Hey Everyone,
This past weekend my family (it's still feels surreal to say that) and I went to Renovare; Latin word which means "to renew" or "to restore"; from church. It's also known as a retreat but our pastor doesn't like to call it that because retreat means to withdraw from something difficult or dangerous and that's not what we're trying to do. I like the thought of renewal more then retreating as well.
I really enjoy listening to our Pastor John speak because he doesn't only just preach the word but he shares logical ways to apply it into our life. There were a lot of great things that was addressed and one of the questions that people asked during our discussion time was, "How do you create a good habit?" Our Pastor's response to that was, "the same way you create a bad habit. You just do it."
I really connected with that question because I had a hard time breaking a bad habit of mine for a long time. Ever since I was young I held things off until the last minute and that became a habit. The consequences of procrastinating wasn't as harmful when I was young but as I got older it really bit me in the butt. I've made subtle changes throughout the year but it wasn't enough. This year I really really really wanted to make a change. I knew if I really wanted to achieve my dreams and goals I had to change. The key is I REALLY wanted it. So, I wanted to share a few things I did to create a good habit in my life.
I'm reading a book called "Leading an Inspired Life" by Jim Rohn and this book is what really helped me to create a good habit. I would highly recommend this book because it's such an easy read. The chapters are short so it really makes you feel like you're going through the book really fast which is awesome.
So, how did I create a good habit? The magic word is Discipline: the continuing process that brings all the good things.
"How do you get a miracle going? It's all a matter of discipline. And it begins with one simple step: doing what you can do."
We sometimes look at an undisciplined day and conclude that no harm was done but add up all those days which makes a year, then add up those years which makes a lifetime. Failure is not a cataclysmic event. It's not a result of one major incident but it's a result of little things we failed to do. So, we must be disciplined in order to create good habits. We discipline ourselves to do the little things in our daily life to create a good habit overall.
Here are the steps I took:
1)
I started by not procrastinating even on the little things in my life such as: doing the laundry, washing the dishes right away, making my bed, putting my clothes away, writing on my blog, working out, etc. I have to learn to accomplish the small things before I try to accomplish big things.
2)
Every time I accomplished something (such as washing the dishes right away) I really congratulated myself. I told myself, "Sandy, you did a great job!" This created confidence and motivated me to continue what I'm doing.
3)
I didn't try to over achieve in the beginning. In the past I tried to change too much all at once that I felt unmotivated once I failed to do it but this time I made goals each day I knew I can achieve. Once I started to master those goals I would set higher goals to stretch myself.
4) Just keep doing it! Try your best to be consistent but if you fail to do it once don't feel discouraged. Just keep doing it. Success in anything doesn't happen over night so creating a good habit doesn't either but you can do it.
5)
Don't share this new dedication with someone who won't support you but with someone who will truly root for you.
Sometimes when I try to talk myself out of doing something because of fear or other reasons, I think of someone who was able to accomplish it and remind myself that God created me just as great so I can do it too. This always seems to give me the courage and strength when I need it.
I've been applying these steps the past few weeks and I already see a difference in myself. It's like a ripple effect. Since I'm gaining more confidence I feel like I can accomplish a lot more. I would highly recommend for you to get the book if you want to know more in details as well. I hope this helps you guys in some way.
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Have a great week!
Love,
Sandy
