Volumes have been written on the topic of habits, both good and bad. In this post I will share what I know to be the two most important things you need to know about habits. I will not only point out the two most important things and show you why they are important, but I will explain why they are extra critical to those facing major life challenges.
My experience and research have revealed hard truths to me. It all boils down to two things. Habits are created from actions repeated over time. Habits, regardless of how they became established in our lives, can be changed! That is the bottom line!
We know that actions repeated over time become habits. We must also recognize that actions always result in consequences, sometimes negative and sometimes positive. If we find ourselves at a point in our life where we are re-evaluating the quality of our current state then we must examine the sum total of our actions which have become habits. If we find that we are currently in a great position in life then the examining of our habits and actions of the past should reveal what we are doing right, and therefore ought to continue to do. In fact, even in such a situation we can fine tune the good habits to become great habits and thus ensure an even brighter future. If, however, we find less than satisfactory results have been achieve then we are forced to examine the actions and habits that have developed which have put us in this undesirable state.
I have heard it many times throughout my life that studies show it takes 28 days of repeated action to develop a new habit. That is not too long! Most of us can make changes, even challenging ones and keep it going for 28 days! Man, even the biggest of habits can be broken if we choose to look at it this way. You can do it standing on your head for crying out loud!
Massive change isn’t always necessary either. Sometimes even small or basic change made consistently can yield fantastic results.
Now that the light has shone upon this monster, what are you going to do about it? Examine your habits that hold you back. Start with the more obvious habits, or start with the easiest ones and correct them. In only four weeks you can start to see real change. Conquer even one bad habit at a time, just do something! Get at it! Get going! You may find the results to be so gratifying that you become a monster of sorts yourself, hunting down and destroying these dirty little varmints that have held you back for far too long!
This leads me of course to the point that habits indeed can be changed. They are conquered by a simple but focused choice of will. The power is in your hands. My two points about habits are summed up in one simple word…”choice.” Make the choice to do things differently in order to reap the prize of a better tomorrow!