Developing New Habits with ease

krish
By krish in Personal Development -- [Main],
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  
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