Follow Your Passions

Do you feel like you are stuck? Are you doing something you’d rather not be doing? Do you wish you could quit smoking, but you can’t seem to quit lighting up? Want to lose weight, but everywhere you go there are temptations that are just too delicious to pass up?

Many times, the things we want to change about ourselves can be attributed to having bad habits. In order to move beyond those things in our lives we perceive as negative, we often have to break bad habits and often need to replace them with healthy ones. This is a fairly obvious statement I know, but it is not as obvious to our hearts and our willpower as it may be to our ability to process logic.

Somehow, we need to be able to tether ourselves to something that can get us through the hard part of breaking a habit, which is usually the first month or so of the process. Your mind has to be ready and willing to focus in a new direction, and keep focused on it so long that it becomes your new reality and your old reality seems nothing more than a part of your history (rather than your present or your future).

Something that works for me in times like this is to get a powerful visual image in your mind that represents not just your end goal, but actually includes the action of the struggle you will go through on your journey. There are some good examples of this I have used, but my favorite right now is the following:

Imagine what a rocket has to do in order to get into orbit. Before it gets more than a few inches off the ground, a great deal of energy has to be expended to get it moving in the right direction. Once it gets moving, things get slightly easier, but it still needs a lot of help to make its way up through the atmosphere. However, once it finally breaks through and escapes the atmosphere, things get a lot easier, and you can eventually rely on your momentum to keep you going.

The most well intentioned, supported person might get tripped up on the way though, if they don’t set themselves up for success ahead of time. Continuing the rocket metaphor, conditions have to be right for a launch to even be attempted - skies should be clear, planning and preparation should happen to make sure everything that needs to be in place is there. For someone trying to lose weight, this might involve avoiding the desk at work where everyone puts the cake and cookies they’re trying to get rid of from home (or, it might be going to that desk and bringing the brownies and cookies from home to share with everyone, rather than eating them yourself). For someone quitting smoking, this might be doing your research about what to expect in the days, weeks, and months to follow. Within a week or two of quitting, the nicotine withdrawls are done, and any urge you are feeling to light up is all in your head, all up to your willpower - and that makes it very possible to overcome! Another hard part is the social circles you are in when you smoke (who tend to be comprised of smokers) - to avoid worrying about those relationships weakening, plan events with them that don’t involve smoking, like lunch. You get the idea.

If you’re trying to get out of any bad habit you feel is having a negative affect on your life, whether it’s an attitude, an outlook, etc., feel free to comment or shoot me an e-mail for support. My inbox is always open.