Tag: habit

Building best habits!

Building habits

Our habits have the power to enable us, most of the time, to live a more organized life. However, we might find it quite challenging when it comes to establishing new habits, as they require time and strong will. 
We should start by taking small steps every day to get used to eventually taking big ones for long periods.

Set measurable targets as habits

When trying to build new habits, be specific by thinking about ways to measure the evolution of your action: set clear targets that can help you, when the deadline previously decided on approaches, to evaluate your progress.

The pros and cons of building new habits

When picking up a new habit, think it well through: take into account the possible inconveniences as well as the most attractive advantages. 
Remember that sometimes it might get harder to keep to the habit, but eventually, you are doing it for a good cause that is related directly to yourself.

Get used to planning

Whenever you plan on building a new habit, make sure that you have already planned thoroughly what to do when difficulties appear: how to handle the situations that make it harder to respect your new routine. 

Associate new habits with the old ones

If you feel like picking up a new habit, don’t start from scratch. It is easier when you associate a new habit with one that already exists. 
This way, it will seem less work and fewer changes. In the end, both notions tend to scare us, so why not better avoid them?

Ensure the means

When building a new habit, make sure you have all the means that would enable you to get to like it faster. 
Equipment is often what matters the most when trying to get used to a new routine.

Provide the proper reward

When considering a new habit, make sure you see its accomplishment as satisfying rather than tiring. Therefore, choosing the proper reward after the completion of the habit can make you feel more at ease when it comes to your new routine.

Reference

https://zapier.com/blog/effective-habit-change/

TIPS TO STICK TO A HABIT

1. USE REINFORCEMENT

As humans, when we get rewarded we tend to repeat the same thing because we want rewards, but when we get failure or pain from something we tend not to perform it  for the second time again.

The thing explained above is a universal truth, but hard habits do not reward us that early, it requires time and patience and also a lot of discipline and that’s why very few of us stick with those habits. So the solution here is using rewards for motivation and encouragement so you will repeat the behaviour.

2. NEVER MISS A WORK TWICE

Its normal to miss one day or taking a rest for one day because after all we human beings need rest and we love to rest than to do certain things continuously ,but we shouldn’t miss the work twice.

When you miss continuously for two three days a new habit or to be specific procrastination develops which is highly destructive and can make all efforts that you have put in worthless, so after having a rest day try to come back again quickly.

3. TRACK YOU HABIT

Tracking habit will give you inner peace and satisfaction. And most importantly you will get the much needed motivation to keep continuing the task.

4. REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED.

We human being easily get diverted. Many times it becomes very difficult to keep us on track and to the habit.

In such cases we should try to imagine the end result of the work, or we should remember why we started that particular work. Make the subconscious mind aware about it. Whenever you get diverted immediately bring the end result in front of your eyes.

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!

What is Deliberate Practice?

Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance.

The greatest challenge of deliberate practice is to remain focused. In the beginning, showing up and putting in your reps is the most important thing. But after a while we begin to carelessly overlook small errors and miss daily opportunities for improvement.

This is because the natural tendency of the human brain is to transform repeated behaviors into automatic habits. For example, when you first learned to tie your shoes you had to think carefully about each step of the process. Today, after many repetitions, your brain can perform this sequence automatically. The more we repeat a task the more mindless it becomes.

Mindless activity is the enemy of deliberate practice. The danger of practicing the same thing again and again is that progress becomes assumed. Too often, we assume we are getting better simply because we are gaining experience. In reality, we are merely reinforcing our current habits—not improving them.

Claiming that improvement requires attention and effort sounds logical enough. But what does deliberate practice actually look like in the real world

Deliberate practice always follows the same pattern: break the overall process down into parts, identify your weaknesses, test new strategies for each section, and then integrate your learning into the overall process.

Consider the following example:

Basketball: Consider the following example from Aubrey Daniels, “Player A shoots 200 practice shots, Player B shoots 50. The Player B retrieves his own shots, dribbles leisurely and takes several breaks to talk to friends. Player A has a colleague who retrieves the ball after each attempt. The colleague keeps a record of shots made. If the shot is missed the colleague records whether the miss was short, long, left or right and the shooter reviews the results after every 10 minutes of practice. To characterize their hour of practice as equal would hardly be accurate. Assuming this is typical of their practice routine and they are equally skilled at the start, which would you predict would be the better shooter after only 100 hours of practice?

