Hi Neighbor!
Bad habits? I have a few. Drinking Diet Coke when I wake up in the morning, for one. But there are habits I would also like to create in my life, like going to bed earlier, or at least at a reasonable hour. So how do we go about breaking and creating habits?
According to my son, who read James Clear’s Atomic Habits, gradually and with repetition. For example, a habit can be broken or created over time, first in small increments then with gradual increase in frequency and repetition of the behavior until it is good habit gained or a bad habit lost. It takes time, patience, and kindness to yourself, but it can be done.
Take my Diet Coke habit. I weaned myself gradually by eliminating it in the morning and substituting coffee in its place. I pulled out the Keurig I reserve for guests and made it part of my daily ritual. Instead of craving the syrupy carbonated drink in the morning, I reset my mind and tastebuds. Now each morning I linger over a warm cup of a sweet-flavored coffee. While I still have an occasional Diet Coke on a random afternoon, I have eliminated it as the start to my day. Sometimes when I pop a can, hear the satisfying fizz, and take a sip, I don’t even enjoy the taste.
I proved I could break a habit so now the challenge was to see if I could create a new habit. Challenge accepted.
At the beginning of the summer, my gym introduced a Transformation Challenge. It wasn’t solely about losing weight or gaining muscle mass but rather introducing ourselves to healthier habits for a better lifestyle. Members could choose from a list of healthy suggestions; I chose drinking more water each day, getting 7,000 steps in per day, and eliminating screen time an hour before bed. I succeeded in two out of three almost immediately because it was a challenge, and I like challenges.
While I have not read Clear’s book, I think about his suggestion for creating or adapting changes that stick – simply repeat. No doubt the book is full of scientific information and thorough examples, and while I plan to delve into his book eventually, I am pleased with the “tiny changes” I was able to make thus far. Still, I have not found the right amount of motivation to get me to eliminate screen time before bedtime or to go to bed earlier.
It might have something to do with watching Friends on a loop late at night. No matter how many times I have witnessed Rachel get off the plane, I want to watch it play out again and again.
Obviously, there is still work to be done here, people. Wish me luck!
Happily habitual,
Jackie
