Habits and How to Change Them

"Honey, have you seen my keys?"

"Where are those bills? They were due yesterday!"

"Did you floss at all this week?"

"When was the last time you hit the gym?"

Habits. They can be our worst enemy or our best friend. Dropping things on any flat surface when you come in the door at night is very inviting. The problem is that they often get left there, and you can't find your keys, you miss bills, and you don't know where the things that you need for the next day are when you get ready to go. This type of habit can cause stress and waste time that could be used for something enjoyable.

Brushing your teeth, planning weekly menus and exercising are also habits. This type of habit can reduce stress, save money and improve health.

Smoking, chewing tobacco, overeating, eating when you're not hungry, making poor food choices, and biting your nails are also habits. This type of habit often times has an emotional piece that goes with it.

Habits are like a well-worn path through a meadow. It's very easy to stay on the path, your feet know it well. You really don't have to think about it or even pay attention to where you're going. In fact, getting off that path takes some conscious effort and a bit of work.

Your first step is deciding where you really want to go. Changing one habit or changing interrelated habits is much easier and more effective than trying to change many diverse habits at once. Deciding to eat healthier goes well with menu planning and meal preparation.

It's said that it takes 21 days to put a new habit in place. I find it easiest to do it by the month. A new habit each month, reinforcing a habit that seems to be slipping a bit or refining an already useful habit (moving the furniture once a month when vacuuming instead of just catching the traffic area.)

For those habits that have an emotional piece, new habits that you find yourself resisting, or habits that just don't seem to want to "stick," hypnosis can be very helpful. Hypnosis can help you find out what your subconscious mind thinks about the habit, why it's resisting change and how to move forward. Your lifestyle utilizing this new habit becomes very clear with hypnosis and the change becomes easy. When you're looking for a hypnotist to help you with your habits, make sure that they do more than just use scripts and positive imagery, look for someone that will really dive into the issues.

Joni Brewer, Clinical Hypnotist, Life Coach JoniBrewer@ymail.com BrewerHypnosis.com

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