S1 E15 - On Habits (Part 5 of 6) ONE New Habit at a Time + Habit Change as a Meta-Skill

In part 5 of my mini-series on habit change we talk about a few concrete examples of how to implement one habit change at a time.

This is about how it takes 30-300 repetitions (typically) to form a strong habit, though it depends on how much skill is required. Give yourself permission to work on just one habit for the next 2-3 months.

I use the habit of journaling or thought downloads in detail so we have an example to work with.

Once you get that habit firmly established, you can tackle a new one. As you keep layering on habits, you will form the "meta-skill" of habit development.

I talk about unconscious habits we may have, such as negative self-talk or other things that may not seem so obvious. Habits always develop for a reason, and for ones that came about when we were quite young, it can take longer to unwind.

If you have a very ambitious habit, like stopping overeating, maybe you want to start with some habits of awareness first. I use the example of food journaling as a way to develop a habit of awareness that might lead to understanding yourself better. Even if our tracking is not perfect, and maybe we can only do it 2/3 of the time, we are still gathering data that can help.

Then we can take on the additional layers that might help us understand the triggers to our overeating, and figure out different ways to handling those times.

I address a few common questions people have about habits and set us up with a question about how we deal with our inner critic when it comes to habit change, for those of us who have failed at habit change before.

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Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/