1. It's
easier to start a new habit than to give up an old habit. What does this mean?
Don’t start new habits that would be hard to give up. You can see all the habits people find hard
to give up – smoking, drinking, doing drugs, playing video games, criticizing. Do you really want to start any of them,
knowing that? If you are already into any of these habits, get out while you can.
2.The
company you keep, the places you hang out at, and where you source your
information and advice from is key to picking up habits. Spend time at bars,
you are likely to drink, spend time with video game players, you are likely to
play video games a lot. Join a book club or a walking group, and you will
read books and walk more. Learn to discern.
3.To
develop a new habit, you have to take the first step. If you’ve never been to a
gym, you have to sign up and go.
4.There
are alternatives to many habits. For
example, therapy, exercise, meditation, yoga and sleep can be an alternative to
prescription medicine for stress and insomnia. Low carb diets, intermittent
fasting and weight loss programs can be an alternative to metformin and
glucophage for diabetes.
5.Alternatives
that do not work when you first try them may well work when you try them
later. I tried to meditate several times
in my life starting from my 20s, but I succeeded later in life.
6.It
is okay to be nervous about a new habit.
Some new habits are more nerve-wracking than others. Driving is
nerve-wracking in the beginning. Public speaking is nerve wracking in the
beginning. Understand that many things which are nerve-wracking become less and
less nerve wracking as you develop confidence and do it again and again. This was true for me with learning Excel when
I switched from an advertising copy career to a commissions administration
career. It was also true for me when I learned driving and I learned public speaking, just to name a few areas of my life which
were nerve wracking.
7.Besides
being nerve-wracking, everything is tough in the beginning. Remember how tough it was for you to learn to
ride a bicycle. Or to learn to swim,
or to skate, or to golf. What’s
tough in the beginning, gets easier as you become habituated to it.
8.You
may ask, “Minoo, how do you write and publish a blog post every week?”
The answer is: I have been at it for 8 years and 450 posts. So I have gotten better and better at both coming up with ideas and writing. Or you may ask me, “Minoo, how come it is so easy
for you to meditate?” The answer is: I have been meditating as well for the past 8 years. The more you do something, the better you get at it. Take a page out of my book. Better still, take a page out of your
favorite athlete’s book – keep doing something, and you will get better and
better and better and better and better at it.
9.There
are tools to give up habits. If you have
a spending problem, you can create an expense tracker and track all your
expenses. If you have a hard time being
on time, you can use the alarm on your phone, or set your clock back so you are
always on time. If you have an addiction, you can join AA. If you have been
unsuccessful in giving up a habit without tools, then there's no question about it - you need to use tools. Do not resist this or procrastinate on this.
10.A
habit can be liberating. A regular
exercise habit liberates you from gaining weight and being less healthy than
you want to be. A reading habit liberates you from boredom and ignorance. A purposeful writing habit or community service habit can liberate you from the "now what" feeling that happens after you achieve any milestone.
11.Some
habits you should take up just because they are character building. I have a
friend who regularly cleans the bathrooms of the Buddhist temple she goes to. This is an example of a character-building habit.
12.It
is easier to give up a bad habit if it is inconvenient for you to continue
it. I once met a person who told me she
used to smoke when she lived in India, but she gave it up soon after coming to
America, because she did not like to have to go outside to smoke. If you want
to give up a habit, make it inconvenient for you to continue it. For example, if you want to give up alcohol,
live far from a liquor store, avoid social events where liquor is served, and
avoid people who enable your addiction.
Make it inconvenient. If you want
to give up cakes and ice-cream and anything else that’s bad for you, don’t
stock it at home and if you know it's going to be served at a party, eat before you go to the party. You will have an easier time of giving up an
unhealthy eating habit this way. Do you
know after I went low-carb, I stopped buying potatoes and rice and bread
altogether. Take a leaf out of my book.
13.Repetition
is the key determinant of success with new habits. You have to take the first step. Then you
have to do it again. Then you have to do
it again. Then you have to do it
again. Then you have to do it
again. People who excel at things often
do so only after they have been at it for 10,000 hours. Repetition is essential and it is powerful and rewarding.
14.Good
habits lead to great habits. The more
you exercise, the more you can exercise. The further you can go. And the more challenging things you can attempt. In yoga - you may find yourself starting with the easy Lotus pose and eventually being able to do the difficult crane pose. The 2 mile walker becomes the 5 mile walker. The 5 mile walker becomes the 10 mile walker. The 10 mile walker becomes the 13.1 mile walker. The 13.1 mile walker becomes the 26.2 mile walker.
15.Finally,
we become associated with our habits. Depending on when and how you know me, you will associate me with this blog, or with
the Fiesta advertising campaign I created, or with wearing sweaters in the Chennai heat,
or with wearing sunshades at night, or with drinking till I passed out, or with playing my own compositions on the guitar.
For your information, of the above, this blog is the only habit which still stands.
Hope
this post inspires you to give up any habits that are bad for you.
More
importantly, I hope this post inspires you to embark on new habits that are good for you.
What
better time than the start of a brand new year to do both? When December 31,2019 rolls around, you should be able to celebrate at least one habit victory - preferably the most important one.
I suggest you firm up your resolve by writing this in the Dec 31st box of your 2019 calendar – “Celebrate my habit
victories with Minoo”.
How
are we going to do that?
Leave
that to me. When Dec 31 2019 rolls
round, just let me know your habit victories of 2019, and we will figure out a way
to celebrate them.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks for
the feedback, (comments, likes, shares) on my recent posts. I appreciate the
kudos from old friends, new friends, and relatives who have become friends. You
keep me going.
NEXT,
thanks for sharing my journey to wisdom, meaning and a better life.
Like you, I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life,
and I am honored to have you share my journey, as I continue to seek the wisdom
hidden in plain sight.
FINALLY,
A Happy Birthday shout-out: to those with January birthdays. I
hope you will use your birthday month to give up bad habits and start good
ones.
To
all my readers, have a blessed “doing good for yourself while doing good for
others”week, and see you next week.
