The topic of this article is particularly interesting to me because I believe that most of us really don’t consciously create our habits, and yet, they are what influence our actions and thoughts the most. Some habits help your productivity while others lead to self-sabotage. A productive habit could be a morning ritual of gratitude journaling, or even just drinking a glass of water when you get out of bed. A self-sabotaging habit could be procrastinating on tasks that could be easily completed on the spot, or mindlessly eating bread when you sit down for dinner. Most of our thoughts and actions seem to be on autopilot. This could be great if habits are designed proactively, but it can also harm us in the long run. We tend to act and think based on what automatically serves our most immediate needs and what we are familiar with. This often works against us in the long run because we get used to making unconscious (unaware) decisions.
Bringing awareness to your recurring thoughts and actions.
The very first step to change and build new habits is bringing awareness to those thoughts and actions that are repetitive—because they are gaining strength every minute. Start by paying attention to your actions and the results of those actions. Pay attention to what your thoughts are on a regular basis. Thought patterns are habits too. The more aware you are of your thoughts and actions, the more power you have to break patterns that don’t serve you and replace them with something that makes you more productive. Breaking and designing new habits is a result of awareness, which leads to conscious repetition, which leads to habit, which leads to hypnotic rhythm.
The Law of Hypnotic Rhythm.
The Law of Hypnotic Rhythm is when a thought or physical movement repeats itself over and over through habit to the point where it reaches permanency. In other words, the more something is repeated, the more likely it is to get to a point where it is locked in motion. Once something is locked in motion, it is incredibly difficult to change. Do you have someone in your life that is set in their ways? If so, I don’t need to tell you how challenging it is to introduce new routines to them. The longer habits are in motion, the more power they have over you (even if you are well aware of them). That is why it is crucial to proactively be aware of your habits and design them intentionally and that will help you break old negative habits.
Consciously design habits that benefit you and kill those that don’t.
It’s better to add a new positive habit before trying to destroy a negative one. Start with something small and repeat it on a regular basis. Use your smart phone or an alarm at the same time of the day ideally. For example, I wanted to stop checking email first thing in the morning because I found that it led me to feeling overwhelmed. Instead, I chose to start my day with gratitude to get my mind clear and start in a place of power. So, I set my alarm clock on my iPhone to read “Gratitude.” I immediately started thinking of all that I was grateful for right when I woke up. I did this first for about a month or so. This made me feel good, and I got hooked on feeling good right when I woke up. I noticed I felt way more control. This habit is now locked in and I no longer feel that feeling of overwhelm in the morning.
Follow these steps to gain control over your habits.
1. Bring awareness to any negative habits you currently hold (actions and thoughts.). 2. Pick something small and manageable to add to your routine that will make you feel good before trying to destroy a negative habit. 3. Incorporate the new positive habit to take place of the habit you want to destroy. I encourage you to share anything that has worked for you. Please comment below.
