🎈(#3) Breaking Bad ... Habits

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Message from the author:

Hi Fam - just a quick one from me this week on a couple of thoughts I had.

Thought 1- Walking this week has been awesome for the mind and body - I call it moving mediation. Every time I walk - ideas start to flow - I make sure to keep my phone open and ready to catch them.

Thought 2: Right now, I am aiming to build Newsletter topics in a specific way. Where one flows into the next. Think of them like building blocks right now. In the near future I will dive deeper into specific topics and also look to interview interesting individuals. There are some interesting people around and I want to share their stories (The MAKER Way) as I believe they may inspire others.

How hard is it to break bad habits?

I guess that depends on your connection to it.

If the connection is strong … then it could be really hard.

But that’s ok… lean into it I say.

The habits that make you “feel good” each day and give you that comfortable feeling. Those are the ones. Those ones right there could be a sign that you are carrying counterproductive habits.

As we move through Issue # 3 - I want to strip back some of the layers on this topic.

There could be 2 reasons breaking a habit can be hard:

1. We may have been doing these habits for a long period of time and it has become a routine for us. To the point that we are not even aware of its full impact.

2. We started these habits due to an emotional experience. This could be things like, but not limited to, emotional eating for example - if you have been there - then you know what it's like or drinking a few beers after a stressful day - this then turns into using alcohol as a coping mechanism for stressful days over time… and, just like that, you've crested a habit.

You may already be thinking about some of the habits you currently have in your life and whether they are good or bad.

Let us continue…

Further down we will talk about the 3 things you can do today.

Right now - just be honest with yourself.

Everything we do in life is built around our habits.

This includes the Bad Ones.

Have you ever experienced that “stuck” feeling - like you are in a loop? Even when adding new habits to achieve your goals … something keeps pulling you back.

This feeling or loop - no matter the mighty plans in place to get on track, is due to Bad Habits weighing you down, pulling you back, holding you prisoner … you get the gist.

I believe that in order for us to start moving forward …. we must cut ties with habits that no longer add value.

Today just might be the day that you choose to break up with them.

As mentioned above - being honest with yourself is the only way to get to the truth.

As you continue to read through today - take time to pause and reflect on your personal habits. Whilst doing that - be honest with yourself.

Quick Share From Me

I wanted to write about this topic in Issue 3, because I wanted to share my connection with certain habits and the process that I used to remove them.

As I mentioned in Issue # 1 … I am no different to you. I had Habits that I needed to cut loose.

I focused on removing 2 habits this year (Unhealthy Food Intake and Casual Beer Drinking) - I will share one right now - maybe some of you can relate.

Eating Too Much

Not just any food. But comfort food.

Burgers, Ribs, Fries, Fried Chicken, Pies, Snacks …. all of the above and a lot of it. When I say a lot … I mean a lot!

Not only can I consume large volumes of food in one sitting - but I can also do it back-to-back to back…

Whilst I have had moments of taking pride in eating huge meals, I know the damage this does to me and to and my goals.

My first challenge though - I wasn’t going back to eating chicken & broccoli or tuna and salad. I know I have spoken a lot about leaning into discomfort… but these types of meals are a hard pass for me.

I don’t mind being in discomfort - but being unhappy… not my thing! and these foods definitely don’t make me happy.

So … I had a goal to gain control of my health and energy.

This meant I had to remove the habit of consuming large quantities of food daily, weekly, monthly which was causing my calorie intake to sit higher than what I was burning when training and, I needed to do it without eating foods that I dislike.

What did I do?

Insert - Intermittent Fasting and tracking my progress (will dive into fasting in future issues).

As a write this, I can confidently say I have control over my food cravings - some days are challenging, but I feel like I have a choice now. My discipline is stronger.

One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the system and process I used to identify bad habits (such as Overconsuming Food).

I will discuss the 3 Step Process below.

You Actually Loose Control

Without knowing it … your Bad Habits actually start to take a lead role in your life.

The thing is … these comfort habits are releasing something you can’t even see.

Have you heard of Dopamine? Of course you have.

But what does that have to do with your habits?

Let me explain…

I won’t go into the details of Dopamine in this post, all you need to understand is that your brain is releasing this chemical and controlling your connection to the habits you have.

Dr. Russell Poldrack - A Neurobiologist from the University of Texas has studied the connection between the Capital D word (get your mind out of the gutter haha) and Habits - here are his findings in 3 quick points:

• Both Good and Bad Habits are based on the same types of Brain Mechanisms

• If you do something over and over again, your brain is releasing Dopamine when doing it. This repetition, synchronizing with the release of the chemical, strengthens the habit.

• Also - when you are not doing the Habit - the Dopamine now connected to it, starts to create the craving feeling. Have you felt that before? Your body now knows that this certain habit makes you feel good and wants more of it.

Chemical release …. craving feelings …

That’s crazy to think about, right?

For me … it was definitely enough to ask honest questions and put things in motion.

I knew I needed to do something in order to gain control.

3 Things You Can Do Today:

A.I.C (Tip - Be honest with yourself in this section)

1. AUDIT - Conduct a self-audit on your current habits. Both good and bad. Review the connection you have to these habits, where or how they started and what is driving them.

2. IDENTIFY - Drill down into which habits are not serving you. If you are honest with yourself… they will stand out. Think of where you want to be in the future - and ask yourself this …

   How do these habits add value to my goal right now?

   If you can’t answer the question, then you may have found it.

3. COMMIT - Don’t just commit, aim to commit with intensity. I only use the word intensity because that’s what it will take to break free from bad habits. As mentioned above - you have a powerful chemical connecting you to these, your body is actually in love with these habits right now. It will feel uncomfortable, even make you sad (like a breakup) but commit with intensity to set yourself free.

Think of A.I.C as your simple system, or your Dopamine Detox if you feel you need to break away from a habit.

This system is a simplified version of a process I used to break up with certain habits.

Share with a mate or three - they may also need to hear these messages. You will be surprised.

Congrats fam - you have made it to the end.

Something to ponder on this week…

Are you willing to give up on the BAD HABITS in order to achieve the goals you have set for yourself?

Until next week.

JC