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Change Habits to Change Life- How to Shift Habits and Attain New Results

Written by: Beth Tabak

Article Overview: It is mind boggling that no one has ever told us to check in on our habits to see how they are serving us when ultimately they create the results we are getting day after day. Learn how to shift habits to attain new results.

Change Habits to Change Life- How to Shift Habits and Attain New Results

The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." Albert Einstein

Make substantial changes in your life by paying attention to your habits and shifting them as needed. About 90% of daily actions are a reflection of habits. Thoughts produce and prevent actions. Often these actions are set on autopilot due to shortcuts the brain creates to save time. It is mind-boggling that no one has ever told us to check in on our habits to see if they are uplifting us or holding us back when they ultimately create the results we get.

Be Aware of Your Habits~ Shift Those that Hold you Back from the Vastness of Your Abilities

The only thing that holds us back from filling the gap to our greatest abilities is ourselves. As a child my mother would ask me to pick up my toys. I was fortunate at the time to have a very efficient mother who if left a short period of time would end up doing the job herself. The habit to procrastinate served me well as a child but as time went on you can imagine how it held me back. It was a habit worth shifting. We often develop habits for a specific purpose but later on that purpose becomes irrelevant. It is our responsibility to take action to create the change.

Live Consciously! Notice your thoughts and how they affect your choices and actions.

Ask yourself:
What habit holds you back instead of supporting you to be your best?
What self-limiting talk holds you back from the vastness of your abilities?

Self talk can be a voice from the past, a self-limiting belief, or perception. Examples include, "I don't want to", "you're going to make a fool of yourself", "you're not good enough", "you're too old/ young", "you don't deserve it", "it's a waste of time," "there's not enough time in a day", "you can't do that", etc. Thoughts produce actions or not. Therefore thoughts must shift first in order to shift actions. Let's look at the old behavior and then explore the thought patterns behind it. Here is an example to demonstrate the steps to create a new habit. Remember, one new habit a month equals twelve a year. What difference could that make in your life, career, or business?

Example: Sheila is busy all day but at the end is left feeling unfulfilled. When exploring the feelings behind the lack of fulfillment she finds that she is handling responsibilities but has put her goal to be a nutritionist on the backburner. If Sheila were to explore further she may find a fear getting in her way.

5 Steps to Change Habits:

1- Identify the Habit You Want to Change- Sheila will change her old habit of 'taking action on secondary goals' to 'taking action on her primary goal first'.

2- Replace self limiting thoughts behind the behavior by creating a mantra- Sheila tells herself "I don't have time". While she is busy she knows she can block time if she prioritized. Behind the avoidance phrase "I don't have time' she discovered the fear of failing. David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. explains in his book 'Power vs. Force' that, "Our vision of consciousness is aligned with our concept of self: The more limited the sense of self, the smaller the parameter of experiencing is." Sheila created a new mantra in present tense that expresses her motivation which is, "Being a nutritionist fulfills me by helping people to be healthy. It gets top priority".

3- Create new impressions in the brain until a new pattern/ habit is formed- In the book 'The Power of Your Subconscious Mind' author Dr. Joseph Murphy says, "You form habit patterns in your subconscious mind by repeating a thought or act over and over until it establishes tracks in the subconscious mind and becomes automatic." Read your new mantra morning and night. Be ready to cut off your old habit and recite the new whenever the old habit shows up. Allow your mantra to help you choose actions that support your goals in an unlimited way. In addition, Sheila eliminated her fear of failing by studying to become highly educated in her field.

4- Add structure and accountability for support- Until your new habit is in place have a daily structure in place to review your progress and keep you on track. Recruit a friend, associate, family member, or coach to check in with you to add accountability. We tend to do more for ourselves when someone will be asking. You can pick up a complimentary Rewarding Daily Habits Worksheet to help you keep track of your progress at the author's website.

5- Make a commitment- It is easy to get excited over an article. Follow up with daily action. Embrace the initial discomfort that comes with change in order to gain greater results. It is worth it. It is worth it!! It is worth it!!! Make a commitment.

It is likely that you have habits that serve you well and have gotten you to where you are today and others that may need to shift to raise you to the next level. Are your habits encouraging you? Do they propel you into action? Do they support you to see many choices? Are your daily actions providing the results you want? Change one daily habit this month that will provide the greatest positive results. Change habits to change life… starting now!

Copyright 2007 © Beth A. Tabak, All rights reserved.

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Article Tags: albert einstein, belief, brain, choices, fool, gap, habit, job, paying attention, perception, period of time, reflection, short period, shortcuts, substantial changes, thought patterns, toys, vastness, waste of time



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Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - Glad you liked it David! I only managed to get partway through the list today because my one year old was looking for some playtime but I did read the Zen Habits one - I love reading Zen Habits while relaxing at a coffee shop!
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - I was also interested in the Zen Habits affiliate programme as it might mix well with my business/japan blog...
Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: Money Does Not Guarantee Happiness - Thanks for singling this point out, Chris. One book that comes to mind that covers it in an overall approach is "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. He addresses our inner life and the way it can change our effectiveness home and at work. There are corporations who have taken this model and effectively molded their business around it.


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