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How to Develop Conscious Habits.

Written by: Iyabo Asani

Article Overview: Many of our problems would be resolved if we just formed the right habits and stuck to them. However, we do not bring all of who we are to help us create new habits and we end up abandoning the very habits that we know would make us happier.

How to Develop Conscious Habits.

As you go about the project of reinventing your life, one key factor is to develop new habits and shed the old ones that no longer serve you. It is difficult to let go of an old habit unless you replace it with a new habit. Get your emotions involved in creating a new habit and you will have a much stronger chance of making that habit fully ingrained in your life.

The most important thing in developing a new habit is to be conscious about it. Realize that what you are doing is programming your brain as if you are programming a computer. Repetition is what creates a habit. However, repetition can feel mundane and ineffective.

Practice mindfulness as you develop a new habit and understand that it takes your body and mind time to take on this new programing. So, start out slow and in bite sized increments. Be focused on enjoying the new experience. Even when the experience starts feeling repetitive, take the time to connect with the vision of what you intend. As with most things, begin the pursuit of the particular habit with the end in mind.

You have heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. You have also heard that it may actually take 28 days. In 1960, a plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz noticed that amputees took an average of 21 days to adjust to the loss of a limb and he proposed that it takes people an average of 21 days to adjust to any new change.

However, new research recently published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, details the findings of a study done with 96 people who were interested in forming a new habit each day such as eating a piece of fruit with lunch or doing a 15 minute run each day. Each participant was asked to rate how automatic the activity felt each day and that ranged from “hard not to do” and “done without thinking.” On average, the participants reached a plateau where the habit was automatic after 66 days.

Therefore, when you are creating a new habit, stick with it, every day if possible, for at least two months or more. Start developing meaningful and mindful rituals that signal certain emotions to your brain. For instance, meditating daily for as little as 15 minutes is proven to have significant impact on your level of stress and coping capacity.

Also, be sure to include in your habits play and fun, creative expression and new experiences. We are a product of our thoughts beliefs and emotions. It is important to bring all these three factors into your quest to develop new habits and make the necessary changes.

If you take a habit and stay on it for at least two months on a daily basis, at the end of the year you would have acquired six new habits. Here are habits that are life enhancing and will support you in the long term:

~Daily movement or exercise.

~Drinking adequate amounts of water daily.

~Eating at least one piece of fruit every day.

~Daily journaling.

~Eliminating the white stuff from your nourishment.

~Eating fresh veggies every day.

~Listening to soothing music every day.

~Meditating every day.

~Daily laughter and playtime.

~Reading and absorbing affirmations.

~Enjoying your hobby each and every day.

~Being more positive in your thinking.

I encourage you to only work on one habit at a time for at least thirty days before you add another habit. This way, you get used to the habit. However, remember, stick with each habit for at least sixty days for maximum effect.

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Article Tags: 28 days, br, brain, emotions, habit, increments, lunch, maxwell maltz, mind time, nbsp, new experience, participant, participants, plastic surgeon, plateau, practice mindfulness, programing, reinventing your life, repetition, social psychology
Referred by: http://www.thesmallbusinessguru.com



Related Forum Posts
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...
And This is Handy Too! - [quote:31wl64vf]Develop Fingerprints! Place a small wad of cotton, saturated with tincture of iodine, in a glass tube; blow against suspected fingerprints, and they will appear. [/quote:31wl64vf] Must be of use to all you entrepreneurs out there!
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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