“All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits - practical, emotional, and intellectual - systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be." — William James
A few weeks ago one of my readers, Jonathan, suggested that I write about habits that have remained constant in my life despite the rapid changes happening worldwide over the past few months. The kind of rituals that keep us feeling like we have a bit of control during periods of uncertainty.
For him, it's been running every morning, rain or shine, that has kept him grounded.
And while there are some things that have remained constant in my routine (which I'll get to next week...oh the suspense!), what I've found most valuable during this period is the opportunity to evaluate and eliminate the habits that were NOT serving me.
Like most people, many of my daily habits were things that happened without thought.
Now, this is not a good vs bad thing. This is science.
Studies indicate that 40 to 95 percent of the brain’s activity happens below the level of consciousness (ie the category of habit). If we round that down to a conservative 50 percent, we are on automatic pilot half the time.
And this is actually a good thing. 👍
Habits are our brain’s way of increasing its efficiency. Our brain turns daily actions and behaviors into habits, so that we can do them automatically and with little to no thought — freeing up our brainpower for other more important tasks.
Imagine getting through a standard work day if typing required complete mental concentration...😫
We NEED "mindless" habits. They allow us to function better in life.
But, as I'm sure you're aware, not all of our automatic habits are ones that support our goals or align with the kind of life we want to live.
And the challenge with "mindless" habits is that (as the name implies), we usually aren't aware they exist. So, if it wasn't for something like a global pandemic to shake us all at our roots, we may not have been given the opportunity to notice and evaluate our usual routines.
We may not have realized that much of what we were doing was a product of habit, NOT choice. And that, for many of us, our thoughts, beliefs and emotions had become just as habitual as our actions.
Read that again.👆👆 Yes, our habits extend beyond our actions — spanning our beliefs, emotions and thought patterns.
Without COVID forcing us to stop and take a look around, we may have stayed on these paths, not just doing the same things, but thinking, feeling, believing and consuming the same things over and over without question.
How scary is that? 😱 For some, the realizations have been small. ➡ Like one client that noticed she doesn't actually enjoy drinking coffee (gasp!)
➡ Or another that realized she prefers working out in silence (instead of with OSHA challenging levels of dance music)
➡ And the friend who decided he prefers to wake up early, even if he doesn't need to anymore. But for others, including myself, the awareness gained has been more significant. For example: ➡ The client who realized that his habitual cynicism had kept him from developing meaningful relationships.
➡ The client who noticed that her habitual pattern of over committing herself was leaving her feeling stressed out and exhausted.
➡ The coach (pssst...it's me!) who acknowledged that her habitual leaning towards perfectionism was keeping her from growing her business at the pace she wanted. Had it not been for a shift in our daily routines (thanks quarantine!), we may not have become aware of these default mental and emotional patterns.
But with awareness, we are given the opportunity to evaluate and ask:
"Are these habits still serving us?"
To which we all responded "🤬 NO!"
And now we have the time, space and freedom to CHOOSE habits that do.
👉 What habits have you become aware of during this pandemic, ones that maybe you didn't notice before?
👉 Are they helping you?
👉 Do they move you closer to the goals you've set for yourself? Closer to the vision you have for your life?
If not, then say it with me...📢
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