The invisible force shaping your life

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When you think about “habits”, what comes to mind first – all your bad habits, you know, the ones you want to break (but can’t seem too). Or do you immediately think of all your good ones?

Most people go straight to the so-called “bad” ones. Sound familiar?

In my online coaching programme, Life By Design, we take a close look at habits including what they are, why they’re useful, how habits are set and how to set new habits. And it’s information worth knowing when you consider approx. 40% of what you do and say each day is done by habit. 

Staggering, right?

40% of what you do and say happens without you consciously thinking about it. 

It’s no surprise then that Gretchen Rubin said this about habits – “they are the invisible architecture of our daily life.” 

Now some of your habits will be useful. Like, you don’t really want to have to think about how to brush your teeth, make your cuppa, and put on your shoes every time you do those things because that’d be exhausting, right?

But not all your habits are useful — we've all got so-called "bad habits". 

I don't know about you but thinking about (and typing) the words "bad habits" makes me feel heavy and weighed down! Argh. And here's what else typically happens when people think about their bad habits, they start beating themselves up for being bad and for having bad habits.

In my experience as a life coach, one of the most common blocks to people setting a new habit is the belief they're a “bad” person. So if like me and many others you feel weighed down by the term “bad habit”, use one of these phrases instead –

  • the habit isn't helpful

  • the habit isn’t useful

  • the habit isn’t empowering

  • the habit doesn't serve me

Or maybe you've come up with your own phrase. Go with what feels best to you (just drop the "bad" bit, okay).

Identifying your own habits

So, as you now know, we’ve all got habits but do you know what yours are?

Grab your journal and write a list of your habits.

Staring at a blank page? Not sure where to start? Thinking about all the habits that aren't helpful but struggling to think of any helpful ones?

That's not unusual because remember, habits are automatic so they might not come to mind straight away. Try this ... think about an area of your life that's going well and one that's not going well. Then for each area, notice what your habits are.

There are two reasons why this is such a great exercise to do.

  1. You're going to become aware of your habits and that’s important because without awareness you can’t create change.

  2. I wanted you to see you have habits that are useful. You’re achieving success in some area of your life and it will, in part, be because of your habits. You can create helpful habits. 

Habits are shaping your life, whether you know what they are or not. Give yourself an advantage by getting to know your habits and deciding whether they get to stay or go.