Why would you want to change a habit? You might want to change a habit that is preventing you from reaching your goals. We all have lots of habits some of which support and serve us and others that hold us back.
We brush our teeth every morning and evening without giving it much thought because it is a habit that has served us for years. It wasn't always the case and dental hygiene didn't become the 'norm' until the beginning of World War II when the American army found itself paying for thousands of dollars worth of dental care for enlisting soldiers.
Because our habits are mostly unconscious we often don't think about them and this means that we don't consider changing them.
Years ago when I was a lot younger than I am now and living at home with my parents and siblings my mum would do the ironing every week. This was not her favourite chore as she much preferred being out in her garden. So to help her through this weekly chore she would do the ironing with a packet of biscuits by her side, to help get her through the mound of clothes and bedding that five people can generate in a week. At the end of each session she would look surprised and asked who had eaten some of biscuits. The only answer could be that she had eaten the entire packet as none of us children liked these particular biscuits and my father would be at work. Despite knowing this she continued this habit for years.
Then one day, out of the blue, she suddenly decided that this habit did not serve her anymore. And she stopped. No more biscuits when ironing. And to this day she still does the ironing biscuit free. It takes insight and determination to recognise and change a habit successfully and in that moment my mother showed us that we can change a habit if it no longer serves us.
The summer that I turned 16 my family went on a three week camping holiday around Europe. Those of you who know me well will understand that camping was not and will never be my choice of accommodation. However the trip was wonderful. Because we were taking most of our provisions with us my mother decided that she and I would give up sugar in coffee. We would do it for lent, and we would do it together. We would also continue to drink the same amount of coffee. For the first few weeks it was vile, like drinking bitter poison. It was only because we did it together that I kept going.
After three weeks we tried it with sugar to test how we were going. It was now revolting with and without sugar. We kept going and Easter our coffee tasted good again and revolting with sugar. We had manged to give up sugar in coffee.
It can be challenging to change a habit by yourself and to work through it. A habit has three parts; a cue, a task and reward. To change a habit the reward is changed first and then the other parts are changed. It can be done the other way by changing the cue first however for most of that this would mean changing substantial parts of our lives. In changing the reward it can be easier to change the other two parts.
An example would be eating a packet of biscuits when ironing. For me the reward when ironing is the nicely folded pile of laundry at the end and an empty ironing basket. I happen to find ironing quite relaxing. For my mother the pile of folded laundry and empty basket wasn't enough of a reward. She doesn't find ironing relaxing. She chose a packet of biscuits as her reward. When she chose to stop eating a packet of biscuits each time she was changing her reward. Now her reward to two-fold. She was rewarded by her willpower not to eat the biscuits which made her feel good about herself and she was rewarded by maintaining her weight. These two rewards were bigger than the biscuit reward.
When she and I gave up sugar in our coffee our reward was being proud of ourselves for giving it up and changing our taste buds to want less sugar. We also enjoyed doing it together and the sharing of the experience was also part of the reward.
To assist you to change a habit that is preventing you from reaching a goal, or a habit that is not supporting and serving you, I have created a workbook that takes you through each stage of the habit week by week so that you can slowly and comfortably create a new habit that does support and serve you. The workbook offers you the opportunity to work on three habits or you can continue to work on the one habit that requires some time to change. With easy to follow explanations and examples you can use this workbook to achieve a goal that you have previously struggled to attain. For just $10 (plus P&P) you can start to work towards changing that habit that has been holding you back from reaching your goal.
When you change just one habit your unconscious brain believes and knows that it can change as many habits as it chooses to create the changes that you want to make to reach all your goals. This is why changing just one habit can change your life.
warmest wishes
Sarah
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