This is the only habit I’ve successfully shaped
I love reading, mainly personal development books.
In the past two years, I’ve read some classic titles like Mindset, Start With Why, The Power of Habit, and Miracle Morning. Right now I’m reading Grit.
The problem with reading (too many) personal development books is you know what you should be doing to be successful or productive or crushing your goal, but you can’t make yourself to do it all.
I know it’s better to have a morning routine.
I know it’d be great to write morning pages.
I know I should start with why when starting something new.
But I didn’t do all of the above.
You can create and change your habit
When I was reading the Power of Habit last month, I discovered that you have to have these elements in order to form a habit:
- cue
- routine
- reward
- craving
As long as those elements are present, you can build any habit you want.
Your mind doesn’t work actively in the ‘routine’ process. It just recognizes the cue, then works automatically through the routine, until it gets the usual reward.
But our minds can’t distinguish good habits from bad habits. And most of our habits are formed unconsciously. So you have to control what’s going to become your habit.
I’ve tried my luck with several habits
Last week I tried (again) Miracle Morning. I bought a new alarm clock so I don’t have to use my phone as an alarm. I prepared the notebook that I was going to journal in. Got 6 days straight, after that? I went back to my usual routine, with my phone beside my bed.
The same happened with my attempt at running. I downloaded C25K app (that should’ve transformed you from a couch potato to a 5K runner) and Nike Running. I ran 3 times a week for 2 weeks, then stopped.
I didn’t explore myself enough
I know I should’ve started small. Less ambitious goals will lead to more actions, and in the end, it’s the little wins that will motivate us to keep going.
But the main reason why I didn’t continue those habits is I don’t have the reason why. If my why is not that strong, I will be defeated by the time a problem comes up.
I should’ve asked myself, why do I want to do that thing everyday?
Only choose habits that YOU want
The only habit that I’ve been sticking with for more than 6 years now is yoga. I don’t do it every single day, obviously, but I keep coming back. It’s addictive. I almost never go by a week without doing yoga.
And I know the reason why.
From the beginning, I choose to do yoga.
Now, let me congratulate myself for finding and sticking with this single habit 😉
Thanks for reading! I’m happy to connect with fellow writers/freelancers, you can find me on my website, Pinterest, and Twitter.
