Do you know why habits are better than goals and plans and dreams and wishes? Because things are habits when you do them without even THINKING about them. That’s why Covey named the book that. He called them 7 HABITS because you’re supposed to practice them so often and so consistently that you do them without thinking. Our minds are built to handle this.
Ever drive home and forget to pay attention? You just show up somewhere and think, “Wow, I don’t really remember the details of getting here.” On smaller levels, there are lots of things our body does that way. You never really think about tying your shoes, and yet, robots have the WORST time doing that one thing.
With this in mind, I am going to commit to picking a few habits at a time to ingrain into my person. There are some self-improvements that I’ll work on at their basest level, until I don’t even think about them. They’ll just be the status quo.
I’ll start with some for my dietary habits, as those seem to have suffered lately. I’ll make a few rules and work them long enough that they become habits. One will be to resume the divided plate analogy.
Jorge Cruise used to tell folks in 8 Minutes in the Morning for Real Shapes and Real Sizes to take a standard 9″ dinner plate. Cut it in half, and then half again on one side. Use 1/2 the plate for veggies. Use 1/4 the plate for protein. Use 1/4 for carbs. Add a tablespoon of a good fat per meal, and that is the easiest meal plan to follow. He’s updated it a little for his new book (which I haven’t read). It now looks like this:
Well, I guess I understand the new picture, and the edit is to show us what typical proper portions should be. But, the analogy is weird, because I don’t really want to eat a Rubix Cube. But whatever. (Used without permission. No ownership implied).
I’ll try this for my first commitment to a habit. I’ll report back.
Have you built new habits into your lifestyle? What were they? How’d you get them to stick?
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