Adenike Jemiyo: Are Your Habits Serving You?

Habits are those things you do repeatedly without much thought.

We all have them.

In fact most of us have many more than than we are aware of.

Research has it that, habits are responsible for 40% of our actions on any given day. In other words, you tend to do the same things you’ve always done, in the same way you’ve always done them. Day after day. For 40% of your daily actions. Thus, your habits control your day, and in essence your life.

Now, this wouldn’t be such a problem if all our habits are healthy and helpful….but errrrm, many of them quite aren’t.

Most of us have the complete potpourri of the good, the bad and the ugly habits.

My task today is simple: to call your attention to your habits, and then you can decide whether they’re serving you or not.

Shall we?

What do you do when your eyes flip open every day?

What do you do when you feel a little bored?

What do you do when you have to wait?

What’s that thing you indulge in every other day? Could be food, drink or an experience…

If you have to choose between walking a short distance and hitching a ride, which do you choose?

Do you say yes, when everything in you screams NO?

What’s your first impulse when you finally have small ‘change’?

What do you do when your loved ones demand attention?

Do you sometimes feel super tired just when it’s time to exercise or go to the gym?

When you need to connect to anyone, what do you do? Do you call them, visit them, or simply follow them and like their posts on social media.

Habits.

Show me your habits and I’ll show you your future, they say. Your money habits, fitness habits, relationship habits, communication habits and so on, are all defining your future in those aspects.

Hopefully, many of your habits are good and they serve you in terms of helping you to be better, more productive, progressive, happy. But, if you are anything like the rest of us mortals, then there’s probably some work to be done.

Let’s face it, taking charge of your life is not likely to get any easier then taking charge of your routines and habits.

And taking charge begins with awareness. Here’s an action challenge to help with that…

Action Challenge:
Journal everyday for 15 minutes for the next two weeks. All you need is writing material, nothing fancy. This is best done at the end of the day. Note how you reacted in certain circumstances. Note how you dealt with boredom, tiredness, no money, etc. Note how you spent your time, your money , how you related to your spouse, children, co-workers. Try and answer as many of the questions posed in this article as possible every night. Ask ‘What did I do the moment my eyes flipped open?’…and so on. You can add a few more of your own. At the end of two weeks, you should uncover a pattern and become more aware of your habits. Then you can decide which ones are serving you, and which ones have to go…

We’ll deal with tackling those naughty ones in my next article.

Take charge of your life. Oh yes, you can.