LIVE BETTER: WORK BETTER: FEEL BETTER – CREATE A HABIT-BUILDING MINDSET
If you don’t already know, forming habits is the cornerstone to reaching our goals.
Whether your goal is to lose weight, procrastinate less, or become more focused, habits are the automatic behaviors that make it easier to get there without much effort.
That’s the key.
Habits are the things we do without spending a ton of energy.
By the time we form a habit, it’s easy.
Mark Manson has an absolutely AWESOME website with tons of tips, tricks, and reasons to build better, sustainable habits.
James Clear has a book called Atomic Habits, which is also a great guide to building fantastic habits and breaking bad ones.
But before we can talk about HOW to build good habits and break bad ones, we need to talk about MINDSET.
All the habit training in the world will have ZERO effect if our mindset isn’t in the right place.
You might want to exercise everyday, but if you BELIEVE you don’t have the discipline to do so your efforts will be fruitless.
Now, why is that?
Habits exist in our brains as positive or negative feedback loops.
BELIEVING that you don’t have the discipline to work out everyday, results in you likely not being motivated to workout everyday. And as you don’t work out everyday, you will keep believing that you’re not disciplined enough to work out everyday.
And around and around the loop we go!
Sounds bleak, but don’t be discouraged! Just as much as the negative feedback loop works, so will its positive counterpart.
If you were to BELIEVE that you had the discipline to work out everyday, then you will likely feel good about yourself–proud of that characteristic–and be motivated to workout everyday. And as you workout everyday, you will reinforce the belief that you DO have the discipline to do so.
When we CHECK our beliefs and CHOOSE to believe differently, motivation takes on a whole different experience.
Our brains LOVE positive experiences. It just so happens that the same happy hormone reaction you get from eating sugary donuts also happens when you have a positive response to your beliefs. James Clear talks about the science and psychology behind this extensively in his book “Atomic Habits.”
This is where MINDSET comes in.
Small changes in mindset lead to more effective habits that reach goals because human motivation is tied to positive experiences
Feeling good about ourselves is much more effective at getting us to do things than feeling bad about ourselves.
If we believe we are capable of a goal, we are naturally motivated to reach that goal.
And when we are naturally motivated to do what it takes, then it’s THAT MUCH EASIER to build habits that will keep us doing what it takes.
And around and around the loop we go!
(But this time, in a much more exciting way!)
Habits become part of who we are. It’s something we just do, rather than something we are TRYING to do.
MINDSET is everything. If we have terrible thoughts, we’ll have terrible results.
On the flip side, if we have supportive thoughts, we’ll have supported results.
So when it comes to habit building and creating those building blocks that make our lives easier, we need to create a SUPPORTIVE mindset around building habits.
We need to believe we CAN. That we are capable. When there is something bugging you in your life that you wish you weren’t doing, first believe that you WILL change it. That belief will feed the motivation you need to do the things that change your situation.
NOW, what if your beliefs are in your way and you’re having trouble changing them?
Don’t worry. Soon, we will talk about how to make anything into a habit, and that includes beliefs. You can systematically and intentionally get yourself to believe something through the building of habits.
Stay tuned.
Ember Blackfox