Habits have an impact on every aspect of our lives and to a certain extent they define who we are.
Habits play a primary role in our energy levels, sleep patterns, our physical and emotional strength. Habits shape how we respond to decisions and events. Our good habits will aid our personal development and support our goals. Habits are a primary ingredient to both our health and happiness.
When embarking on a new habit, with consistent effort, the habit will become a repetitive part of our organic behaviour.
I’ve been told from a few Google search results that habit formation takes an average of 59 to 70 days. We are what we repeatedly do so I’ve been deliberately working on a collection of habits in anticipation of a big collective impact in my life. Jim Ryun said, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
I started a dozen new habits early in the year, so I’ve blown the 70-day mark of the water and my changes have now become routine.
The biggest habit I have overhauled is my media diet. I have reduced my trashy news consumption from about 20 minutes a day to zero. I’ve also reduced my social media use by about 50%.
I have a journal entry from 16 February this year and it reads:
“Habits. I’m changing them. Small media habits like not accessing social media morning and night, not using my phone at bedtime, not reading any social news, zero free-to-air TV and reduced streaming services. It’s making a difference I can feel it.
What do these small habits reward me? I am rewarded with progression with things that matter, moving forward with my goals and priorities, and embracing positive change. It is confidence, it is control, it is freedom. Taking charge of the media that surrounds me, that tries to down me, media that is programmed to control me.
Take charge of my time. It’s an ingredient to freedom right?”
It doesn’t sound like much but that 20 minutes a day of shitty news that I binned combined with another 10 minutes a day of social media that I diluted, returns me 182 hours (a whole week!!) a year that I can give to my children.