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| Ground Hog's Day - Same Habits Over and Over |
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| Create a Better Life by Using Better Healthy Habits |
DAY AFTER DAY - HABITS CREATE YOUR LIFE . Remember the movie “Groundhog Day”? . I
think it was around 1993 or so. Bill Murray plays a weatherman who gets assigned to cover the story of Punxsutawaney
Phil – the Ground Hog who forecasts whether there will be six more weeks of Winter or the arrival of Spring. Bill
Murray’s character is also named Phil – he calls the Groundhog a “rat”. . Phil (Bill Murray – not the groundhog) finishes the story, but a big snow storm comes through
and traps him there for the night. The next day Phil wakes up only to discover it’s Feb. 2nd all over again and
he is reliving the same day over and over. If you haven’t seen the movie – rent it or watch it when it comes
back on TV as a rerun again, and again, and again. . So now let me ask
you a question. How much of your life is like Phil’s – the same thing over and over and over again.
Oh yeah, I know there are differences in each day, but overall, I would guess on the average about 90% of each day is the
same over and over. . Wait, what about weekends? Or days off from work? OK
those days are probably 90% the same as your other weekends and days off. . Why are
they the same? Because our lives are ruled
by habits. . Where do habits live? In our SubConscious.
Thankfully! Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have habits, and we actually had to think about what we
were doing all the time! . Driving – now that’s a series of habits isn’t
it? When’s the last time you seriously thought about how to make a sandwich? Or how to brush your teeth? . When you get dressed – don’t you usually put your clothes on in the exact same order
each and every time? If you put your right sock on first, switch it up and put your left sock on first – it feels
a little awkward doesn’t it? . What does all this talk of habits and our days being the same over
and over again have to do with anything of importance? How could learning more about habits and changing your daily
routine change your life for the better? Most of our physical habits are done without thinking, as I mentioned
before – driving, brushing your teeth, getting dressed. I’m going to guess we would all pretty much agree
those are good things. . If you had
to think about every physical act – and mental thought processes -- required to drive our cars, it would make driving
very difficult. But then again, I think there are a lot of people out there who would benefit from actually thinking
while they’re driving. Thoughts like “why am I endangering my life and others by texting?” Or “maybe
I should slow down when the roads are icy or slick.” Or “oh it’s dark! Maybe I should turn my lights
on.” -- Well you get the picture. . What about brushing your teeth? One day, just for fun –
try brushing your teeth with your OTHER hand! If you normally brush with your right hand, use your left and vice versa.
Slows you down. Doesn’t it? And it feels awkward too! And you probably wouldn’t really do as
good a job as you would with the hand you normally brush with. . But, IF you were to continue day after day using the hand you don’t normally use to brush your teeth,
pretty soon you would get proficient at it. And then it wouldn’t feel awkward, it wouldn’t take as long,
and you’d do a good job of brushing your teeth with the other hand. . You probably
don’t remember the first time you brushed your teeth. Some of you will. I know I’ve got a friend who
will say he remembers whether he does or not is totally irrelevant – he’ll say it anyway. But I’m
going to guess the first time you did, it wasn’t easy, but with practice you learned to do it. . Why are we talking about this – especially about brushing teeth? Well, brushing your
teeth is a good habit! And maybe you’d like to have some more good habits. Maybe you’d even like to
break some bad habits. . Think for a couple of minutes – what are some bad habits
you’d like to get rid of? Of course some of the most common ones are smoking, nail biting, over eating, procrastinating,
always being late, oversleeping. . Now that you’ve thought about it, narrow it down
to one – the one that by changing it or getting rid of it will improve your life the most. . Now ask yourself this question – how long has that habit been keeping you from having the life
you want to have or being the person you want to be? . Have
you “tried” to change it or stop it before? Of course you have! Why didn’t you? Because
of that little voice in the SubConscious that says “that’s too hard!” – you know the whiney voice.
Or – “I’m too weak” Or – “I just don’t have the will power” –
whiney voice again. . Have you ever noticed we generally use a whiney voice when we’re
using excuses to justify why we haven’t done something that we know we should? . Even that
whiney voice is a habit! Time to kick “whiney” away. And for those of you who want to start a “Stop
the abuse of Whineys” movement, I’m not worried. You’ll come up with an excuse not to. You’re
too busy. It’s too hard. Etc. . Your mind just wandered. Didn’t it? You’re
back to thinking what does this have to do with Groundhog Day? . Repeating
the same things over and over again and expecting different results just doesn’t work! . As long as you keep on doing the same things – hanging on to the same old habits, your life
isn’t going to change – at least not for the better. And the longer you hold onto a habit – the stronger
it gets. . Now don’t let that last sentence be your excuse for not changing.
I worked with a 77 year old woman who had been smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day for over 50 years. She started smoking
when she was 12, but said she didn’t get serious about it until around 25. She was able to stop – so no,
you can’t use the excuse you were thinking. . But there
are also thought habits which can either undermine our health and well being, or can help us achieve our dreams. . In fact, these are the more insidious type of habits because we’re probably less aware of them. . Let’s look at some of these. . Which of
these sentences are more likely to play in your mind? The first ones or the second ones? . Habitually telling yourself:· “I can do this.” Or
“I can’t do this.”
“This is easy.”
Or
“This is hard” or even worse “This
is SO hard!”· “Every day is a good day for me.”
Or
“Every day is a lousy day for me.”· “I’m always healthy.”
