Habits deserve your time

March 8, 2011

by marcus

There is no doubt about it, big decisions are changing the direction of our lifes and therefore we should give them our full attention and commitment. This does not mean though, that we can neglect and not care about the small decisions; particularly those small decisions that we repeat very often and in most cases ins a very automated way – our habits.

If a decision is small but is systematically repeated, the idea that it is small is in fact an illusion. We often say that the result is the sum of all of our actions and decisions, then those repeated decisions also play their vital part. For example, if you have the habit to procrastinate, and replace it with the habit to do first the things that you dislike most, then this is likely to have a big impact on your life.

Then there are bad habits which could be looked on as “small” weaknesses. Generally we believe we get more or better results b pointing out and working on our strengths rather than our weaknesses; this is another reason why we are most likely spend very little time on some of our habits. However, there are also instances (and I am sure you know which ones are for you) where it is an unresolved weakness that holds us back from growing.

All bad habits that we do not care to control will eventually control our life. We all want to gain “power” over the external world, but we must realize that the first and most essential power is on ourselves.

In order to win over a bad habit or even better, to introduce a new and positive habit into our life, we have to make an initial investment; this will ensure that the decision or behaviour will become automated and automatic. This does not have to be a painful investment. Whatever feeling you associate with the process of working on and changing your habits will depends on the significance you give to the experience you are doing and the results you hope to achieve.

Here is my suggestion: try to spend some time over the next few days to change one habit. It is important that you work only on one habit at the time. This will help you capitalize on the fact that often the same amount of energy if concentrated in a small time brings better results than if spread in a longer time.
Another way is to imagine a dialogue with the habit you want to tackle; try to discuss in a very friendly way until our habit is “convinced” that it’s not acting to your best interests and the change will happen as a natural necessity

Which way you are going to go to deal with your habits, never forget to give them the attention they deserve.

Do something productive every day and change a habit along the way ….