Last Wednesday, I was invited to speak at the Northwest Coaches monthly meeting in Tualatin. My subject was “Developing Habits for Real Change.” About 30 people attended. It was a lively and fun group and everyone seemed to really enjoy interacting with one another.
As part of my talk, I handed out two colored Post-its, one orange and one green, to each person. At the end of my talk, I asked them think about the one new life habit they would add if they could magically have that habit tomorrow and then to write it on the orange Post-it.
When they were done with that, I asked them to think about the one habit they currently have that if they could magically get rid of by tomorrow, what would it be? Then, I asked them to write it on the green Post-it.
After the meeting, I collected them.
I got 47 answers. I thought that they were very interesting and probably reflect how similar people would respond. It showed me that as people, when it comes to personal growth, we mostly have the same kind of hopes and the same kinds of challenges.
The answers were anonymous, so I have reprinted the two lists below for you to see. The habits people would like to magically ADD is the first list. The habits people would magically like to get RID OF is the second list. Enjoy.
Habit would you magically ADD by tomorrow
- Exercise & love it
- Thank God first thing
- Meditation Practice
- Loving Exercise
- Regular Exercise
- Organization
- Play Piano
- Love and do exercise
- Writing
- Daily Stretching & Yoga
- Meditate daily first thing in the morning
- Going to bed earlier & getting up early
- Self-discipline & lose weight
- Habit of connecting w/ 10 people every day
- Meditate for 20 minutes (not just 3-4)
- Exercise
- Use my rebounder every day
- Journal Daily
- Pause before speaking
- To read more
- Quiet Time
- Habit of abundanceThe habit of seeing the positive in everything
Magically REMOVE any one habit by tomorrow
- Quit scrolling my FB [Facebook] feed first thing in the AM
- Staying up late
- Speak judgmentally and sharply
- Stop getting angry
- Eating sweets
- Overreacting to my mistakes
- Self-doubt
- Staying up too late
- Drink too much wine
- Get rid of internet distraction (e.g. Facebook)
- Eat Sweets
- Allowing Lack of abundance thinking
- Allowing fear to come into my mind
- Negative thinking/distraction
- Procrastination
- Procrastination
- Procrastination
- Habit of defaulting to anger and frustration with my children
- Self Indulgence (letting myself eat or do whatever I want)
- Not exercising
- Negative self-talk
- Get rid of checking phone
- Telling my kids what the should and shouldn’t do in a shaming tone
- Enjoyment of sweets (ice cream)
Do you have any of these same habits you would like to magically acquire or magically get rid of? Many of the things seem pretty common to us all.
However, what is not common is the will to actually see these changes through. We all know that habits don’t magically appear and disappear. We have to take determined, specific, consistent actions to see that happen. Most people will allow their desire for change in their life to remain in the realm of “wishing.” Only a few will take the steps to really see change happen in their lives. They are the ones who will reap the rewards. Are you one of the rare ones?
Through the practices of living a disciplined life, you can add or subtract nearly any habit. In fact, you can revolutionize your life, who you are as a person, and how you relate to others. It’s almost magic :-). Call me if I can help.