Tag: Vision

Can Habits Change?

Have you ever wondered why you keep doing the same thing over and over. It feels like you’re in this place where it seems as if life has you in this continuous loop. Something good will happen and then something from your past keeps coming back into the picture. Or the time that you decide that you’re going to start a new diet is when a co-worker decides to bring in sweets into work. Then it seems like we have to restart our diet all over again.


So can we change our habits? Are we stuck they way we are? The simple answer is that yes we can change our habits! No, we’re not stuck being the same person forever. We can grow and change, but it’s up to us on how to do it.

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Here are a couple of ways that we can develop the habits we desire and move in a different direction.
Habits are like paved roads in our minds and actions. We do things a certain way because at some point we paved a way in our mind of how it should be accomplished. That paved road became easier and easier the more we traveled it. Developing a new habit isn’t tearing up the old road, but it is laying a road that we need to travel instead of the old road. This is why sometimes we can fall back into old habits and ways of thinking.


1. Identify the Cues


There is usually something that triggers a habit. When it comes to bad habits it can be stress, or an environment that will bring certain feelings and then the habit. Your alarm going off in the morning may be triggering you to hit the snooze button.


2. Disrupt the Cue


Once we are able to identify the Cue, then we can change the triggers. With our example of the snooze button. If we’re hitting the snooze when the alarm goes off, then to disrupt the cue, we would move the alarm clack to the other side of the room. Actually having to get up out of the bed and walk across the floor disrupts the cue.


3. Replace the Cue


Ripping up the old road is a lot harder than paving a new one. Basically it is easier to replace a bad habit than it is to completely stop a bad a habit. The new habit will interfere with the old habit and stop us from going into autopilot.


4. Forgive Yourself

 

The whole process of starting a new habit takes time. We can be our hardest critics, so forgive yourself when there is a slip up. The entire process of changing a bad habit is not an easy one. Know that there will be hiccups along the way. Just don’t allow the hiccups to stop you.


Discussion Question:

What habits do you want to change?

 

Setting Goals with God

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Does God want you to set goals? Can we set goals and fulfill what God has for our lives? Are goal setting and following God opposed to each other? For most people these two aspects of our lives don’t come together. So what are we supposed to do?

Effect of Goals on my Life

This past year has been one of tremendous strides. I’ve accomplished things that I hadn’t even really thought about before. I’ve written more than a 100 articles for this very blog, lost weight and changed my eating habits for the better, and I’ve grown closer in my relationship with God.

I was never really a goal setting type of person before the last two years. I can truly say that I’ve only really taken goal setting seriously only within the last year. Just in this small time I can see the impact that this is having on my life.

Goals and God

How does all of this goal setting relate to my relationship with God? There are many times in our lives when God is giving us directions and things that we’re supposed to do. How are we supposed to accomplish the things that God directs us to do, through goal setting.

If you believe in your heart that God has given you an idea on starting a business or non-profit that will help to serve your community, how are you going to get this done? Most people think that God will give them the idea, the details, and the finished product. That’s just not how it happens. If it has happened for you, then you are the exception and not the rule.

If you look at people in the Bible, none of their journeys were easy where everything was put into their laps. From Abraham having to journey to a far land, to Joseph being sold into slavery and then his journey to the top official in Egypt and there was nothing remotely easy about Jesus’ journey.

Together Not Separate

The problem that we run into and seem to have stuck in our heads is that God doesn’t want to be a part of our goal setting. We try to keep these two areas separate, where we should be joining them together.

Our goals are not just meant for work or business aspirations, but they should be used to accomplish the plans that God set before us. Our relationship, faith, prayers, should all be used in our goals to accomplish God’s plan.

Going into this next year, do what I’m planning on doing. Spending time praying asking God for directions on what are the next steps that I need to take. Using my faith to accomplish those goals to do what God has set before me.

 

Discussion Question:

Have you set your goals for the new year yet?

 

New Years Resolution Fail?

Have you left your Resolutions already?

We’re already a couple of weeks into January and most people have already given up on their New Year’s Resolutions. I hope that you’re not in that camp. If you are the then maybe this will kick start you into getting back on track and doing great things this year.

 

Here are 5 reasons why Your New Year’s Resolution has failed, and how to get back on track.

 

  1. Don’t treat it like a sprint; change is a marathon.

While the slow and steady approach isn’t the sexiest or new flash trend, this approach is the one that will change your life in a permanent way. Today everyone seems to have the “I want it Now” mentality. The key to any successful change is in the small steps that get you there. Those steps help us to build consistency and in consistency lies the power.

[ctt template=”3″ link=”M304h” via=”no” ]In consistency lies the power[/ctt]

  1. Thinking Too Much, and Not enough acting

The best advice in the world won’t do you any good if you fail to act. Fear can be just as powerful as inspiration, faith and knowledge. How do we overcome fear, one step at a time. Instead of being afraid of what could be, focus on an action that you can do today.

 

  1. You’re in too much of a hurry.

If it was quick and easy then everyone would do it. Sometimes we want to have the change right away. We want to reach our ideal weight in 30 days, so we go and buy the latest workout video, join a gym, and buy new workout clothes and don’t look at our budgets or schedule to see when we can realistically exercise. There’s a balance between not acting at all and acting too fast that can cause more damage to ourselves.

 

  1. You don’t have support

Many times when we set New Year’s Resolutions, we keep it to ourselves. Or you may have done like I have in the past were I talk about it as such a far off dream, that those closest to me don’t take it seriously. Mostly because I haven’t taken it serious. You can do a lot by yourself, but to truly accomplish something great, for your life to be what it can be, you’re going to need a support system.

 

  1. What is your WHY?

The biggest reason most people’s New Year’s resolutions fail is because they don’t know their why. A lot people set a resolution on wanting to lose weight. Or they want to exercise more. That’s usually where it ends for them. They don’t have a why they want to lose the weight. Is it to live a healthier lifestyle, or for medical reasons, or that you don’t like the idea of being out of breath after getting dressed in the morning. Whatever the resolution, you need to know your Why. It’s your Why that will keep you going past January and push you to succeed.

 

Let’s not let this year be like so many others in the past. If we can imagine it, we can accomplish it. Dream Big and Aim High. What are your goals for this year? What habits are you going to change? Share in the comments and we can encourage each other.