There are three things that have to happen to successfully change a habit. The first is that you must make the decision to change. When you make a decision, you are affirming to yourself that you are willing to go to any lengths to make your wishes come true. This means that you will need to completely eliminate the word “try” from your vocabulary. When you say “I’ll try to do my exercises,” you are leaving an open door to not doing them. Then in your mind, if you don’t do your exercises, that’s okay because you only said you would “try” to do them. If you want to successfully change your habits to live a healthier life, you cannot leave an open door to your old habits. You need to just do it, just make a decision and not look back.
The second thing is to act “as if.” Whenever you change what you are doing, it will feel unnatural. It may feel like you are doing something wrong, funny, or something that is just not you. In a way you are right. When you change a habit, you are by definition acting in a way that is ‘just not you.’ But in a very short time, it will feel normal and it will seem strange that you ever acted any different. Changing habits is like starting a new job, the first couple of weeks are stressful and disorienting, but if you just hang in there, you will feel at home before you know it.
The third is to work on yourself every day. The highest demonstration of a healthy and growing self-image and self-esteem is the commitment to work on yourself each and every day. You experience an elevated consciousness when you realize your power to step up to your greatness or default to your weakness with every challenge, distraction and decision. Working on yourself with consistency and persistence connects you to your inner wisdom and inner strength to become unstoppable.
