05 Jan How to build good (happiness) habits
via LifeHack by Charles Sabarich
Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
The question is – how do you develop good habits and make them stick?
The reason we often stop ourselves from changing is that we like to stay where we are. Call it inertia or what you may want, but you need to give yourself a push to get things started.
To be successful, do more in life and have a sense of fulfillment, you need good habits. And it doesn’t come easy.
You may hear some people say that doing something for 21 days will make it a habit. In all honesty, this does not work. To build good habits, you need motivation, a good plan and a thought out approach to follow it.
Here are the five tips that will work for you.
1. Planning
Benjamin Franklin had a very innovative plan to overcome his bad habits and build new good habits.
He listed 13 virtues which he felt were very useful in his life. He stated that working on each of them in a 13 week period, one virtue per week, can deliver some great results.
If he felt that he had got over his bad habit, he proceeded on the next one; if not, he repeated the cycle again.
While spontaneity is the essence of an adventurous spirit, it doesn’t apply when you are embarking on adapting to a new habit. You need a properly planned approach for the practice to become a habit. Here is the approach that can work for you.
- Set yourself a “goal” that you want to achieve someday. Keep in mind that your goal should be specific, realistic, achievable and time-bound.
- Identify the habits that will help you in realizing your goals and that are in-sync with your already existing habits.
- Try to select a habit that suits your already established day-to-day life, so that it’s easier to adapt.
- Find your motivation to complete the goal. Motivation is what should get you started, and habits are what should keep you going.
…keep reading the full and original article HERE