How To Start a New Habit

As you know I'm all about breaking habits, stopping doing things. But how do you start a new habit?

Well let's think about the logic.  To break a habit we need to break a connection.  Think of the things you do, automatically, without thinking about it.  For example having a biscuit with a cup of tea or a cigarette with a coffee.  Every time!  You don't think about - you've done it before you think about it.
You get in a car and drive it.  What do you do first? Next? Are you sure? The pattern is that one thing happens then the next, then the next.  You don't have to think about it anymore because you've programmed yourself.

If you practise something enough times it will become a habit.  Research tells us it is 21 times.  So after 21 times the habit is established.

But what about the first 21 times?  How can you remember when something isn't yet a habit? How can you form a new habit?

Well go back to the beginning.  Our minds make connections.  Everytime this happens I do this.  Every time. There's a trigger effect.

So to start a new habit we need to link it to something else that we already do.  Something we always do.  Without thinking about it!

Would you like to start exercising?  What do you do every day already?  You get out of bed.  So how about putting your trainers by the bed and stepping straight into them when you get up?

I have a joke.  It's a weak joke I know but I quite like it!  Have you heard of kettle bells?  Those weights in the shape of a very old fashioned kettle?  Do you know why they are called kettle bells (they certainly don't resemble today's modern kettles!)  Here's the joke: because you keep them by the kettle!!!  OK I know it's not that funny but if you did keep some weights by the kettle you could lift them a few times everytime you put the kettle on.  You wouldn't forget because they'd be there.  Waiting for you.

If you do have a tendency towards putting the kettle on quite often then the kettle is an ideal trigger.  Do you need to drink more water?  Every time you put the kettle on have a glassof water.

A lot of my clients come to me because the have a habit they want to break.  A common one is opening a bottle of wine or beer when they get home from work.  Get home. Take off shoes.  Open bottle.   So if you want to exercise more maybe change it to get home, take off shoes, run up and down stairs twice. Or get home, take off shoes, drink water.

I'm simplifying here but I think you'll get the idea!

To develop a new habit:

1. Choose something you want to do regularly.
2. Choose something you already do regularly.
3. Link the thing you want to do to the thing you already do.
4. Continue for 21 days/times and notice if you're then doing the new habits without noticing!

Of course to break a habit:

1. Call me
2. Come for a session of NLP and Hypnosis
3. Break the Habit
4. Help yourself by putting a positive new habit in place of the old negative habit.

Remember my new number 0113 834 5424
Back to www.breakthehabit.co.uk

New year, new you? Or just the old you again?

Did you make any new year's resolutions?  Or didn't you bother in the end?

For most of setting new year's resolutions is a bit like reading a personal development book or going on a seminar. A week later life and work take over and we forget about the changes!

To make a change things have got to get too painful to stay the same!

But once we need to change what do we do? We go for BIG even MASSIVE change. And we fail don't we?

So this year why not change just one small thing?

Cut out one pudding a week. Drop one packet of crisps a week. Cut out one coffee a day. Make 6 packets of cigarettes last 7 days. Go for a five minute walk every day.

Prove to yourself that change is possible. Prove to yourself that change is easy. Prove to yourself that you can change.

Then when you're ready to make a big change you can make a really good New Year'sResolution:  Call Julie!

P.s My resolution is to blog more often!  Let's see how THAT goes!