Forming Habits.

Why are habits so hard to form?

Because they are hard to break. We all have habits all the time. Good or bad, they are with us. So when we decide to create new ones, it’s not as simple as adding another box to check on your daily to-do’s.

How does one solve this issue then?

Examine, Identify, Nurture and Replace.

Examine - Take a hard look at your lifestyle as a whole, keeping in mind the habits you are interested in building.

Identify - Identify in great detail the ways this bad habit is serving you. (Yes even bad habits have something to offer)

Now identify the need the new habit will fill.

Nurture - Find a new way to take care of that need being served by the old habit.

Take comfort in the way this new habit will serve you over time because it won’t feel easy at first.

You have heard it a hundred times that we are creatures of habit. If we weren’t, life would be a very different experience. Our brains would be constantly learning and working and creating new pathways. Instead, we have this incredible autopilot that works for us throughout the day. Recent studies have shown that 95% of our brain activity is conducted by this subconscious autopilot. This is why habits are so powerful on our lifestyle and why changing them can be so difficult.

So what can be done to stop the incredible influence of this subconscious autopilot that we live most of our lives out of?

Nothing!

But it is not so hopeless.

We do have a say over what goes into this autopilot system. We can, over time, become proficient at using this auto pilot to our own advantage! These are habits. When you meet someone who has a solid routine that they rarely, if ever, deviate from, you can bet good money that these people have spent a lot of time crafting and perfecting their internal autopilot!