Or
“I’m always sick (or tired, or not feeling well)” . “I can do this!” When you say
to yourself over and over “I can do this” – you’re habitually training your SubConscious to believe
you can do things – easily. While others may doubt their abilities, you have confidence. Why? Because
of your habitual thought patterns. . “I can’t do this.” What
was it Henry Ford said? “If you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” Or something
like that anyway. How many people start off with the attitude of “can’t?” A lot! Now,
isn’t that sad. They’re pretty much defeated before they begin. . “This is easy.” – Again, when you say this over and over, you’re programming yourself
to believe that whatever “this” is, maybe learning a new language, playing sports, making good grades, etc. –
for you is easy. Why? Because you have trained yourself to believe it by your repetition of the phrase “This
is easy.” . “This is hard” – This person
is saying “I haven’t even tried yet, but I already know it’s going to be hard.” Where did they
learn this? Well maybe, just maybe when they were a little kid, they find out that by saying “this is hard”
or maybe “This is too hard for me.” that someone else would do it for them. Doesn’t work that great
in the adult world, now does it? . “Every day is a good day for me.”
I like this one. Isn’t it amazing that we generally get what we expect? When we wake up, whatever our first
thoughts are can so easily influence the rest of the day. Wake up thinking you’re going to have a good day and
you usually do. Wake up thinking the day is going to be bad – it usually is! . 0 Now, of
course there are some exceptions. You might wake up thinking to yourself it’s going to be a good day and then
a meteor lands on your head or one of those people who think it’s OK to text while driving just sort of accidentally
swerves over into your lane. . “Every day is a lousy day for me.”
– yeah – because that’s what the person expects! We create our day by how we program our thoughts.
And for some strange reason (not really strange if you know that your SubConscious mind is programmed to make the “boss”
– that’s you – right, even when you’re wrong) when we think it’s going to be a lousy day,
we look for reasons to justify our belief. . “I’m always healthy.”
Isn’t it amazing that some people actually EXPECT to be healthy! I’m one of them. I really can’t
remember the last time I was sick or not feeling good. Colds, flus, viruses? Not here! . But this is because I changed my habitual thought patterns. When I was younger (much younger)
I did get colds, flus, and viruses – a lot! Why? Because I expected to. . I’m going to guess you know people (maybe the one reading this???) who just knows that every
Spring they get allergies. Every Winter they catch a cold or get a flu bug. . I’ve even known people who sneezes once or twice on Monday and knows for sure they’ll
be in bed with a bad cold by Wednesday. And it just started with a sneeze! Or they won’t plan a vacation
during a certain time of the year because they “always” get sick during that time. Talk about negative habitual
thinking! . Now, think about that one habit you narrowed it down to
when I asked you to think of some habits you would like to change. Remember – the one that by changing it or getting
rid of it will improve your life the most. . Take a
few moments and make a list of the ways your life will be better once you’ve kicked this habit out of your life or even
replaced it with a good, healthy habit. . Let’s just take for example the habit of procrastination.
How would your life be better without being bothered by procrastination? - You’d start some projects.
- Maybe you’d finish some projects.
- You
could make more sales calls.
- Clean out the
closets.
- Balance the checkbook.
- You wouldn’t feel guilty anymore.
- You’d feel more proud of yourself.
- It would boost your confidence.
- You
would feel (and be) more productive.
. Now that you’ve got the “WHY” to change
– the motivation, it’s time to start on the “HOW” to change. . The best way to STOP or change a habit is: - Recognize, be aware of the habit.
- Make the decision to stop or change.
- Catch
yourself each time the old habit occurs.
- Refocus
your thought on the “WHY” you want to change – your motivation.
- Refer back to my ebook you got when you joined this newsletter – “The Hypnotist Within”
for some of the Self Hypnosis tools and techniques to help you.
. You can
easily do this on your own. Yes, you can – get the doubt of your mind. Does it take some effort and commitment?
Yes, of course. But you CAN. . And if it would be easier for you to do this with some help, find
a qualified Hypnotist to help you.
. Some of you are already thinking of an excuse – “Oh, that would cost money! Probably
too much!” . Yes, it will cost money if you have a professional help you.
Look at your ROI (return on investment). What will it COST you IF you don’t stop or break the habit? What
will the value be WHEN you do stop or break the habit? . The choice
is yours! . OK, maybe this was a stretch for Groundhog Day, but doesn’t
it make sense when you think about it? Everyday thinking over and over negative thoughts and having negative habits
is only going to create more of the same. . If
you’re going to have to repeat and have similarities in your days, wouldn’t it be better to have them be good? . And that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! . William C. Smith, Alpha Process Coach, BCH, CI . . Would you like to
use this article in your magazine, e-zine, newsletter, or website? You can, as long as you include this
complete statement with it: William C. Smith, Board Certified Hypnotist, Coach, Author, Speaker, Trainer.
Ready to discover how to change your life in a positive direction using Personal Development CDs? Go
to www.successrc.com where you can also sign up for “Success Bridges” a free newsletter
and then download your free copy of “Discover the Hypnotist Within”. If you’re
an athlete, coach, or family member of an athlete and want to find out more about using Sports Hypnosis to lift the athlete
to a higher level of confidence and achievement of goals, go to www.sportshypnosisrc.com . “How many people are trapped
in their everyday habits: part numb, part frightened,
part indifferent? To have a better life we
must keep choosing how we’re living.” - Albert Einstein
| Click on the Butterfly Picture |
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| to Watch the "Change Can Be Good" Video |
Click on the Butterfly Picture
to Watch "Change Can Be Good" Video |
