To change a habit, start with awareness

Estimates suggest that up to 90% of our daily activities are based on habits. We know that if we change a habit, we will cbange the results we achieve.  Of course, improving your results is not quite as simple as changing a habit; you have to change the right habit. If you want to successfully change a habit, and improve the results that you are achieving, there are 3 essential steps which you must follow:

• Develop awareness and understanding of the problem habit
• Identify and implement a more appropriate habit
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the change

Over the next few weeks, I will be writing about each of these steps to teach you how you can quickly and easily change a habit and improve the quality of your results. This post shall focus on the importance of awareness, and how to develop it.

Awareness – the 1^st essential step to change a habit

If you want to change a habit, you must decide what you want to change. Once you have decided what it is that you would like to change, you must understand the exact nature of your current habit before you can effectively replace it with the new habit. This is not as complicated as it might sound. The following steps will help you:

1. Describe the habit

Write a detailed description of the habit which you are trying to change. Don’t just focus on what the behaviour looks like. Delve deep into the negative consequences of the habit and how it is impacting on your work/life. Before you can effectively change a habit, it is imperative that you understand why you want to change it. It is this understanding that will give you the motivation and determination to push through with the change.

2. Monitor the habit

Once you are feeling determined and committed to changing the habit, it is time to learn as much as you can about the bad habit. When you monitor the habit, you learn the full extent of the problem and you go into the change with open eyes. Too often, people fail to make a successful change because they underestimate the extent of the problem which causes them to be less focused and driven than required.

When monitoring the bad habit, be sure to record the following information:

• How often the habit occurs e.g. if you smoked two cigarettes in a row, record both. Do not record it as just one incident.
• The time at which the habit occurs.  If the bad habit occurs at specific times, you may be able to change your schedule or make preparations.
• What happens (mentally and physically) directly before you indulge in the bad habit? This will help you to understand why it is happening.
• Who, if anybody else, was present when it happened?

If your bad habit is happening offline, it is best to record events using a pen and paper.

If your bad habit is occurring while you are working on your computer, you will want to check out  Unstoppable Productivity, an excellent tool for monitoring your online productivity.

3. Study your findings

It is best to take a few days or a week to monitor your bad habit. At the end of this period, you can study your findings to determine important information such as:

• How often is it happening?
• How is it impacting on your work/life? e.g. I’m losing 5 productive hours per week.
• What factors are causing you to perform this habit?
• Who else was present when it happened?

This information will help you to decide the best course of action and the appropriate replacement habit to adopt.

Note: When monitoring a bad habit, you become consciously aware of your actions and you tend to make better choices. Therefore, at the end of your monitoring period, it is highly likely that your findings will slightly underestimate the extent of the problem e.g. a good personal trainer will assume that a client’s diet is slightly worse than what is recorded in their food diary.

Change is easier when you make it an effective goal. Learn how with theUltimate Guide to Goal Setting.

Now that you have completed the first step in changing a habit, we will focus on identifying and implementing an appropriate alternative habit, in the next post. It can be difficult to change a habit. Habits play a massive role in your life. They allow you to perform many actions on a daily basis without having to think about them. Could you imagine if you had to consciously think about every small action that you have to take from the time you wake up to the time you finish getting dressed? Your brain would probably fry and that is just one small part of the day. You are so reliant on habits that when you decide to change a habit, it can feel like a seismic shift is taking place in your life. It can be a very stressful period until your new habit beds in. That is why it is essential that you monitor, and gain a thorough understanding of your bad habit. This level of awareness keeps you motivated to make the change because you are fully aware of the negative consequences of doing nothing. So, when you next decide to change a habit, take the time to raise your awareness. It won’t guarantee success but it will greatly increase your chances.