The Key To Habit Changes

September 29th, 2009

Since I started trying to learn how to install habits I’ve changed a lot and so has my understanding of them. These are the levels I’ve encountered so far.

Discipline – You just keep plowing away knowing that you will get there in the end and while building discipline is a good idea, there are stages beyond it. Discipline is essential in the lower stages of consciousness. When you reach the higher stages your actions become the embodiment of source or God and things like discipline and motivation are useless because you have gone beyond that. It is like asking Einstein to learn Algebra. It is an essential step but also needs to be transcended.

Learn from others – At this stage you take a step towards higher awareness and learn from others. You see that patterns are clear and that if you follow the patterns of others you will get the same results known as modelling in NLP

Motivation/Inspiration – Then I though it was about motivation and inspiration constantly pumped into my brain. I would listen to Tony Robbins for a couple of hours a day whenever I could. I would get so pumped up and when push came to shove I would go back to sleep instead of getting up at 5am. Yes I had associated all the pain with negative consequences and pleasure with positive consequences but I was still operating at a low level of consciousness. I lived inside my mind and did not understand how to just be and how I worked internally. We are human beings after all, not humans thinking.

I’m not knocking Modelling or discipline because they are both essential traits that any human should embody but there is higher levels. Do you get angry at a child who cannot walk yet? No that is just silly, right? They are at their current level and will naturally progress at their own rate. Each level has its purpose.

Then after reading certain books including Eckhart Tolles The Power of Now, I gradually realised it was all about becoming more aware. If you are more aware generally then you are more aware of your subconscious patterns emerging mentally or physically. You can become separate to them in the moment almost effortlessly just by focusing the light of your presence upon them. They just come up and then you acknowledge them and transcend them. They will soon realise that they are not welcome.

Even though this is true I still recommend the usual notion of only changing one habit at a time. Most people who are improving their level of awareness are not yet ready for the bigger challenges and have to work on the smaller ones first. Be like the ball rolling down the hill and slowly gathering momentum for a huge finale rather than the sprinter that runs all out for 100 metres then gets taken over when it really matters. Pick one habit that you would really like to change and that would give you power and the courage to break other patterns with better ones.

In a way this mode of being transcends the whole notion of habit because the more conscious you become the more you are actually awake to make moment to moment decisions rather than relying on automations running your life for you. A habit means that your subconscious is ruling your actions without your conscious awareness of it in the moment. You might exercise for 30 days in a row and now say you have installed the habit. In the future it will run without you needing to run it.  This is a truly high state of personal development though and I’m not claiming to be a champion at it but I’ve seen it and it’s fantastic.

this could be said to be the primary habit as all habit changes come out of firstly realising the habit is there and in control of you. Becoming aware.

Many people think “If I just get out the door and start exercising then it can be totally automatic because I’m there and that is the most important step. right?”. Well that is right but when you are looking at the higher levels of consciousness you want to be totally conscious of your actions in every moment. Just be there. All the words in the world cannot explain this you just have to have the courage to seek this out yourself.

How To Increase Your Conscious Awareness

Pick one habit – Get one habit that you really feel could change your life and be a step up to bigger things if you completed it. Just practice one hour daily to be aware at all times either through meditation or just concentrating on the task at hand. You can be aware of your thoughts, your breathing, the silence.The important thing is awareness. Then when it comes to the time when the habit should be changed, sit still for 15 seconds or so.

Feel the urge to change your mind, fidget or just do anything except for what you want to do but do not judge it. Just sit there and watch it. It is your mind working over time. He’s getting paid minimum wage and he doesn’t like it. Then just get up and complete the task when the sensation has reached its peak and tailed off and you are back in control. You are bringing the subconscious pattern into the conscious light where it can be changed.

Your Body – Become aware of your body and the physical sensations associate with it. By doing this you can take your focus away from the mind which never stops talking. When this happens your minds rests and is silent and you can use it more effectively.

Watch The Mind – This is a technique that I love and have had a lot of success with. In one of Eckhart Tolles books he describes a technique where you are like a cat watching a mouse hole for a mouse to escape. Be like that except the cat is your awareness and the mouse hole is your mind. This can be used in conjunction with the question “What will my next thought be?”. These can both bring about instant internal stillness. A time with no thoughts.

How To Pick A Habit To Change?

Most people will say that they want to get fit, go vegan, become more spiritual, lose 30lbs in a year. These are great goals but where are they coming from? What is driving these goals inside of you. You have to find what it is that is bringing you those goals and analyze it. I work from an attitude of oneness where bringing more quality and love into the world will decide my habits. Becoming fit then becomes improving myself on the physical level so that I can contribute more.

What is it that drives you? What do you think could give you limitless energy. When you have a good enough reason you will find a way to do it. Its usually the reason that people lack.

Time Perception

I come from the train of thought that there is no time. Just this moment and a projection of the future. Paradoxically if you believe this you still have the urge to get the most out of your life but also you know that there is no time as such. What this does is helps you filter out all the socially and other people driven goals and purifies them to the ones that truly matter. Try taking on this perspective as you cannot explain something to someone who has never experienced it. You may change less habits this way but they will mean more to you and be more important.