Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 307 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
7 Steps to Destroy Bad Habits
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 307 of our trek, and yesterday headed to new heights and discovered what it takes to live your dreams. We discovered that we need to commit, plan, and act so that dreams will become reality as part of creating and living our legacy. Today we have some steep terrain to cover as we traverse the 7 steps to destroy bad habits.
Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. While some of our daily treks are multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Thursday evening of this week, we were blessed to be able to attend a retirement dinner for a long time employee of one of our clients. Paula made a quilt for him and his wife, which we were able to present to them at the dinner. This employee made it a habit of showing up each day and working hard, and now he can enjoy the fruits of his labor. We form a close relationship with our clients and employees, which is how we like to conduct business. We consider them friends, just as I consider you my friend as you come along on our Wisdom-Trek each day.
As we think about habits, I think we all understand that habits can be good or bad. In order to make room for good habits in our lives, we do need to rid ourselves of the bad habits, so let’ head out for today as we hike our own trail and discover the…
7 Steps to Destroy Bad Habits
Is it simple to destroy bad habits? Certainly not, sometimes it is very hard—but it’s far from impossible if you follow the right action plan.
Ok, let’s admit it, everybody has bad habits. Everybody. Now granted, some people have less than others and some people’s bad habits are more grating than those of others, but we all have them.
What is great is that we don’t have to continue in these habits. We’re all capable of change, so as Captain Picard of Star Trek would say, “Make it so.”
There are two kinds of bad habits: (1.) The ones you know you have but others may not notice and (2.) those you don’t know you have but everybody else is keenly aware of.
How do you get rid of a bad habit if you don’t know you have it? The answer is simple but hard…Ask somebody to be brutally honest with you. You might be afraid of being embarrassed, but would you rather everyone talk behind your back? Get up the courage and ask. Ask somebody who loves you and has your best interest in mind. Be gracious and don’t defend yourself. Just accept it and work on it.
What about the ones we know about? Those are the tough ones. Why? They must be tough if you know about them and yet you still have them. If they weren’t tough, they would be former bad habits.
How do you boot a bad habit out of your life? How can you destroy it and have victory over those bad habits? Here are 7 steps that must be a part of the plan:
1. You have to want them to go.
In truth, some people actually want their bad habits to stick around. So, the first thing is to go deep into the recesses of your heart and ask, “Do I really want to give this up?”
You do? Good. Then on to the next step…
2. Make up a list of all of the reasons you want to quit your bad habits.
Make them positive. Make the list long. Start with the really powerful and dramatic if you need to. Now, memorize the reasons. Put them in your mind.
You are making connections between stopping the bad behavior with what good things you will get from doing so. If you want to lose weight, then picture yourself slim with a lot more energy. If you want to stop smoking, picture your spouse actually kissing you rather than sending you to the bathroom to brush your teeth.
3. Choose to change.
Once you have the information, this comes down to one thing: an act of the will. Choose to destroy those habits that you have identified as bad. Say to yourself throughout the day, I am choosing to destroy ________ habit. Eisenhower rightly said, “The history of free men is written not by chance but by choice, their choice.” Your decision to destroy bad habits is your choice. You can write your own history.
4. Take action.
This is tricky because there are two philosophies about it. One theory is that you must take massive action—you must go all or nothing. Using the weight loss example, this person would go spend $500 to join a gym, rework their schedule, and hit the treadmill every day for a year. They will get rid of all fat in the house. They go all out, and that works for some.
Others would burn out on that, feel like failures, and be worse off than before. They should start out slow, taking baby steps but working diligently toward a planned goal. This person would decide to start walking three days a week. They would decide to limit dessert to two nights a week instead of seven.
Either way is okay as long as you get to the goal eventually. Which one are you?
5. Tell somebody.
This is your accountability partner. Tell them your goal and tell them your plan. Write it down for them, and have them ask you on regular intervals about your progress. This will prove invaluable.
6. Recover from failure.
Inevitably most people will have setbacks. The key is to have them be setbacks and not turn backs. Pick yourself up and get going again. Some people may want to lose 30 pounds and after losing 15, they eat a gallon of ice cream. Then they feel bad and give up. Don’t stop now! Reset your goal for another two weeks, and get going again. Chalk it up to experience! Say to yourself, “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.”
7. Reward yourself.
You should regularly congratulate yourself by rewarding yourself with a gift. Start small with small victories and plan a big one when you are finally and for sure over the habit.
Bad habits are those undesirable actions that we continue to repeat, let us not be foolish by continuing in those habits that are undesirable and harmful, or we will end up like what is described in Proverbs 26:11, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.”
Is it that simple? Most of the time, no. Habits are hard to break. Your “why” for destroying that habit must be larger than your desire to keep it. There are so many intangibles that it would be hard to cover them all. But, this is a simple and workable plan that will help you make great strides if you just apply the principles.
Along our trek for today, we have navigated the 7 steps to destroy bad habits. Tomorrow we will explore the 6 essentials for a satisfying life. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person, so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!