boldly.

Along with the goal, you will need to state why you wish to change then add some other data, such as schedules and plans for quitting the habit in question. When defining your goals, try not to make the mistake of putting in an unrealistic goal. This will only serve to frustrate your attempts,
and you could very well see yourself falling back on your old habit!

2. Get Help.
You should realize that there are things that are best solved with the help of a friend. A bad habit is one of them. Support groups are a wonderful way to suppress your quitting efforts. Knowing that there are people who are going through the same things you are going through, and who support you emotionally and physically, can greatly increase your will and ability to deal with a bad habit.

3. Substitution.
When trying to quit a habit, the stress and anxiety that follows an episode when you cannot get the result you want can be truly unnerving. One technique to help you overcome this is to try substitution. The best way to quit a habit is to replace it with another habit – one you wish to acquire for your benefit. As Og Mandino would say you can only replace one habit by overwriting it with another more desirable one.

4. Keep Track of Your Progress.
Progress always is a great motivator for people to stop a habit. To avoid thinking that you are going nowhere, keep a log of your quitting journey, this will encourage you when you think you are not making progress. And most importantly reward yourself for every milestone you achieve. Don’t make the milestones too big – small steps are best. This is a good way to encourage you towards your goal.
To help you stay on track and put your life on autopilot for success we recommend the program “The Power of Positive Habits” "If greater success, improved self-esteem and happiness are your
life destinations, The Power of Positive Habits can take you there! This is a simple but powerful program that can transform your life."

The Art of Adapting to Change

One of the main reasons that may hinder us from reaching our innermost goals and desires is our inability to be flexible. This fact may be hard to swallow, but it's true. We do everything we can to eliminate any type of suffering in our lives, yet challenges and pressures can bring out the best in us.
If you have been burdened by mistakes in the past, learn from them, forget about them, and move on. Some people tend to focus on how bad their lives have been due to these mistakes.

As a result, they remained stuck in their miserable lives. Treat your mistakes as lessons, and apply them as learning references in your future endeavours. Remember the past is the past – it is gone forever.
So what if you invested in a business and you lose a ton of money? In this situation, some people would remain deeply discouraged for a long time that their personal lives are being affected negatively.
They can't eat well and they just stare at the ceiling all night long, thinking how this bad incident happened. Furthermore, they would probably vow not to venture into new opportunities again. Speaking as someone who has ‘the T Shirt’ been there done that I can assure you that its not life threatening, OK it maybe disappointing for a while – so what! You don't have to be like them. If you're afraid to fail, then you risk all your chances to achieve your goals in life. Try again; but this time, be more careful and use your past mistakes as guide maps.

Look at it this way. If you try, at least you get a 50% chance of getting what you want. But if you did not try at all, you have absolutely no chance of attaining your desires in life. It's a nobrainer.
Let's fast forward into the future. Let's say you do try, you create some new habits and you follow through, and you succeed, great congratulations. This does not mean you'll stay in that situation for good. Problems may rise again, so always be ready to adjust to the current situation.