Choose Change

Today I want to give some practical advice on how to break bad behaviour such as spending more time on Facebook than doing work, skipping the gym to have a marathon viewing of your favourite series, or being constantly glued to your phone while in the company of others. In one of my earlier posts I talked about the change cycle and the different stages we go through to create change in our life. One of the hardest stages in the cycle was being consistent with the change and avoiding regressing back to the old behaviour. So how do we maintain the change and ensure our success in breaking the habits?

Lets break it down – Be Open to Change

The first step to breaking any habit or cycle is to acknowledge that you are dissatisfied with your current situation and that you want to improve your life. You may know that you need to lose weight / procrastinate less in your work / improve quality of relationships – but the jump may seem too high and too big. It is important to realise that feelings of anxiety or apprehension are natural and it is all about your frame of mind and how you harness that and turn it into a strength that motivates you.  Sometimes it feels easier to admit defeat and reach for a sugary treat or sleep in and miss your gym workout but this only brings short term benefits/pleasure and often the consequences are far greater.

To assist my clients, I get them to write ten benefits of achieving their goal versus ten consequences of not achieving their goal.

i.e. I will be my own boss and have my dream business (benefit)

vs

I will continue to be unfulfilled in my current job            (consequence)

The purpose of this exercise is to start viewing the change as a positive step and to visualise a life if you continued on the same road. Negative thoughts and suffering will remain and dis-ease of the mind translates to dis-ease of the body. The mind is powerful and we must tap into its resources by taking notice of what the mind and body is showing us. Sometimes allowing yourself to be vulnerable and accept that your behaviour and choices are causing you unhappiness, stress or even making you ill,  will help you to see the path forward and start making changes now.

Understand what you need to change and take the relevant action to move forward – learn from any setbacks and allow yourself to fail. The key is being able to pick yourself up and do it right next time. Take a new tactic and soon you will find it becomes second nature and you will adopt the change as part of a new lifestyle –  small steps create big change!

Most people already know they need to kick a habit or make a change to their lifestyle, it’s just about having the confidence and courage to make it happen.

Self Belief

What does the little voice in your head say? Is it positive or negative affirmations about yourself.  Whatever negative or limiting belief you have, let go and believe in yourself and never give up. Its not about the end goal its about the journey we take to reach success and break the cycle of change.

The BIG One – Hold yourself accountable

You have the choice and the power to become a success, whether its finally losing the weight or learning to procrastinate less and get more out of your working day so that you feel accomplished and content. Once you have achieved, then you can reward yourself with a special treat – and it will be more worthwhile! It is so easy to make excuses and lay blame on external factors but you have to take control and just do it.

Be Present

Don’t let social media distract you – look around you, be in the moment, communicate with others in a physical sense, not over a Facebook status. You will find experiences become more meaningful and with a purpose. Take moments to be in nature and exploring the world around you. Switch off the phone or television and engage in conversations with people in your life and use your imagination – write, read, create things. Feel inspired and keep motivated.

If this post has helped you or inspired you to make a change in your life today, please feel free to share and comment below.