Pay Attention to Your Existing Habits

 Before you start changing your habits, you need to understand your existing ones. The following are sample questions you can ask yourself in order to understand your existing habits.

• What is the first thing I do when I hear the alarm clock? (Snooze? Stay in bed for five minutes longer? Get up immediately? Get upset and angry because I have to get up? Smile? Kiss my partner?)
• What is the next thing I do? (Take a shower? Eat breakfast? Get ready to exercise? Meditate? Turn on the TV?)
• What do I do then? (Get into the car and drive to work? Study? Check email?)

• What other habits do I have throughout the day? (What else do I do when drinking coffee, having a snack, going out for lunch, socializing with my coworkers, browsing the internet?)

• What do I do in the evening before I go to sleep? (Watch TV? Browse the internet? Exercise? Read? Go out for a walk?)

Gerry, a friend of mine, did this exercise. With his permission, I will share part of what he did.

Question: When do I eat snacks?

Answer: I have cookies after lunch.

Question: When do I drink soda?

Answer: With lunch and dinner.

Question: What do I do after dinner?

Answer: Browse the internet and check Facebook.

Question: What do I do immediately after?

Answer: Watch TV.

Question: What do I do while watching TV?

Answer: Eat peanuts.

TIME IN

Think about your day from the time when you wake up to when you go to sleep. What habits do you have? What do you do first thing in the morning? What do you eat for breakfast? What time do you leave home for work?

If you work from home, what does your day look like?

What do you do before dinner?  What do you do immediately after dinner?

ACTION

Write down questions you can ask yourself to help you understand your existing habits. Answer the questions.

Question:                                                                      

Answer:                                                                       

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Answer:                                                                       

Question:                                                                      

Answer:                                                                       

When Gerry did the above exercise, it helped him create a list of his existing habits and also decide whether or not to keep those habits. Here is a shortlist of what he had.

 ACTION

Write down as many of your habits as you can. Next to each habit identify whether you want to keep it (YES) or not (NO).

Braco Pobric is an Internationally Recognized Positive Psychology Expert and Corporate Trainer. He is the bestselling author of Habits and Happiness: How to Become Happier and Improve Your Wellbeing by Changing Your Habits. Braco is a founding member and Chief Happiness Officer of the Life Success Academy Certified Positive Psychology Master Trainer and former globally Certified Trainer and Business Coach for Dale Carnegie Training. He trained over 60,000 Students in 172 countries.