Four questions to ask yourself when you are starting a new habit...
Do you have to do it for 21 days, 66 days, forever before it becomes automatic? There are loads of studies out there on starting a new habit.
I can tell you that it is not about the number of days, it is all about making it part of who you are...
Sean Covey says. “Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do.”
There are patterns in our lives that we keep repeating and learning from. Some of these are good and some of these are bad. Do you ever do things and wonder why on earth you did not learn from doing them the last time?
I love to read romance novels, usually the cheap ones and they are full of characters who make the same mistakes over and over until they live happily ever after. I particularly like to think about the characters and why they do what they do. Have they brought through blocks of karma from past lives or are they creating them in the here and now?
For me, karma and past lives make sense of some of the things we do in this life that are not in alignment with our souls. As we become aware of these and clear them, life gets a little bit easier.
Do you have any good habits that you learn from? I have been practicing Spring Forest Qigong since about 2007. I love every minute of my practice but it is only in the last few months that I made it a consistent practice. It is taught that if you do 100 days in a row, it boosts your health and wellbeing. I never made it to 100 days before, I always let something else get in my way and stop me. Finally after 13 years, I have done it, or at least nearly. As I write this I a on day 98. It feels great to know that I have the ability to follow through with something I feel is important but it is also a wonderful feeling to be congruent with who I am. Until now, I would say I practice qigong but it did not feel true. For sure, I did it but never as well as I could. Now it is finally part of who I am.
Is there something in your life that you would like to really do, not just talk about? The key is making it part of your identity. We start with an idea, a thought - maybe I should do this. We get into motion by using our emotions as it makes us feel good but to keep it up, it needs to be part of our soul, part of who we are. Then it really becomes part of our physical life.
So ask yourself and really connect to the answers...
- Who are you if you did this thing and who are you not when you don't?
- What emotions would it give you?
- What small steps can you take to make a start?
- How can you celebrate that?
Feeling congruent with our souls and who we think (and know) we are is the best feeling. It is a clear, energising infatuation for life. Well worth a try!
Photo by My Life Journal on Unsplash