The Unsung Hero of Deliberate Practice

Perhaps the greatest difference between deliberate practice and simple repetition is this: feedback. Anyone who has mastered the art of deliberate practice has developed methods for receiving continual feedback on their performance.

The Promise of Deliberate Practice

Humans have a remarkable capacity to improve their performance in nearly any area of life if they train in the correct way. This is easier said than done.

Deliberate practice is not a comfortable activity. It requires sustained effort and concentration. The people who master the art of deliberate practice are committed to being lifelong learners—always exploring and experimenting and refining.

Deliberate practice is not a magic pill, but if you can manage to maintain your focus and commitment, then the promise of deliberate practice is quite alluring: to get the most out of what you’ve got.

 A thing to remember always is that if you don’t climb the cliff you won’t ever be able to see the view from top up there all you can see would be a view from the ground and the key to climb that tree is only through practise, the longer you persist it the more you would grow in terms of success.

Importance of Reading Books

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” – Walt Disney

Reading exposes us to new things, new ways, new understanding, new information, new ways to handle situations and new ways to solve them. It develops positive thinking and gives you a better perspective of life. It also enhances your knowledge, improves our concentration and makes us more confident. The importance of reading books is that it is giving you time to take a break from all your troubles. Once you get back to the real world, all those problems are much easier to tackle as your mind has been refreshed. Hence, it is important to develop the habit of reading not only for the sake of knowledge but also for personal growth and development.

Reading books makes us more knowledgeable and also enhances our memory power. With all our knowledge, vocabulary and grammar skills gained from reading, our confidence gets a huge boost and it helps us grow in all aspects of our life whether personal or professional. Reading can help us grow and give a new perspective about life. The benefits of reading books is that reading involves plots and character personalities, as well as events and human emotions. It also means remembering all these details to enable you to get through the book. Hence reading benefits the brain by forcing it to increase its ability to remember and improving our memory. Reading books is also vital for learning new languages as it helps non- native speakers alleviate, gain exposure and fluency in the language. Reading also improves our concentration because while we are read, we focus only on what is there in our book and nothing else. Hence it increases our attention span and improves our reasoning and logical skills. There’s a reading genre for every person on the planet, and whether our tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture our curiosity and imagination. Books enable us to have a glimpse into cultures, traditions, arts, history, geography, health, psychology, several other subjects , aspects of life and reading good books can influence us positively and guide us towards the right direction in life.

Reading habits develop vivid imagination, knowledge and vocabulary. It exposes us to the world of imagination as it gives us different ideas and understanding. As our imagination improves, so does our creativity and our ability to relate to things in new ways. As we read more and more, we are exposed to new things and new ideas. Our creativity and our way of inter-relating things improve. This leads to creative thinking. It also helps relieve stress as a good, engaging book will distract us and keep us in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing us to relax. It is important to read a good book at least for a few minutes each day to stretch the brain muscles for healthy functioning. Hence, it is very important to develop good reading habits.

Morning Practices Guaranteed to Keep You Motivated

There are predominantly two sorts of people during this world – those that wish to start their day early et al. , who if given an opportunity would dwell bed all day.

We have all had days when getting out of bed was next to impossible, and every one we wanted to try to to is return to sleep. There are various factors that keep you from motivating yourself to urge out of bed, like lack of sleep, tiredness, lethargy or simply the shortage of drive to travel about the day.

Here Are 6 Smart Morning Practices, bound to Keep You Motivated through the Day
Wake up Early

Get into the routine of sleeping and awakening early. this may allow you many time to spend time together with your self and finish your chores before you get on with your regular routine.

If you’re someone who finds it difficult to awaken , it’s an honest idea to line an alarm an hour before the time you would like to be awake. This ensures you awaken peacefully rather than awakening within the previous minute, struggling to urge able to start the day.

It’s important to awaken with a relaxed and peaceful state of mind because it assures a smoother day.

Start Your Day with Yoga

Mornings are an excellent time to practice yoga and meditate. Take time to relax and reflect before you get busy within the day. Use this point to clear your mind and put distractions cornered .

Don’t fight your thoughts while doing yoga – just be within the moment and practice mindfulness. Yoga is a particularly healthy morning practice because it helps in taming your anxious mind and contributes to raised psychological state .

