
The Power of Habit
Perhaps most important of all is the understanding of the power of habit. The things we do, including the food we eat and the exercise get or don’t get are the result of habit.
It is my belief that changing habits is much more important and much more effective than going on a program or a diet to make radical changes. The odds of the boomerang effect kicking in, which is what I call the return to the familiar, are great and can have a real negative impact on your self-esteem and your belief you can truly change anything at all in any aspect of your life.
I’ve been reading Og Mandino’s famous book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World”. In it, he emphasizes the power of habit in shaping a person’s destiny. One of his key teachings is from Scroll I where he writes:
“I will form good habits and become their slave.”
This sentence emphasizes Mandino’s belief that habits are powerful forces that can lead to success or to failure, depending upon whether they are positive or negative habits. In his philosophy, Mandino tells us productive habits are the foundation for personal transformation and lasting success and that there is a need for each of us to consciously build productive habits.
He also writes, “I will persist until I succeed” which emphasizes his belief in persistence and the importance of disciplined habits in helping us overcome challenges and achieving greatness in our lives.
Mandino advocates reading the scrolls in his books (which are basically how he refers to the chapters in the book) daily to ingrain good habits into your mind. He believes through repetition and daily effort, new habits will eventually replace old, unproductive ones.
So it is with the successful changes you wish to manifest in your own life.
The idea that you can change and successfully form and permanently adopt a habit in only twenty-one days is, I believe, untrue. I believe this theory sets us all up for failure.
As much of a bummer as it may be to hear, twenty-one days is not going to set in stone a new habit and make it a part of your life. Instead, realize you need to force out a poor habit that doesn’t serve you with a new or revised one that does.
I’ll give you a couple of examples. In the realm of food, you may want to resolve to stop hitting the fast-food drive-through for dinner. While your initial choices may not be the ones you eventually want to end up with, skipping the drive-through in favor of an open-faced burger and salad (at a restaurant or at home) is definitely a step in the right direction.
Your resolve must be such that you are dedicated to creating the new habit of choosing an open-faced burger instead of the drive-through version. This new habit pushes the drive-through burger out of your life and replaces it with the open-faced version. Not a radical change, but one that will be more apt to move you in the direction you ultimately wish to realize.
What about exercise? You could replace your habit of sitting at your computer desk with working at a standing desk and taking extra steps by walking in place. You could also set your watch or phone for breaks every 30 or 40 minutes. When the alarm goes off, get up and walk around your house or apartment or again, take steps in place. This change in habit does not involve joining a gym or buying expensive equipment. To be honest, I think my idea was that if I paid for the equipment, it should just get the job done ’cause I bought it. I’m thinking of the rowing machine that resides in the attic as I write this.
Once you implement this strategy and resolve to make it a new habit, you’ll be rewarded by seeing your steps increase every day.
Creating new habits and then adding to them is a much more effective way to change your life and your health that buying another self-help book or trying another revolutionary new diet that frankly is designed to fail. Did you know the diet industry is a billion dollar a year industry? In fact, the diet and weight loss industry is a $71 billion dollar a year industry. And, this is in spite of the fact that it’s estimated 95% of diets FAIL.
Diets fail, but the power of habit can triumph! Slow and steady – one change at a time.
This habit stuff is not temporary like a diet either. The power of habit is for your life-long health and wellness.
If you’re intrigued by Og Mandino’s writing, I encourage you to read his book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World“.
The topic of this post is one of the subjects I’m writing about in my third book to be published shortly. I want to encourage people getting healthier doesn’t have to be so hard or so painful. Stay tuned for more about that!
Your questions and comments are always welcome! I love to hear from you.
Helping You Achieve Major Wellness!
Cheryl
I’m author, health coach, and entrepreneur Cheryl A Major, and I would love to connect with you! If you’re new to the world of creating better health, both mental and physical for yourself, please check out my training on how to get sugar out of your diet. Crack Your Sugar Habit is where to check it out. Learn how sugar, as yummy as it may taste to you now, affects your mental and physical health and how to go about reducing or eliminating it from your diet.
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