Negative Beliefs & Bad Habits: Got Some?
The way we think is one of the hardest things to change. The saying “a leopard never changes their spots” can go beyond just someone’s personality. It can refer to someone’s habits and belief systems.
Imagine, you’ve been thinking the same way your entire life. You have learned or adopted unhealthy belief systems over 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years that no longer suit you. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most people are skeptical when you claim to be a “new person.”
Undoing negative belief patterns and chucking bad habits is not an overnight process. The process of beginning anything new takes time, but it still can be discouraging when we fall back a few steps. If you are overweight and you want to diet, for example, you have to first change the way you think about food. How many of us grew up with parents that insisted we eat everything on our plate? If you didn’t you wouldn’t get desert. Realizing that you can stop eating when you are full and you don’t need to eat everything is a belief system. It is a different way to see food. Eating only when you are hungry and filling boredom or emotional vacancies with more healthy pursuit’s amounts to reprogramming yourself.
Our belief systems and negative habits that derail us from making progress in our lives also need to be rewired. Many people, not excluding me, are addicted to a type of thinking. We are so used to having bad things happen to us, feeling down or anxious that it is what we continue to manifest because we’re used to it.
Have you ever heard of someone accuse another of “liking the drama” or “he loves to argue”? Who enjoys arguing and stirring up strife for no good reason? Who consciously enjoys creating chaos and drama in their lives? Most of this is on a subconscious level, and most people who engage in such sabotaging behaviors will never readily admit to it because they’re not aware they’re doing it.
This doesn’t mean bad habits are not capable of being broken or negative belief systems cannot be changed. But it does take a lot of practice to catch yourself in the act and to change the way you think. It takes will power and real effort to make the decision to stop defeating habits.
Negative habits constitute far more than just smoking, drinking and ingesting illegal substances. Negative habits can be as simple as staying on the computer too long at night and thus keeping your brain “wired” to the degree that it creates insomnia. I have done this one myself and am still trying to break this bad habit. Studies have shown that when you’re on the computer or electronic devices before bed that they tend to keep your brain going long after you turn off. The result can too often be sleepless nights.
What sort of habits and belief systems are holding you back from moving forward or being productive in your life? I bet if you meditate on it and you are honest with yourself, you can humbly admit to at least one bad habit or negative belief system that you carry around with you.
Some people make decisions and they stick to them. Some can quit cold turkey. They end relationships, strike business deals, lose a ton of weight, invest a lot of money, etc. They do it fast, and once they make their mind up, that’s it. Some of us have to start small. Some of us have to gradually let go. Pick what works best for you. But, try picking at least one thing that you can change in your life that will move you forward. It can be a bad habit or a negative belief system. Try making a conscious effort to give it up.
The more willing you are to admitting that there are things you can change to improve your life, the more you’ll realize that we’re all students in life. None of us are too good or too experienced to admit that we can’t still learn a thing or two.
Writing With Hope 