Phase 3 Day 3 : Habits of Action.

Picture

Today’s post is about “external” habits but that might be a misnomer. They’re still your habits and so they’re in you and therefore internal. The differentiation is made more clear however when you call these by another name “habits of action”. 

Clearly stated, action habits are what you do while the internal habits are what you think and feel habitually. 

Just like with the internal habits it’s important that you not look at these habitual actions as “you”. 

Yes one way to view yourself is by what you think and do on a regular basis BUT you are also free to choose those thoughts and actions... even if it doesn’t always feel like it. 

When looking at our habits of action, it’s important to note that too many people try to leave changes they attempt to implement to will power. Trying to psyche yourself up to take on a new set of actions is not a sustainable behaviour. We must set the table to win. Stack the cards in our favour and ... some other cliche involving making things easier on ourselves. 



In order to look at what behaviours need modifying we need to look at a number of things. We must look at how much time we spend working towards our goals a day, how effective that time is and how much recovery we’re allowing. 

To simplify this, how much time are we spending driving, idling and refueling. 

In order to achieve what we want, our actions must support more driving and more refueling while eliminating as much idling as possible. If you complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day then you need to look at your habits of action and see how much you idle. 

I’ve found that I can only work for a certain amount of time before I need to take a break. I used to just push through and pat myself on the back for being so bullheaded in my pursuit of my goals while the reality is that I was being stupid. I became exhausted and was less and less able to function effectively. It’s not that anyone else really noticed but I did. I knew I wasn’t at my best, that my thinking was not at a level I was used to and my work was just “ok”. 

Changing a few small habits made a HUGE difference with me. One, I didn’t let myself work into the bleary eyed stage. I trained myself to become aware of the point where I stopped being effective and I would step away. Even as little as 5-10 minutes spent clearing my head allowed me to quickly finish tasks that I had usually allowed to drag on as I became more and more exhausted. 

Another habit I took on is so simple it is almost embarrassing to admit how long it took me to adopt.  This is similar to the last one but goes a little further... rest when tired. Managing my energy has become a huge theme of my life and it comes down to seeing a few friends come to visit and sleep a lot of the time. I have a home that is larger and more accommodating than many of my peers in the area. It’s not BIG by any means, but these things are relative. I also live by the beach and so I routinely have groups of friends stay here when they come through town. I remember seeing two of my most energetic friends sleep any time they weren’t needed and it got me thinking that perhaps they were energetic because they were more rested than everyone else. They weren’t being anti social or rude in any way... it was just in those dead moments where people were transitioning between one activity and another, they would rest. They wouldn’t play on their phones or watch TV... they would rest. 

This habit alone can change your life. 

You can choose as many are you like. 

Challenge:

  • What habits do you need to replace in order to move forward? 
  • What habits will you put in place?