Make New Habits

Make new habits! How you might be asking. For sure making new habits is easier said than done. At least in my experience. Old habits must be replaced with a new habit. What exactly is a habit? My positive habits make my life run smoother. I put my slippers beside my bed so when I get up my feet are warm and cozy. I don't have to hunt for my slippers in the closet. Every night they are beside my bed waiting for me. I keep a bottle on my nightstand with 16 oz of water in it. Having water close by starts my daily hydration routine. I don't have to think I just drink.

I would go crazy if my positive habits were not on autopilot. Can you imagine how exhausting it would be to have to think about every little thing I did all day long? Driving a car, brushing my teeth, making coffee, and filling my gas tank are some of the positive habits I have in my life. I don't have to think about them I just do them.

There are other habits in my life that are not positive. Eating when I am not hungry, spending a lot of time scrolling through my phone, watching TV when the weather is good outside or shopping when I need nothing. Lets look at eating when I am not hungry. I know for a fact that food calms me when I am stressed. I also know that eating when I am not hungry does not take all my stress away. When I am done eating I become doubly stressed. I have the original stress and the new stress from eating when I was not hungry. Therefore, eating when I am not hungry is a negative habit for me.

Since habits are learned patterns of behavior they can be changed and replaced. It takes time and patience for the new habits to become automatic. We did not learn how to safely drive a car the first time we sat behind the wheel right? We need to go easy on ourselves and be patient. Stress makes it difficult to change habits. Lack of sleep causes fatigue which in turn causes stress. Stressful people makes us stressed out. Weed out as much stress as possible when making habit changes. No one ever said change is easy. Changing habits takes time, patience and determination.

In reality, habits are not broken they are replaced with something different. Years ago I wanted to eat a healthier diet so I replaced white pasta and white rice with wheat pasta and brown rice. Now when I purchase pasta or rice I automatically go for the wheat pasta's and the brown rice. It was a habit I changed over time until it became automatic.

It is important to focus on changing one habit at a time. Tackling my mindless eating, my watching TV during good weather, my excessive scrolling through my phone and my shopping as a hobby all at the same time would set me up for failure. I don't want to feel overwhelmed and quit so, today I will pick one habit and start making a positive change in my life.

By Julie W. Hubbs
Source