Motivation isn't as helpful as tiny habits

Motivation isn't as helpful as tiny habits

Motivation and willpower aren’t enough. When I was about 14 years old I told myself that I wasn’t going to do this any more. I knew what I was doing was not really something that I wanted to be doing but felt like I had to just get the right motivation and put some willpower to it and it would be done. I could quit this. I wanted to be the kind of kid who didn’t have to feel ashamed of who I was when people weren’t looking. This was around the time I went to my first youth conference, I’m pretty sure it was in Seward Alaska, at some high school and it was a blast. The theme song was Fly like an eagle by the steve miller band. Pretty sure that is a not so veiled reference to getting high from the same band that brought you the line, ‘some people call me a space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love’ - but as kids we just went along with it and enjoyed our time learning about the gospel with our friends, meeting new friends from around Alaska and singing along whenever the leaders played the song, “time keeps on slippin into the future.” I came back more motivated than ever to be done with masturbation. The thing about motivation and willpower are that they are unreliable partners. I’ve talked about willpower being a trap and how it is the wrong tool in episode 38. Let’s talk about motivation. Motivation is fleeting, it comes, it goes. It usually only sticks around for a little while until some other emotion takes over our current moment. Anyone who has dieted knows this. We are forever fighting the battle of the bulge in this country and part of the reason is, we use motivation to start strong and then, when that motivation is all used up, because emotions all fade eventually, we haven’t built the habits that we need to behave the way we think we wanted to when we were motivated toward the end result. As I have been reading the book, tiny habits by bj fogg I have noticed that is what I was doing as a young man working to eliminate a behavior that had been keeping me from being my best self. This problem didn’t go away as I got older because, as BJ puts it, my behavior “was a design issue, not a character flaw.” What I needed to do, and what I eventually did, long before I read BJ’s book was create a series of habits that crowded out my pornography and masturbation habits. I undermined what they were giving me by creating habits that gave me more. And, just like the examples that BJ uses in his book, when I lapsed back into old habits, I didn’t look at it as a failure that impugned my character and made me irredeemable and broken. I saw it as a moment to learn how my designed behaviors had worked and how they could be improved. I’ve always felt like a tinkerer. My wife is often amazed at the things I do when it comes to building and creating and fixing the things in our home. I love to use tools and build and create, design and refine. When I stepped back from 12 steps and councilors about 8 years ago, that was the same attitude that I brought to my pornography habit. So, I want to give you two, tiny habits that I have identified from those years that helped me create new habits that helped me so I could see pornography as a problem I had outgrown and no longer needed to help me feel better. If you are someone who needs help with a pornography habit and wants to work with me on it, go to my website, zachspafford.com/workwithme and set up a consult with me. I can tell you how you can get the one on one help that you want to get to being worthy and free and clear from this trial in your life. The first habit was a really simple phrase. Whenever I would begin to feel the urge to use my phone to look at...

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Darcy on how to be a mom who can talk to their kids about pornography.

Darcy on how to be a mom who can talk to their kids about pornography.

Mothers day! As a mom how often do you talk to other moms about pornography and how often do you find that their kids are struggling? Mom’s often bear the burden of talking about pornography with their kids, what tips would you offer any mom who wants to begin creating an open dialogue with their kids around pornography? There is often a lot of guilt and shame for moms when they find out their child is looking at pornography. Why do you think that is? What ideas would you offer to moms to help them eliminate the shame for themselves so they can come to that conversation with their kids in a frame of mind that they can be pleased with? When you go to mothers retreats like the one you just attended, you seem to find that everyone wants to talk to you about your work once they find out about it. What would you say to women who don’t know who to talk to about the struggles they are having with pornography and their children?

10 Touko 202135min

I'm An Addict, Right?

I'm An Addict, Right?

zachspafford.com/freecall You’re addicted to pornography, Right? Monthly webinar T: The addiction Causes Problems. F: Stress · Addiction means I’m not responsible for my actions – · Addiction can be a rationalization that our brain offers when we want to believe we are a good person even though I don’t always live up to my values. · What is the value in believing “I’m an addict?”

