We all have habits. We all do things repeatedly and these behaviors do not need any conscious decisions from our part. But how can we make our habits work for us?
From using social networking sites to brushing our teeth, habits dominate our daily behaviors. Once we are hooked on a habit, we are on auto-pilot.
This is the key to understanding habits: the advantage to adopting them is that our brain doesn’t have to use any energy or will power to make a decision.
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If you go to the gym regularly or eat a healthy breakfast every morning, you build on a decision that you’ve already made at some point. And now this habit is working for you, it is making you healthier, happier or more productive.
But all of us have habits that do not improve our lives at all, that drag us down. Why do we persist on having them?
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There are many possible answers to this question. We might favor what we want right now versus what we want long term. Or we might want two contradicting things.
The good news is that we don’t need to always make healthy choices. All we have to do is make one healthy choice and stick to it. You don’t have to put your mind through tough decisions every single day. Once you know what works for you, don’t revisit that decision. Just make it and you will liberate your mind from the decision making process.
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How should we proceed if we want to make some changes in our lives?
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It depends on your personality and on your own experience. Some people work better when they keep it small, when they concentrate on manageable and realistic goals.
Other people love to go big. They are more comfortable with big transformations, which they perceive as challenges. This is how they find the right motivation for the change they seek.
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So ask yourself which of these approaches worked for you in the past and change what needs to be changed. Your future self will thank you for it.
Take a small step now and share this with your friends!