Have a Hearty Breakfast

Breakfast is that the most vital meal of the day and it’s imperative that you simply take it seriously. The last item you ought to do is head out with an empty stomach. Not only is that this unhealthy, but it’s likely to end in loss of energy during the course of the day.

However busy or chaotic your mornings are, breakfasts play an important role in setting the inspiration of your day. Starting your day with an honest breakfast keeps your glucose and cortisol levels in restraint , helping you get an honest night’s sleep.

So, eat a healthy breakfast to spice up productivity and elevate your mood. you’ll include foods like eggs, bread, spinach, smoothies and fruits among others. this is often one more reason why you ought to awaken early – in order that you get enough time to repair yourself a hearty meal.

Make a To-Do List

The best thanks to have a productive day is to spend a couple of minutes within the morning making an inventory of tasks you would like to realize within the day.

Having a to-do list allows you to organize your day and track progress while remaining productive. So, whether it’s getting motivated to finish that essay or performing on a presentation – nothing is more motivating than ticking those items off your to-do list.

Listen to Motivational Podcasts On-the-Go

What happens once we can’t find motivation within ourselves? At such times, what helps is taking note of motivating podcasts that energize you. the simplest part about podcasts is that they’re convenient to consume and interesting .

So, while you’re traveling to figure or college, hear podcasts of your choice that motivate you, fill you with hope, and push you harder to travel after your goals.

Get an honest Night’s Sleep

Do you end up tossing and turning in the dark and unable to sleep on time? If yes, you ought to try sleep inducing hacks like putting your phone away, getting to bed at the proper time or taking note of relaxing music.

On a mean , humans need a minimum of 6 to eight hours of sleep to function well throughout the day. confirm you follow a sleep schedule religiously to sleep faster. What’s more, getting to a bed at an equivalent time a day develops stronger immunity and improved concentration.

So, make these morning practices how of life and you’ll be surprised how this may positively affects your mood, motivation and productivity levels.

The Scientific Argument for Mastering One Thing at a Time

Many people, myself included, have multiple areas of life they would like to improve. For example, I would like to reach more people with my writing, to lift heavier weights at the gym, and to start practicing mindfulness more consistently. Those are just a few of the goals I find desirable and you probably have a long list yourself.

The problem is, even if we are committed to working hard on our goals, our natural tendency is to revert back to our old habits at some point. Making a permanent lifestyle change is really difficult.

Too Many Good Intentions

If you want to master multiple habits and stick to them for good, then you need to figure out how to be consistent. How can you do that?

This finding is well proven and has been repeated in hundreds studies across a broad range of areas. For example, implementation intentions have been found to increase the odds that people will start exercising, begin recycling, stick with studying, and even stop smoking.

However (and this is crucial to understand) follow-up research has discovered implementation intentions only work when you focus on one thing at a time. In fact, researchers found that people who tried to accomplish multiple goals were less committed and less likely to succeed than those who focused on a single goal. 

What Happens When You Focus on One Thing

Here is another science-based reason to focus on one thing at a time:

When you begin practicing a new habit it requires a lot of conscious effort to remember to do it. After awhile, however, the pattern of behavior becomes easier. Eventually, your new habit becomes a normal routine and the process is more or less mindless and automatic.

Researchers have a fancy term for this process called “automaticity.” Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which allows the pattern to become automatic and habitual.

The most important thing to note is that there is some “tipping point” at which new habits become more or less automatic. The time it takes to build a habit depends on many factors including how difficult the habit is, what your environment is like, your genetics, and more.

Change Your Life Without Changing Your Entire Life

Alright, let’s review what I have suggested to you so far and figure out some practical takeaways.

  1. You are 2x to 3x more likely to follow through with a habit if you make a specific plan for when, where, and how you are going to implement it. This is known as an implementation intention.
  2. You should focus entirely on one thing. Research has found that implementation intentions do not work if you try to improve multiple habits at the same time.
  3. Research has shown that any given habit becomes more automatic with more practice. On average, it takes at least two months for new habits to become automatic behaviors.

The counterintuitive insight from all of this research is that the best way to change your entire life is by not changing your entire life. Instead, it is best to focus on one specific habit, work on it until you master it, and make it an automatic part of your daily life. Then, repeat the process for the next habit. 

The way to master more things in the long-run is to simply focus on one thing right now.