Inspiring Change, Removing Habits
I recently stumbled upon (lame social media pun) a very inspirational and interesting blog called Zen Habits. And while I don't exactly agree with the title or the author's religious views, I must say that the blog has some good information to help one clean out the clutter in their life. And that's just what I'm needing to do!
The first post I read while visiting the blog for the first time was called "29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior". This "habit cheatsheet" as he called it, is very inspirational. Here are some main things regarding habit change in my life.
The Habits: First, I needed to realize and recognize what my habits were. Immediately two stuck out in my mind. One is definitely productivity. I get so distracted with other things (computer, television, music, etc.) that it's always hard for me to concentrate and be productive. The second is a nasty habit/addiction that I'm not going to mention specifically, but just note that I have really wanted to get rid of this one for a while, but it just kept coming back.
How to go about change: Another thing I learned in this post was that you can't just wake up one day and say you're going to change. It has to be a planned thing - with set dates and the works. You have to be serious about it. You don't just do it on a whim when you're in the mood for change. Which is something I always did. So here are my planned out dates:
NOVEMBER 2nd - DECEMBER 1st, 2009
These are the dates I have chosen (roughly 30 days) to change my habit. I must stay strong for these 30 days, and it will then be a successfully ingrained behavior for me.
Sure it's hard. Sure I might fail. But I will get back up and keep trying until I am 100% successful. My goals: to do better in work - not procrastinate, not get distracted, get work done - and to resist the other nasty habit I was mentioning earlier. I can do it, and so can you.
For your inspiration pleasure, I will link to a few Zen Habits articles that could give you the inspiration or motivational boost you've been needing to bring about change:
- Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Ingrain a Behavior
- 72 Ways to Simplify Your Life
- How Simplicity can Help Creativity
- 16 Ways to get Motivated When You're in a Slump
Those are just a few. Check out Zen Habits and read all the other great articles there - I highly reccommend it!
