Aristotle said that, and he’s right.
Do you fancy yourself a runner, but your shoes are gathering dust in your closet? Do you like to think of yourself as frugal, but you buy lunch at work every day? Do you long to get out of debt, but blow every paycheque at the bar after work?
We are what we do. So what do you do? What habits do you have right now that don’t reflect how you see yourself? Maybe you used to have a great body, but you got out of the habit of exercising, and now you have a 20-pound ring of dough around your middle.
Maybe you want to be better with money, but you can’t quite seem to get the whole budgeting thing down.
Or maybe work is your weak spot. Maybe you see yourself as a model employee, but in reality, most of your coworkers would describe you as tardy or phoning it in.
We all have habits that don’t align with our vision for ourselves. For me, it’s my health. I’ve always been pretty healthy looking, and if you met me you’d probably never think this was my vice, but it is. I’m terrible at sticking with an exercise habit, and I love to snack. Chips are a favourite, but lately cookies have been making an appearance in my diet too.
I’ve gotten a pretty good hold in most other areas of my life, but my health has always been a weak spot, always.
Fortunately, all isn’t lost for us “bad-habiters”. After all, if we are what we repeatedly do, then change is just a few good habits away, right?
So here’s my challenge to you. Pick a bad habit, any bad habit that doesn’t align with your vision for yourself. Now pick a new habit that you’re going to start that is incompatible with it.
If you’re bad at being frugal, start tracking every penny you spend. I bet you’ll unconsciously start handling your money more carefully. Then take the leftovers (and there WILL be leftovers) and put it in a savings account.
If you’re always five minutes late to work, resolve to show up early two days this week, three days next week and five days the week after. Don’t use that time to check Facebook or this blog either, use it to get work done before the phone starts ringing and your coworkers interrupt you.
Me, I’m going to get back into the habit of tracking what I eat. I’m not going to obsess over it, and I’m certainly not going to turn down a good burger. I just know that the act of tracking will help me make better choices about what I eat.
I’m also going to eliminate my biggest barrier to getting back into running: my sore foot. I’m going to find a new physiotherapist and I’m going to take care of my injury. Between now and then, I’m going to keep up my resolve to cycle everywhere I possibly can.
So tell me. Are you a “bad-habiter”? What’s your biggest bad habit that doesn’t align with who you want to be? Tell me in the comments, and tell me one new habit you can implement that will help get rid of it.
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