How to Take Control of Your Habits

When I launched the Blog Growth Plan for The Blogging Hub, a community of bloggers providing support, network and growth for each other, I had the intention that along with consistency, everyone who duly follows the tasks for each day will be building a strong habit structure for themselves. So from Day One, I believe that the actions that follow consistency will spur these bloggers into a season of great growth. As I reviewed the tasks, I concluded that there is this funny side of life and reality that shows the life you lead today as the result of your habits. If you want to really think about this, it means that you’re living out your habits every day - from how early you get out of bed, to your morning routine, how you dress, walk, exercise, interact with others and even what you habitually think about and how you respond to the world.

Your habits got you to where you are today, so it is just safe to say that habits are necessary, especially when they are good. The good habits free up our minds and help us concentrate on how to survive every day. Unfortunately, habits (bad ones) can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which limit your progress. Becoming successful is a result of changing habits. You’ll need to eliminate bad habits and develop new ones that are in alignment with the life you want to live.

Now, the life you want to live won’t just materialize one day. Your habits will determine your outcomes and this is where your control comes in. You may always run late or you probably stay up late and never get enough sleep. Your habit may also be that you often break promises to your friends and family, resist planning out your day or that you spend money you don’t have. Whatever habits you may have, you can change the nature of things for better. So let's do a self examination by asking a few questions. I will like you to be as honest as you can be:

• What  keeps you from achieving your goals?
• What habits are keeping you from achieving your goals?
  

With these questions, if you're asking how much power you have over your own habits and routines, I will say, you practically have all the power to control what controls you. Most of the choices we make each day are well-considered decisions and they make up habits which drive us to act. I recently read a research report showing that the average person has approximately 40,000 thoughts per day, but 95%  are the same ones experienced the day before. This means that about 45% of our daily actions are based on habits and routines, not newly formed decisions.

Our habits and routines (what we say and do, and how we organize our thoughts, social life and work) have an enormous impact on our health, productivity, financial security and happiness. Habits are so powerful they can be seemingly impossible to break when they no longer work. Many experts say you can’t actually eliminate a habit because it is formed by neural connections in the brain. But you can change your habit by breaking a previous pattern of response and by replacing it with a better response. This is why alcoholics can live reformed lives, because they break free from powerful addictions by redirecting self-destructive habits into constructive routines. By changing one small keystone habit (like safety precautions or tracking and measuring), individuals and companies can influence everyday routines, leading to widespread results.

Another article I read about habits show that habits emerge because the brain is constantly seeking ways to conserve energy. It looks for a trigger for a habitual response (for example, read your Bible when you wake up, eat your dinner after watching the news). The trigger could be another action like in the earlier examples or it could be an emotion or physical sensation (such as taking a glass of wine if you feel stressed). Habits and routines are so powerful that even when there’s no longer a reward we keep doing the same things. Worse, when there’s a negative reward, we still keep going back to the well.

What is a habit?

According to dicitonary.com, a habit is an acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary". By behaviour pattern, it means that a habit is not an isolated action. It is always triggered by a previous action. So, if you want to create a new habit, deliberately use another action, emotion or physical sensation as a trigger for your new habit. For me, it's easier to use another action as a trigger. The definition also includes that a habit is followed regularly. This means that the things we do everyday become habitual more quickly. Especially in the first few months of creating new habit. If you aim to do it everyday (if possible), after the same 'trigger, you will record progres with your new habit'. However there are exceptions, especially for routines and schedules that cannot ordinarily shift.

Another thing with habits is the fact that they are almost involuntary. When we do a new habit after an existing one, we create a chain of habits that we do automatically - you will almost certainly already have this in your life. Do you have to set a reminder or debate with yourself about when to brush your teeth in the morning? When to eat breakfast and shower? These are usually things that we do in the same order everyday, so they become automatic. That's what you want, and can create, for your new habit - that it happens pretty much automatically.

Habits are so powerful because they are regular and automatic. You can think of it like Piggyvest or Cowrywise's automatic savings plan - a small amount of money gets transferred automatically at specific intervals to your account. At the end of the year, you have met your savings goal without having to think much about it. In the same way, habits are important to you and your goals. Not everyone thinks about changing our habits. But most of us have different personal goals. Any goal can be achieved if you take automatic and regular actions towards achieving it.

You should really create habits that support your most important goals so that you can easily achieve them. Just imagine the result of changing your habits - What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? Or if you saved your money instead of spending recklessly? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and network with people in your field? What if you create a detailed plan for success – then chunked it down into monthly, weekly, and daily plans to ensure you stay on track to achieving your goals? What if you taught yourself how to meditate to reduce stress and promote mental clarity? Would your life be different if you changed your habits?

How then can you take control of your habits and form them into new, positive and life changing habits?

• Write down the productive habits you visualize, then adopt them in your life. 
• Act: ‘act as if’ you were living these new habits right now! You could make it a part of your daily visualization and decide to make a 100% Commitment to your new Habit. Be specific about the steps that you’re willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don’t be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can put yourself in situations that will motivate you to act upon your new habit.
  
• Stay Accountable: You can also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits they also want to change, or work with a personal coach who can keep you on track. For example, the Blog Growth Plan I launched has a structure that makes everyone (myself inclusive) accountable.
  

Once you determine the new habit you’re ready to adopt, always create a method that will support your new habit. By doing this, you will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with achieving your vision. With great focus, your other, not-so-good habits will be easily replaced. Your perspective will shift and you’ll clearly see how bad your old habits were.

Habits are powerful, but then you are more powerful than any habit once you make up your mind to change. Make a decision and commit to it. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!