Developing New Habits with ease

[krish]

Hey Guys,

I want to share with you my experience on how I was able to develop some new habits and drop some old habits without much effort.

I used to be a coffee lover since childhood and for almost 30 years it has been my energy booster in the mornings and evenings. At times I used to take 3-4 cups in a day and never refused if someone offers a cup of coffee. Over the last few years, I observed within myself taking too much coffee was affecting my sleep schedule and caused some stomach discomforts. With this thought, the next day, I was at the Starbucks couple and thinking why don't I drop this habit as it is actually causing more bad than good. I finished my coffee and without any further thoughts, while throwing the cup in the trash I said to myself "This is my last cup of coffee for my life" and dropped the cup. It has been almost 4 years since i touched coffee.

Now, after i decided to quit coffee,the very next day, I was with my usual friends in Starbucks for coffee time and my friends were asking "where is your coffee" ? I said i stopped drinking coffee from yesterday and they got surprised. I keep going everyday to Starbucks but never ever drank nor felt any great urge for it.

But, even though i stopped coffee, I replaced it with another habit. I started taking Green Tea  and this continued for an year. One day at my friends house, I was offered coffee and with pride i said i stopped it an year ago and instead asked for green Tea. My friend was surprised that i quit coffee and he was asking how you managed to quit...I was proudly boasting that i just decided to quit one day and that's it from then on i stopped. My friend was shocked and said i wish i could have the willpower like you to quit just like that. As i was happy hearing her comments, Internally i was feeling little uneasy. I just replaced one habit with another.

I decided just at that moment, why should i be dependent on these energy boosters or nerve stimulants? I should depend on myself only and not on these things. I got reminded of one chain smoker in my street who quit smoking all of a sudden and i was fortunate enough to witness that. He said to me i am quitting smoking from now on as he had got a job to organize some festival in a temple for a month and he wants to be respected by the people and smoking will give a different image. He quit once for all and as for the last 15 years till now, I never saw him smoking. This experience made me realize it is possible to stop any habit just like that so I decided that moment, I am not going to depend on any nerve stimulants and that's it and i decided from now one no i am not taking any more green Teas.

It has been 3 years now, I have not touched coffee/green Tea and i realized that there are other ways to increase your energy levels without these nerve stimulants. Also, the beauty is i did not fight with my thoughts to stop the urge etc etc ...once i made a conscious decision to quit i just quit...I do go to coffee shops with friends frequently and never even had the urge and even if it comes, I will fully feel the smell, imagine how coffee used to taste like consciously and after that the thought goes away...It is like i don't force myself to change my thought to avoid not thinking about coffee but rather to the contrary and once I did that it does not bother me anymore....

I realized it is possible to quit any habit with ease by just telling yourself it is not worth it and not thinking it as a mamooth task but rather the other way..I applied the same technique to quit some of the other habits i was doing subconsciously and in a matter of 2 months, I dropped 3 of my bad habits with ease..I will just say to myself, "IAM NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE" NOT with Deeper intensity but in a much lighter sense and calmness. It is basically like saying that habit is less significant to worth my attention and it is not a big deal to quit.

Now As i was able to a successfully drop a couple of Bad Habits, I became convinced that when it is easy for me to quit a bad habit, it is also easy to build a good habit.so applying the same trick, I said to myself calm and casually, from today, I will do "xxxxxxx" and was able to do it....Yes,Building an Habit is more challenging than quitting because there were days i fumbled and missed doing it but when i realize that i missed doing it, I gently remind myself calmly and conciously, I need to follow this habit and i do it.. As the days go by, each reminder is positive enforcement because the fact that you recognized that you are not following a new habit itself is a victory and slowly slowly with time, I was able to follow the new habit and now it has become a part of my life...

People, believe me, It is very well possible to change our habits with ease. Don't think it is a big deal. It is just the change in mindset that is required. If i can do it so can you. It is easy.

Let me know your comments.

Krish

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by krish

[spicy_pickles]

Recently, I just stopped giving a shit about things that I gave way too much energy and time to over the years that WERE NOT serving me at all. 

For example, not my problem if you hate your job/life/situation. Not going to feel sorry for you. Don’t rely on me to be that person to listen to you complain, while you are that person that does nothing to make your situation better. 

I used to make myself blue in the face trying to help them, trying to soothe them. Giving them options. Doing the heavy lifting. It took me a long time to empty that habit, but it’s one I recently dumped. At first it was hard, and I did revert back a few times, but it was literally last week I dumped it for good. I’ve had many opportunities to go back to being the fixer, and I refused all of them.