"The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken." – Warren
Buffet
We are a product of our conditioning that’s developed over time… twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years and more!
From an early age we are conditioned by our parents, family members, teachers, preachers then
friends, coaches, colleagues, and bosses.
“You can’t do that!”
“You’re too stupid!”
“Shut up when I’m talking!”
“You’re lazy!”
“Your opinion doesn’t matter!”
And so on, and so forth... until you start to negatively condition yourself by repeating the same
things in your head, and then making poor choices over and over again until you are no longer
thinking about it, you’re just doing it, hence, a habit.
The good news is that you can fix this!
You eliminate your bad habits by replacing them with good habits.
You do so with positive reconditioning.
This is retraining your brain, which is easier than it sounds.
The key is consistency.
Here are 3 strategies to get you started:
1. Open your day with positive affirmations
We are what we think we are.
Wake up each morning at the same time each day.
Turn on the lights and/or open your shades to let in the beauty of the natural light of the morning.
Crank up whatever uplifts you and makes you feel alive. Perhaps it’s some great music or a motivational
podcast. No matter what it is, crank it up and get your juices flowing!
Stand in front of a mirror and get yourself into a Power Pose.
It is scientifically proven that when you stand in this position for 2-minutes, you will be able to raise your testosterone and lower your cortisol. Helping you to increase your confidence and increases your willingness to take risk.
If you’re a woman, think Wonder Woman.
If you’re a man, think Superman. Choose whatever image of someone that exudes confidence.
Stand with your feet shoulder length apart, place your hands on your hips, straighten up your back, and hold your head up high! With conviction and belief, shout out several times your positive affirmations!
Some examples are:
I feel wonderful and alive!
I am successful in whatever I do!
I will make the most of my day!
I plan my work and I work my plan!
Say whatever speaks to you, but do it with passion, conviction, and true belief, even if at first
you don’t believe, do it!
It works!
Your brain will not only start to believe it, but it will actually, on its own, start to find ways to make it true.
Shout out a positive affirmation right now!
2. Do one thing better than yesterday
Doing just one thing better a day may not sound like much, but when you do one thing better every day, five days a week, for fifty weeks that’s 250 things better over the course of a year, minus two weeks to decompress.
That will make a significant change!
At the close of every day, ask yourself two questions:
1. What did I do today, professional and personal, that made a positive impact on my life?
When you have the answer, write it down in a notebook (for example) that is dedicated to your accomplishments, then congratulate yourself for a job well done!
Doing so will absolutely motivate you to continue.
No matter how large or small, accomplishments feel good!
2. What is the single most important thing I will do tomorrow to make a positive improvement in my life, both professional and personal?
Write the answer down on sticky note (for example) and stick it on the same mirror you now do your daily affirmations in front of, right before you go to sleep.
When you wake up in the morning, you’ll already know what that one important thing is, so you won’t waste time or get frustrated trying to figure it out.
This will help keep you on track.
The awesome thing about this is once you get going, you’ll want to put two things on your list, then three things, four, even five!
Imagine how you’ll feel once you get those bad habits replaced with good ones.
Start thinking about your first one thing per day right now!
3. Progress not perfection
So often when we get excited about bettering ourselves, we go all in, usually too much.
The best example is deciding to work out.
We’re going to work out for five hours a day, five days a week.
The very first day we hit the gym for five hours, sweating our butts off, but the next day we’re so
sore and tired we just stop.
Those five hours were wasted.
Our bodies aren’t any fitter, and we aren’t any healthier.
In fact, the feeling of quitting after just one day can lead to depression and makes things even worse.
But if we had started with say thirty minutes of working out three days a week.
The likelihood of us continuing is much greater, as are the results being long-lasting.
Working out our mind to overcome decades of conditioning is no different.
To get real and lasting results takes time.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but progress, as long as it’s consistent and daily, will absolutely get you there.
You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to do it.
No one will do your pushups for you. One pushup a day, every day, is better than no pushups a day.
Don’t worry about being perfect because in the early stages of reconditioning, perfection can
unintentionally lead to procrastination and frustration.
Perfection doesn’t change a bad habit to a good one, progress does!
There you have it, those 3 strategies will truly help you to get on the good habit path, while eliminating the bad habits.
And that’s the key, eliminate and replace bad habits.
Don’t make it harder on yourself by keeping bad habits around with your newfound good habits.
It’s like carrying unnecessary weight on your shoulders.
It will only hold you back and slow you down.
Remember, your environment and the people in it can also influence you, so be aware of who
and what is positive in your life and who and what is negative.
It’s easier to catch bad habits at the earliest possible stage and earliest point in your life, but anyone, at any age can do this.
It just takes consistent and daily effort.
Doing these strategies once or even occasionally will NOT change your bad habits.
You can have excuses, or you can have results, but you can’t have both.
Stop dreaming you want to be better both professionally and personally.
Start doing better!
Today!
Every day!