The Power of Habit Transformation
I have eliminated more bad habits than most people I know (I may be hanging out with the wrong crowd). I have studied all the research on change, learned all the habit stacking and tiny habit tricks like pairing and habit tracking and not breaking the streak.
The Science of Habit Stacking: A Key to Lasting Change
In the course of my adult life, I have quit my 2.5-pack smoking habit (almost 29 years ago). I gave up my liters of daily diet Coke (six years ago). I also quit alcohol (almost 4 years ago, thanks to This Naked Mind and Coach Scott PInyard) and broke up with sugar and grain flour (3.5 years ago, thanks to the Breaking Up with Sugar program and Molly Carmel).
And I’ve developed many positive habits like daily-ish (to use Dan Harris’s term) meditation, journaling, morning spiritual reading, gratitude practice. I also exercise regularly and do much better with hydration and restful sleep.
Discovering Joy
The first thing I think when I write about the old habits I left behind is,” DAMN, I’ve had a lot of bad habits!”
The second thing I think when I write this is if I had read it in before times, I would imagine that my life without all the vices is BORING. What I’ve learned is quite the opposite.
The more I let go of cravings I couldn’t satisfy, the happier I became. I wake up in the morning, generally, so excited to get going. No hangover. No discouragement about how my body feels. Generally, no disappointment in myself for what I did the day before.
Other than coffee (and that’s where I draw the line right now), what motivates me is my desire to make the most of this one life I have, not how will I get my next whatever it is.
Benefits of Letting Go in Your 60s
If I had known where letting go of these habits would get me, I might not have ever started. I have been peeling the proverbial onion ever since.
But now I know how much better my life is without chronic disappointment in myself, not to mention no longer suffering the side effects of all the harmful habits.
I realize you may not have had many or any of these bad habits. But maybe there’s something/one thing you want to let go of or one thing you want to add. I encourage you to explore the possibility that you are capable of change. Find someone or something to help you if you can’t get traction on your own. Your habits are not permanent–even in your 60s or beyond.
Easy Living Now or Easy Living Later
As Pema Chodron explains in No Time to Lose, “Giving into the lure of the [negative habit] is easy in the beginning and makes our lives increasingly more difficult in the end.
In contrast, withdrawing from the habitual response is difficult in the beginning, but our lives become increasingly more relaxed and free in the end.”
Closing Thoughts
What habit changes are you longing to make? Are you ready to put aside easy now for "more relaxed and free" in the long run? Schedule a discovery call, and let's explore how I can help you on your journey to change.