2 Touko 202120min

Do you hold your husband to an impossible standard?

Do you hold your husband to an impossible standard?

Do you hold your husband to a standard that you yourself can’t uphold? This idea has been on my mind a lot lately. We are all designed to notice beauty Just because we notice beauty it doesn’t have to mean anything Is it possible to notice and appreciate beauty and still live in line with out values

26 Huhti 202116min

Exercising Faith and Prayer to eliminate pornography - part 2

Exercising Faith and Prayer to eliminate pornography - part 2

That’s faith. Let’s talk about prayer. I’ve often gone back to the bible dictionary to understand this principle and I am struck by what it teaches about the nature of prayer. First, it is work. So many of us go through prayer as though it were just an incantation that we learned to conjure the spell of this blessing or that. The way we pray over our food may be an example you can look to for what I mean. But work is uncomfortable, sometimes strenuous, and, often, marked by giving up something we want. Interestingly, one of the only things that we have that we can give up is our will. And in this context, our will is often, as much as it is anything in our lives, the desire to feel good here and now. When we layer that idea into our pornography use, it’s important to acknowledge that the thing we are often seeking when we seek out pornography is to feel good, here and now. In the ancient world, people hit themselves in the chest or tore their clothing as demonstrations of sorrow. They were, in their attitude of prayer, literally giving up comfort in the here and now and paying the cost of discomfort in giving up their will to God in that moment. Second, It is not a commandment, it is a conversation. It is an opportunity to acknowledge what we’ve been given by our Heavenly Father. It is an opportunity to discuss with him what we believe we need, want, and desire. Prayer is an intimate expression of our weakness and dependence on our Father. It is an opportunity to express and experience the love He has given us. Prayer, as far as I can tell, has two main purposes. Firstly, it is meant to help us bring our will into concert with that of God’s. Secondly, it is a place to seek out the blessings that are already ours, but that we are required to ask for. All of this, in my view, brings the discussion we are having with Heavenly Father about our pornography struggle into a bright highlight of what we might do better to fully realize the blessings our Father has in store. So lets start with the phrase that I used and I’m sure many of you have as well. “Lord, please take this pornography problem away from me.” That may not be your exact wording but, it is likely similar to things you’ve said in your moments of want and struggles to end pornography in your life. Let’s dissect where this type of prayer might miss the most powerful parts of prayer. First off, this sounds like we are giving up our will to HF. We’re thinking, I don’t want this problem any more, I can just ask HF to take it away and make it so that I don’t have to struggle with it, because I’ve asked for a clearly good thing. I’ve asked that I no longer look at pornography. But what this misses, is that in asking HF to “take this away” we are asking Him to be in charge of our choices. Problem there is, he gave you agency, he isn’t taking it back. It also doesn’t account for work. This is a want, a wish list item that doesn’t have any cost to it except that you asked for it. This is like a little girl who asks her dad for a pony. All she does is say, I want it and doesn’t create any path to making it a reality. But, you say, this is a blessing that God might be willing to grant. Sure, I think that might be possible. But I also think it is unlikely. To be honest, I don’t think HF cares if you look at pornography. I don’t think that sits high on his priority list of things to eliminate from your life. What I believe HF wants for each of us is an abiding testimony in the...

19 Huhti 202113min

Faith and Prayer in eliminating Pornography - Part 1

Faith and Prayer in eliminating Pornography - Part 1

Download the talk Zach mentioned on the podcast free. https://www.zachspafford.com/podcast-freebie

11 Huhti 202113min

Easter, the Atonement and Agency

Easter, the Atonement and Agency

zachspafford.com/workwithme

5 Huhti 202122min

What Does Life After Pornography Look Like?

What Does Life After Pornography Look Like?

Set up a consult at zachspafford.com/workwithme

28 Maalis 202124min

Creating Priorities Make It Easier to Say No

Creating Priorities Make It Easier to Say No

Learn how saying no to something in your life is easier when you know what your real priorities are.

22 Maalis 202114min

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