Why We Have Such A Difficult Time Eliminating Behaviors We Don't Want
People generally have a habit and mindset problem. Habits and mindsets are invisible to us yet powerful enough to govern our behaviors to the degree that they determine the lives we live. Understanding how these operate in us can give us insight into eliminating behaviors we don't want and creating behaviors we do want.
Every person is governed by their habits. If you are fortunate enough to have more good habits than bad you are most likely traveling in an optimum direction on your life's journey. If you employ more bad habits than good you are probably struggling with making the changes you know you want to make. Habits are physical structures that reside in our nervous system. Once certain behaviors are repeated often enough our brain takes control of that behavior. It does not matter whether the behavior is good or bad. The brain only recognizes the repetition of the behavior. Once a behavior is habituated by the brain it enters that realm of being difficult, but not impossible to stop.
Our mindset is a habit of thought. How we think is in fact a behavior. The mindset is the single most important behavior because it is the genesis of every other habit. This illustrates the importance of the mindset in our lives. If you do not believe you are capable of something or that you deserve something, you will never create the habit necessary to achieve or have it.
So how do you start to create new habits? By taking advantage of some influences we all are subjected to. All habits are triggered by environmental cues. You have to gradually start to consciously incorporate new environments and experiences into your life and this includes those of a social nature. You simply will not be able to create new habits or mindsets if you keep doing the same things around the same people. Once you have started to travel in your desired direction your mindset will be powerful enough to overcome certain external stimuli but this takes time to develop.
Change up your your routine and change up your environment. If you are looking to create healthier behaviors start with doing your food shopping in a completely new store and buy your fruits and vegetables last. This will create a pattern of behavior that is new and healthy. Rearrange the appearance of furniture in your home to create a new aesthetic. A big part of why vacations are so refreshing to us because the environments are new. They are clean slates where lingering habits dot exist because they are not tied to the new stimulus. They let us be creative with or emotional paint and brushes. One must be mindful of wanting to create the new behavior any new environment otherwise it is very easy for those old patterns to develop overtime in the new environment.
Behavior modification is not easy but far from impossible. Even the most extreme and effective example of behavioral engineering, military boot camp, can have its effect diminished afterwards if the mindfulness to maintaining new behavior and creating supportive environments isn't adhered to. In a country where three quarters of working adults are unhappy in their work, eighty percent are clinically over weight and forty percent are obese, there is a lot of room and much needed effort to start to create new habits and mindsets to improve the quality of our lives.
Every person is governed by their habits. If you are fortunate enough to have more good habits than bad you are most likely traveling in an optimum direction on your life's journey. If you employ more bad habits than good you are probably struggling with making the changes you know you want to make. Habits are physical structures that reside in our nervous system. Once certain behaviors are repeated often enough our brain takes control of that behavior. It does not matter whether the behavior is good or bad. The brain only recognizes the repetition of the behavior. Once a behavior is habituated by the brain it enters that realm of being difficult, but not impossible to stop.
Our mindset is a habit of thought. How we think is in fact a behavior. The mindset is the single most important behavior because it is the genesis of every other habit. This illustrates the importance of the mindset in our lives. If you do not believe you are capable of something or that you deserve something, you will never create the habit necessary to achieve or have it.
So how do you start to create new habits? By taking advantage of some influences we all are subjected to. All habits are triggered by environmental cues. You have to gradually start to consciously incorporate new environments and experiences into your life and this includes those of a social nature. You simply will not be able to create new habits or mindsets if you keep doing the same things around the same people. Once you have started to travel in your desired direction your mindset will be powerful enough to overcome certain external stimuli but this takes time to develop.
Change up your your routine and change up your environment. If you are looking to create healthier behaviors start with doing your food shopping in a completely new store and buy your fruits and vegetables last. This will create a pattern of behavior that is new and healthy. Rearrange the appearance of furniture in your home to create a new aesthetic. A big part of why vacations are so refreshing to us because the environments are new. They are clean slates where lingering habits dot exist because they are not tied to the new stimulus. They let us be creative with or emotional paint and brushes. One must be mindful of wanting to create the new behavior any new environment otherwise it is very easy for those old patterns to develop overtime in the new environment.
Behavior modification is not easy but far from impossible. Even the most extreme and effective example of behavioral engineering, military boot camp, can have its effect diminished afterwards if the mindfulness to maintaining new behavior and creating supportive environments isn't adhered to. In a country where three quarters of working adults are unhappy in their work, eighty percent are clinically over weight and forty percent are obese, there is a lot of room and much needed effort to start to create new habits and mindsets to improve the quality of our lives.
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