Tag Archives: awareness

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Why Are Habits a Hot Topic?

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Whenever something is a hot topic, you know there’s money to be made.

 

Hooked

It’s an endless buffet of ‘advice for a price’. There are currently over 7,000 books on habits. People are selling happiness, an end to self-doubt, ways to eliminate procrastination or increase sticking to priorities. You can even learn the habits that will enable you to live comfortably on a four hour work week.

One of the main reasons is that embedded into the seller’s journey is Habit Forming Technology. Similar to how the salt and sugar in our food chain make it very difficult to put down chips or chocolate, companies are capable of hooking millions of people into taking action. The steps are simple and seem benign initially, but the stakes are guaranteed to escalate over time. Those companies want your attention and eventually your money.

Anyone with an electronic device has experienced being hooked. It may be free for now but not for long. Like everything, there is an upside and a downside. What’s important is that you’re aware of being deliberately hooked.

 Photo: DepositPhotos
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Adapting Habits: Who Has the Answers – Google or You?

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When change is staring us in the face, most of us understand that we will need to do things differently. But adapting behavior can range from very simple to extremely difficult. Though we understand the reason for adapting – putting a change into practice can be a bigger challenge than we envisioned.

The reasons for resisting can be obvious or obscure. Your resistance may be easy to ignore, or you may find it to be perplexing. You may have an intense desire to do things differently yet find yourself powerless when it comes to taking action. And if you are used to accomplishing, that’s very frustrating.

Have you ever had a situation where your effectiveness and execution were stalled? You knew you needed to move ahead but couldn’t. It didn’t make sense, since you are usually clear and decisive. It’s because each of us has a unique code for why we do what we do.

Imagine finding a closed padlock you haven’t used in awhile. You wonder what the code is and try many variations with no luck. It remains locked and out of commission.

Why is it when you pose a question to Google it displays a plethora of answers? But when it comes to your behavior, only you possess the code that will unlock things. Google could give you advice, but the reasons why adapting is difficult in this particular situation are inside you.   It takes insight to turn awareness into action.

How can you crack your code? It takes a skilled interpreter to connect the information and insights unique to you. Having your habit interpreted can release useful data to reduce any perplexing aspects hindering you from taking action.

How do you determine if a habit interpreter is required? Well, here are three clues that indicate you may need an interpreter.

1) Whenever you hear yourself saying “There’s gotta be a better way”. Especially when it is unclear what that better way is for you. Or,

2) You have found the perfect off the shelf solution in a book or article, and it worked well for a few weeks then you stopped using it, and you don’t know why. Or,

3) The 21 day program sounded terrific but you barely lasted a week.

Does any of these sound familiar?  If you can’t get your answer from Google, you may want to try a session with The Habit Interpreter.