Using a Habit Tracker to Achieve Your Dreams
Have you ever the heard the saying, “old habits die hard”? This is the very reason why so many people give up on their dreams. Habits tend to trip us up at the most inopportune times. Just when we think we are on the right path or have a plan, BAM! They come out of nowhere, almost as though they enjoy stopping us dead in our tracks.
In my own journey, whenever I find myself veering off course, I pull out my Habit Tracker and get back to basics. A Habit Tracker is a visual aid to help us see where the obstacles appear. Not only do I notice patterns in myself but I can pretty much foresee where my private or group coaching clients will self-sabotage themselves in creating change as well.
And yet, we do possess the power to change a habit. Afterall, we were the ones that created them in the first place. Habits are nothing more than decisions that we made, once upon a time, with emotion and then we kept repeating this action without thought.
Once a habit is repeated regularly enough (life on auto-pilot), then it sits in the sub-conscious where it stimulates us to perform certain movements, tasks or thoughts mindlessly as though we were a hamster on wheel unable to find a way off or out of a situation. Habits are learned behaviors. Which is great, because if you learned them, you can also unlearn them (if that is even a word) or replace them with a new habit that will serve you better.
“Healthy habits are learned the same way as unhealthy ones, through practice.”
~Wayne Dyer
Habits are formed no different than learning to ride a bike or memorize your multiplication tables. I like to think of habits as a dress rehearsal for what is to come. But they don’t come easy or often without a fight, ok, maybe struggle is a better word. We humans are creatures of habit. We like them and many of our habits (good, bad or ugly) have been with us for a very long time.
A Habit Tracker allows you to see patterns. That is when you get to reflect on why certain behaviors or actions take place and begin to make new choices.
Habits hold a great deal of influence over us and direct many of our actions and thoughts throughout the day. Utilizing a Habit Tracker (a habit in itself) is a great way to begin noticing where the disparity between your goals and your actions lie.
Begin small, this is not a race. Change takes patience and time. The Habit Tracker provides space for 5 new habits. This doesn’t mean you need to do all 5 at once. No hairy scary changes either. Think of something you wish to change about yourself…(ie; I’d like to smile more). That way you get to see where you go off track. This is where the patience comes in and being present enough to recognize and honest enough to notice without beating yourself up.
If you are a business owner you may want to: connect with five old clients a day, add ten people to your email list a day, message or call three prospective clients daily, etc. Be sure to make these tasks achievable, otherwise your sub-conscious will not play along and yet again you will be defeated and be able to tell yourself all of the reasons why you can not live the life of your dreams.
Don’t just accept what life dishes out, if you are not living the life of your dreams. You possess the ability to change the path. Yes it takes practice, yes it takes time, yes you may fall, stumble, get frustrated…but what is the alternative? “Old habits do die hard” but they can and they will with some time, focus and belief that you are worthy of everything beautiful and amazing.
Cheers to a beautiful new day!
