changing yourself
Changing Yourself: The Most Effective Methods as Told by Elon Musk
Adopting Innovation in Personal Growth — Insights from a Visionary
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Have you ever found yourself determined to break a bad habit, only to give up after a few days because it’s too hard?
I have.
I’ve had my fair share of ‘battles’ trying to change bad habits.
I’ve ‘lost’ every time, until that day when I saw an interview with Elon Musk, which was quite enlightening.
Musk’s Method
In the interview, Musk said:
When you want to get rid of a bad habit,
what you need to focus on is not how to get rid of this bad habit,
but to pay more attention to how to incorporate a good habit.
For example, when you try to rinse a grease PET bottle,
in order to keep it clean.
the most effective way is not to use workers’ hands to pick the grease off bit by bit, but to add detergent for removing oil stains.
Same goes, if you’ve had too much carbonated drink
want to change this bad habit,
focus on increasing the amount of water you drink every day.
Or like if you want to reduce the time spending on the phone,
then what you can focus on now is to increase the time you spend exercising or reading each day.
Upon hearing this, I had an epiphany.
Indeed, bad habits are deeply rooted in us, and it’s difficult and painful to remove them all at once.
Rather than painfully eliminating bad habits, it’s better to start by increasing good behaviors, allowing good habits to gradually push out bad ones until they have no place to stand.
My Attempt
With this in mind, I began my attempt.
The first habit I wanted to break was staying up late.
For some reason, I always enjoyed staying up late, browsing here and there, and before I knew it, time had slipped away.
I knew that staying up late could affect my health and the next day’s work performance, I couldn’t control myself.
After reading Musk’s theory, I thought,
why not try to ‘crowd out’ staying up late by getting up early to read and write?
Wouldn’t that be a great alternative?
The next day, I tried to wake up an hour earlier than usual and started reading and writing, so that my articles could be published during the day instead of at night.
In the evening, I could read and interact with others with peace of mind, as my articles were already written, and I also exercised at home.
In this way, when it was time to rest, I was so tired and sleepy that I naturally wanted to sleep.
The next morning, I would get up early to write again…
Before I knew it, the habit of staying up late was broken, and it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be.
My Reflection
With this successful experience, I began to think about how to expand the ‘battle results’.
This method is so effective;
where else can it be applied?
After some thought, I had a new idea:
#1 At home
After dinner in the evening, if you can’t help but want to watch videos,
why not go for a walk or talk to your family about what happened at work today?
The urge to use your phone will naturally disappear.
#2 At work
When working, if you tend to sit still for long periods,
why not drink more water, which is beneficial for your health and increases the chances of getting up and moving around?
#3 When struggling
When you’re lost in negative thoughts and internal strife,
why not try to ‘shut down’ the bad thoughts in your mind and turn your attention to positive and uplifting things instead?
Everything that happens in your life is attracted by the images you hold in your mind.
Filling our minds with beautiful and positive thoughts not only improves our mood but also attracts good things to us.
I believe that incorporating something you enjoy while cultivating good habits can make them easier to form.
For example,
- Listen to music while running
- Take breaks from intense work
- Reward yourself with a cup of milk tea, or a beverage…
Adding a bit of ‘sugar’ to hard tasks makes them easier.
In conclusion
As Tony Robbins said,
“It’s not the one or two things you do occasionally that shape your life, but the things you consistently do.”
Our life is the sum of countless habits.
Life is a long journey of self-cultivation.
The so-called cultivation is about correcting bad habits, cultivating good ones, and continuously shaping and improving ourselves.
May we all find ways to break bad habits and, through continuous self-improvement and refinement, encounter a better version of ourselves.
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✍ — Published by Dr. Gabriella Korosi, at Dancing Elephants Press. Click here for submission guidelines.
