Forming Good Habits

Living with Kennedy's Disease and its progression is never easy, but I try to make it as comfortable as possible by eliminating bad habits and creating good ones.

Often, someone mentions he or she is not as disciplined as I am. The person wishes they could find the time to exercise regularly … or quit smoking … or lose weight … or meditate … whatever. My standard response is, “If I didn’t believe it helped, I probably wouldn’t do it.” 

I find it easier to maintain a habit when I see or feel results. In the case of exercising every day, I see and feel the results. When it comes to eating healthier foods, I feel the results.

Just as important, I find it easier to change a negative habit when I can see or feel the results. For example, I quit smoking over 40 years ago because I saw and felt the negative aspects of what smoking three packs a day had upon my life and my family. I quit ‘one cigarette at a time’.
 

When I begin to change a habit, I often do not see or feel the beneficial results initially. At that point, I am working on faith. I believe the change will be positive in some way. For example, a few years ago I gave up eating ice cream every day. I had been indulging in this habit for over 50 years. My belief was that I would generate less phlegm by eliminating this milk product from my diet.

I did not initially say, “I will never eat ice cream again.” I told myself each time I wanted ice cream that I would wait an hour and if I still wanted it then, I would have a bowl.” Guess what? In an hour, I was doing something else and did not even think about it.

After a few weeks, there was a noticeable reduction in thick phlegm. In the last couple of years, I have given up or greatly reduced phlegm-generating products. 

 

I continue to do every habit, no matter what it is, one day at a time. If I ever feel an overpowering desire to break a habit, I will do it after I have waited an hour.

Habits; curse them or love them

A habit is a regularly repeated routine or behavior. The majority of our habits occur subconsciously. For most people, good habits are difficult to form and bad habits are even more difficult to break. 

I smoked for several years in the late teens and early twenties. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was reach for a cigarette. As soon as I sat down in my car, I reached for one. After every meal, I reached into my shirt pocket for one. Even a year after I quit smoking, I would automatically reach towards my shirt pocket after a meal. The imprint of reaching for a cigarette was there long after the nicotine urge was gone. Nicotine was the addiction, but unconsciously reaching for a cigarette was the habit.

Wikipedia discusses habit formation in this way.

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior, through regular repetition, becomes automatic or habitual. This process of habit formation can be slow. Lally, et al, found the average time for participants to reach the point where it is an actual habit was 66 days (with a range of 18–254 days).

As the habit is forming, it can be analyzed in three parts: the cue, the behavior, and the reward. The cue is the thing that causes the habit to come about, the trigger of the habitual behavior. This could be anything that one's mind associates with that habit and one will automatically let a habit come to the surface. The behavior is the actual habit that one exhibits, and the reward, a positive feeling, therefore continues the "habit loop". A habit may initially be triggered by a goal, but over time that goal becomes less necessary and the habit becomes more automatic.

… The key to changing habits is to identify your cue and modify your routine and reward.

Not all habits are bad. My daily exercise program is a good habit. Every morning I exercise before breakfast. If something happens that throws my routine off, my subconscious nags at me until I take the time to exercise. My reward is how I feel afterward.

And, the easiest way to quit a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. 

My words of power for today are:

I only embrace good habits

So how does one get started in eliminating bad habits?

1. Identify: You start by identifying your habits’ cues and rewards. What cues you to perform the habit? What is your reward? 
2. Determine: Next, decide on the bad habits that need to be broken. Ask yourself why this habit needs to be eliminated.
3. Prioritize: Only focus on one; the one that will provide the greatest benefit if broken. For example, between meal snacking might have helped put thirty extra pounds on you.
4. Reward: What is the reward you will receive if you change the habit? There has to be a reward or goal established, or there isn’t a reason to break the habit. For example, how proud your daughter will be when you walk her down the aisle at her wedding. 
5. Cues/Reminders: Initially, you will need to cue yourself—remind yourself what you are trying to accomplish. Write yourself notes, schedule time in your daily planner, stop buying something, or leave out something as a reminder. 
6. Track Results: Every day you succeed in breaking the habit, pat yourself on the back. Write it in your journal or on a chart. If you are losing weight, for example, track the weight loss.

And always remember to …

Embrace your good habits