Changing My Approach With Habits
The skill that we all need is to recognize key habits of our life once we start.
Problem
So Many Habits
There was so much on my plate in the previous year that it was challenging to be consistent with my habits. I wanted to change everything about my life, so I started at least one habit in each field of my daily life. I had more than 31 habits going on at the same time.
This time, I took some time from life and could see what I was doing wrong. I realized there was so much I wanted to change at once. I couldn’t even do one thing with all my heart. I would rush from one thing to another to check them off in my habit tracking app.
So Little Time
If you are in a job, there is not so much time you have left for other activities. You have to be selective about what you are choosing to focus on. The more particular you are, the more energy you can put into important things. But don’t get me wrong, you have to be selective before starting the habits. After deciding which one to do, they should be automatic.
Not Sure About The Direction
We all want to change many things in life but are unsure why or what we want to achieve. The end goal is not clear to anyone of us.
We saw one video, and now we want to wake up early or sleep early. Because it worked for some XYZ person doesn’t mean it will work for you. If you can find one critical habit that affects all others, you are in the right direction. You have to choose your battles carefully.
Trying Everything Under The Sun
You can try millions or even more habits, from food and health to skills; there is so much to learn. You can’t do everything in this lifetime.
Many people are like balls; they will lean in any direction the other person wants and start rolling. The YouTube videos influence a lot; one person tells you to wake up early, but the other tells you to wake up at your own time and make the time you have worthwhile; both are right. You have to choose what you want to try carefully you can’t do everything under the sun.
Symptoms
You Want To Do It But Can’t
You want to try meditation and exercise. You also want to learn new skills and have a productive day at the office and at home. This may be the scenario for most of us. We want to do it all; everything makes us believe that this is missing in our lives, and after this, we will be all right. Has life happened like that till this point?
It’s always on the change. You can’t be the same person for the rest of your life and chase the same dreams. Life gets in the way of your goals. On the days when you have all the time in the world, you would do everything, but when you are busy, you will do nothing, making yourself miserable.
Is Every Habit Important?
Every habit may be necessary for some time in your life, but not now. Exercise is essential, but you can’t choose this habit because someone tells you to do so. You have to check the available time of your day and decide when you will be doing it. If you can do the 2 minutes version of that habit on your busiest of days, you can keep that habit, or else you have to wait for the time when that habit resurfaces again and connects in your life.
Habits Making a Significant Change
If you can make some changes to your life and try to fit the significant habits into your daily routine, that will dramatically change your life. As you check the habit, a new identity starts to form, you will have more confidence, and your mind will love this change.
Practices like meditation, exercise, learning skills, reading, running, and cold showers can change your life, but you don’t have to do all of them at once. You can start with one habit, and slowly when you think there is craving, you can connect to the next habit.
Changing Everything at Once
No one moment in your life will decide your life. Many moments and give direction and make it happen for you. You can’t change your life today, but you can change your direction. If the plane, while taking off, takes a 1 or 2-degree turn to either side, it will change its destination. These turns are your choices and decisions in the day.
After some years, the decision of where your life will be if you go down the same path is in your hands.
Solution
Focus On a Few Habits
I had meditation, exercise, reading, playing piano, affirmations, budgeting, cleaning the desk, scheduling work, brushing, writing, editing, journals, and many more habits acquired in the last three years.
These habits overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t complete them all. This year I decided to change it all from 31 habits. I scaled it down to 11 habits. Also, 4 are just for journaling on my day one app.
I have converted the writing and editing habit to daily; just for 10 minutes, I can complete them on my busy days. I can choose to do them when I have time and energy. But sure, I wanted to keep focusing on meditation, exercise and reading. Rest all I have deleted from the application. This way, I have the space to think and make the habits intentionally in my day.
Habits With Most Returns
It all comes down to what you want to achieve with your life. I want a healthy body, peace of mind, and to keep challenging my beliefs or what I know about the world.
That is why I kept the core habits like meditation, exercise, and reading; maybe they are different for you. But you have to choose and select the battle you want to fight for yourself.
You may have to ask a lot of questions. Like why have I chosen these habits? What is it I want to achieve with them? How can I make time for the habits I have picked? If you are clear with most of the answers, you can start on the path and trust that you will figure this out once you get started.
A Clear Direction
This is the problem with most of us. We want to achieve something, but we don’t set a clear goal. You want to do exercise but the things like duration, type of exercise, and knowing when to stop. It goes for all habits.
You need to be clear with the end goal, and the path will not be that blur. I enjoyed working for it when I started to have a clear plan rather than just checking off the habit.
Having a clear strategy is like knowing where you want to reach. You can alter the path, but the destination should be constant.
Set Clear Goals
Select the minimum goal, and don’t do more than that initially. In the starting, you try to do everything, then losing interest and getting bored is normal.
The habit becomes a skill when you keep doing it, especially when it’s boring. Anyone can start; it takes patience and courage to keep ongoing.
When starting, it should be like exercising for 5 minutes, meditating for 3 minutes, and reading 2 to 5 pages a day. It all depends on how busy you are, but time should be given to habits; else, you will fall into the same trap.
There is nothing you can’t achieve or do if you have a clear goal and the persistence to take action on most busy days.
