Are
Your Habits Serving You?
By: Natalie R.
Manor, CEO
Habits are so sticky and
entrenched in us that when we try to change them, even
if it is to add some good new habits that will make
us more successful, we don’t do it.
Why wouldn’t you...
-
Easily and consistently make your
nutrition better by eating good food?
-
Stop staying up so late and continue
to have bags under your eyes the size of your thumbs?
-
Remove the clutter from your environment
(i.e. papers that never gets filed and papers you
cannot find when you want them)?
-
Proactively follow up with key items
for a project that you KNOW needs to be handled
now?
“Natalie, why do I continue
with habits that don’t serve me and my goals?”
Here are the top
three reasons you continue to participate in
habits that don’t serve you:
-
You take on the entire habit all
at once and get frustrated when you don’t maintain
your consistency in changing it (and it doesn’t
change instantly).
-
You take the wrong approach to changing
a habit and beat yourself up for having the bad
habit to begin with.
-
You don’t determine, ahead of time,
the value of changing the habit and what it will
do for you.
Let’s use changing your
nutrition as an example of what I mean. You need to
eat to feed your body and mind.
Some of you have terrific
habits when it comes to food – fresh fruits, good balance
of fats and protein, appropriate meal sizes - and some
of you don’t.
When I speak to my clients
and ask them how they “fuel” their bodies, they usually
don’t like the answers they give. Here are the questions
I ask them:
-
When, what and where are you eating?
-
Are you aware of the food when you
are eating?
-
What snacks are you eating during
the day to help you fuel that terrific brain of
yours?
-
How late are you eating in the day?
-
Are you cooking and, if not, who
is cooking the food for you? – Do you know what
is in it?
-
Are you planning your food intake
or just taking in food?
-
What kind of liquids are you drinking
for your body – coffee, red bull, tea, water, diet
sodas?
Once we get on this conversation
about nutrition, their attitude usually turns to guilt
and they decide they will change their entire eating
habits TODAY.
That is the absolute number
one way to sabotage your habit change. You cannot and
should not change anything as significant as your eating
habits totally in one day. It requires thought, consideration
and a kindness to your current mindset to see what changes
you can make and what will work so you can be successful
with the changes.
You need to be
aware of the value of changing this habit and
what it will do for your life. If you aren’t, you won’t
be successful in changing this habit in your life once
and for all.
If you don’t know what
your habits are around the example I used called “food
habits”, you cannot and won’t make the changes to what
is better for you.
When you allow your negativity
to provoke changes in your life, you rarely succeed
with something that is supposed to be positive.
Blaming yourself for something
you should have changed years ago does not inspire…it
only continues the habit.
You know what? You know
all of this already. So here you are again, knowing,
but not doing what needs to be done or would really
serve you.
Here is a simple question
I am asking very smart and successful people…Yes that
is You!
What is it that would be
a good habit change for you and will help you be more
confident, influential, healthy, energized, and successful?
Once you understand how
the change is valuable to you and take cumulative baby
steps each day, you will become the change you so desire.
Have one less cigarette;
drink one less adult beverage; watch one less late night
TV program…one at a time.
Drink one more glass of
water; spend an extra half hour with those you love;
take two minutes to take a few deep breaths in the middle
of your workday.
Take one baby step each
day and, at the end of the week, you have already taken
seven steps towards changing your habits.
Then congratulate yourself
for taking the steps. Take the time to acknowledge the
change and your behavior. You need you. Let
you know how truly proud you are of you.
© 2001-2009 Natalie Manor & Associates.
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