Hello My Friend,
As you consider creating new personal habits to help you achieve your dreams and goals it’s important to take stock of your positive and present habits.
Often people have so much more going on than they realize. “Going on” in a good way I mean. Yet they set out to acquire new skills and habits without taking stock of what they already have. It’s centuries old, this idea of taking stock of what is in your hands, not re-inventing the wheel or going in search of what we think we need when in fact we already have the thing. (This is actually a sneaky form of procrastination.)
This concept is no doubt as old as the human experience. I first read about it in Exodus 4, when Moses was asked by God “what is that in your hand?”
Too often we ignore what is in our hands to the detriment of our goals being achieved. And some people even use this state of obliviousness, and the seeking of new skills and habits as a way to procrastinate as they avoid taking the next (and perhaps scary looking) steps in their life.
Taking stock of your habits – those that help and those that don’t, is necessary every 3 months or so. So let’s take inventory.
How do you begin?
What works for the retail giants can work for us – stop business, and take stock!
Taking Stock – Personal Habits:
1) The first thing to do is be still. Still yourself, still your thoughts and still your body. Just sit quietly and be still.
2) After a period of quiet, take pen to paper and write freely. Without editing yourself complete this sentence: The positive and effective things I do routinely and without the need for much persuasion are_____________________.
Reflect on how your day starts, the things you do each day to get the routine things done and the things you do often to get new projects started and completed. Don’t take anything for granted list; things as basic as self-care and service to others. List it all.
Write for as long as you have more to list but a minimum of 3 minutes.
3) Now review this list and see if you can group these ‘things you do’ into categories of similarity.
4) Take your sub-lists (groups of similar ‘things you do’) and give them all a heading – to name the category… Say for example you have these items in one group: getting to bed early, rising before sun rise, exercise regularly, weekly paper/files organization and daily limits on social media; a great heading for this list would be SELF-DISCIPLINE. Of course some of these items might also belong with other groups. If for instance you have a set of habits that revolve around ORGANIZATION, then certainly weekly organization would go there as well. Double duty is fine.
When you have your sub-lists each with a title or heading, you will have a great list of what you do habitually and well.
5) As you review your final groupings of habits, you will probably remember a bunch of things that didn’t come up during the first part of the stock-taking. Just add them on and make your list as robust as you would like.
These are your habits that help. We all have them and it’s really important to know yours and be grateful for them.
Before adding new habits, it’s very useful to know what you already ‘have in hand.’
Of course you can do the same thing with habits that do not help. Do the same 5 steps above only this time complete this sentence: The ineffective and unhelpful things I do routinely or even regularly are_____________________.
Once you are fully aware – and become self-conscious about your good/great and bad habits, dedicate yourself to celebrating those that help you to achieve your dreams and stopping those that don’t. As you contemplate stopping certain habits, be prepared for internal push-back. Have a plan and be prepared to exercise some self-discipline. Expect a challenge and come prepared!
About ending bad habits… in addition to complete commitment and self-discipline I strongly suggest you have a new (and positive) activity to substitute for the behavior you are attempting to change/stop. So if for example you’d like to reduce the amount of time on social media (or watching TV) it would be most helpful if you decide ahead of time, what you will be doing instead. How will you like to spend the time gained?
It’s important to fill that time, not with something equally distracting or ineffective but with an activity that will help you to achieve your goals and be the productive person you really are. Some options could be reading/learning, quality family time, exercising, earlier bed-time, volunteering, writing letters or calling (yes, actually calling, not texting :-)) loved ones.
If you don’t have a plan and fill that acquired time with something engaging, you will go back to the activity you were trying to stop. Have a plan!
A firm dedication to this exercise of taking stock of your personal habits can have you much more productive and joyous within days. Be grateful for those excellent habits you’ve been taking for granted and replace the ineffective ones with habits that will help you live the life of your dreams.
Wishing you Abundant Success,
∞♥∞
What’s in your hands?