Missed a beat, making today's task tomorrow's. Scusi
Use the extra time to your advantage!
Day 22: Cultivate a new Habit
Yesterday you called up friends (or family), hung out with them and had a great chat.
Who did you call? How did they respond?
All of us can get mighty busy doing things. It's easy to get caught up in what we're doing and lose touch with the people we care about. This task was meant to remind you about your friendships and the importance of reaching out to others, even when you may be busy with other things.
Drop a message to each of your friends to see how they're doing. Send an email or make a call. Your friends will appreciate it!
I'll admit that I didn't get to do the calling up a friend part, but I have somehting I want to discuss with someone I've known for years, so I'll be doing that tomorrow
Let's get to today's challenge!
A Mare of Habits
What kind of habits do you have today? Any bad ones? How about good on...
Waiwaiwaiwaiwait... didn't we do this one already on Day 10?
Yes.
So why are we doing this again, let me guess the first time was...
Practice?
...
It's true that we looked at them, but they're important little buggers. Important enough to warrant a challenge of their own!
Right
Plus, this challenge is a good way to hold yourself accountable and structure your habit, let's see why that's important:
Major General Charles C. Noble had some insightful words on habits: βFirst we make our habits, then our habits make us.β
When we cultivate habits and stick to them they become second nature. But it takes commitment and effort to put them in place. You might have great plans to start awesome habits that you feel will help you, but I think it's safe to say that many of us have trouble sticking to them. But once we successfully integrate them into our lives we don't have to think about them any more. It becomes another routine act we do daily.
Some are relatively simple, like getting a cuppa Joe every morning. Others might be harder, like maintaining focus and getting enough rest (for some people at least
).
Today you'll be identifying a bad habit you want to fix and a new habit you want to cultivate. Let's get this partay startayd!
Fix a Bad Habit & Cultivate a Good One
Open to day... err... 22, Day 22 of your workbook, title it something fitting and awesome. Write down today's date.
Today's challenge comes in two options. You can either choose to A) fix a bad habit or B) cultivate a good habit.
Habit cultivation requires focus and attention. You can try working on multiple habits in one go, but a lot of people fail at breaking bad habits
and cultivating good ones because they try to do too many things in one go. They end up spreading themselves too thin.
Plus, one habit might have benefits on a bigger part of your life. If you turn off the computer earlier you have more time before going to bed to brush your teeth, read a book. You'll get a better night's rest and wake up earlier in the morning so you can make lunch for the day, eat your breakfast without stressing out and so on and so forth.
These are actual benefits I'm having right now
Task A, Step 1: Identify a habit you want to fix, and why
Do you have any bad habits? Identify the one you want to address most.
Here are a few examples:
Bad posture
Picking away at skin
Nail biting
Eating junk food
Oversleeping
Being late for appointments
Smoking
Losing your temper easily
Complaining
Gossiping
Eating right before sleeping
Leaving things to the last minute
A bad habit is basically one you yourself deem undesirable. It's perfectly possible that someone will think your bad habit is perfectly okay and vice versa. So go with a habit you don't want to have and want to fix.
For the habit you've selected, why do you want to fix this habit?
Example: Bad posture
While sitting in my chair I tend to put strain on my muscles, making my back and shoulders hurt. When getting up I feel my muscles aching and my body tense. This makes me tired and grumpy.
Step 2: Understand the drivers of your bad habits
There are several reasons in your life which support this habit. Identifying these reasons will help you to address them and remove them from your life.
Identify 3 (about) reasons why you have this bad habit. Then, identify how you plan on dealing with them.
For instance:
Bad habit: Waking up late
Why do I have this habit?
Reason 1: I often work until the wee hours of the day before, so I wake up late the next day.
Why? I feel like I can't go to sleep leaving things undone, so I try to do as much as I can and only go to bed until I can do no more.
How can I adress this: Realize that it's okay to go to sleep without finishing the work, because I'll have the extra time in the morning to get it done. The hours I gain late at night are just from delaying my sleep. In the end I lose the entire morning and feel grumpy.
Reason 2: Why do I even have to wake up early? There are no good reasons
How can I adress this: But there are plenty of reasons! Waking up early gives me a great start for the day! I can go jogging and it helps me be more productive. I tend to be quite unproductive because I think I can simply finish it later.
Reason 3: I've been going to bed late for so long I don't feel sleepy until it's already very late. I can't fall asleep even if I go to bed early.
How can I adress this: Slowly shift to the new schedule. I will try shifting back by 30 minutes every day from now on.
Step 3: Create a plan to cultivate your new habit
Interesting wording huh? It's a little mindhack. Don't think that you're trying to remove a bad habit, think that you're cultivating a new, good one! One of the best ways to fix a bad habit is to replace it with something else, like a good habit!
For instance, you might go chew on gum instead of smoking. Or bring a reusable bottle of water to work instead of buying a sugary drink from the store next door.
Think of the good habit you want to cultivate instead of your bad habit, then create your plan to make it happen!
Example: Have a good, upright position.
1. When I sit down, push myself to the back to the chair so I don't put strain on it. Rest my arms on the armrests. Choose seats with a back where possible
2. Every time I stand up, check my posture to make sure I'm standing tall. Lift my head up so my chin is parallel to the ground.
3. Get a new chair. My current one is really old and close to falling apart. I don't feel it gives me enough support.
Step 4: Take Action!
Make it happen
Go and put your plan into action for the whole day!
Task B: Cultivate a good habit
Don't got a bad habit you need to fix, how's about cultivating a good one?
Here are a few examples:
Read
Keep a journal
Exercise
Study
Write X amount of words
Draw for X amount of time
Meditate
For the habit you selected, why do you want to cultivate this habit?
Step 2: Create a plan to cultivate your new habit
Same as Step 3 from Task A.
Step 3: Take Action
Yeh
Reflect on Today's Task
What did you think of today's task? What did you learn?
Day 22 of Your 30 Day Plan
Go!