11.19.2011

Rituals or Habits....

Or whatever you call them..
Hey all, I had a pretty good week.
I exercised very consistently and am implementing a new toning regimen so that I don't burn out on exercise.
I am trying to  make exercise a part of my life that is livable for the rest of my life.
Just like I am trying to make eating well a kind of habit.
OR ritual.
Whatever you want to call it...
I get the word 'ritual' from Tony Robbins.
He seems to be a love him or hate him type of guy.
I am actually neither.
lol.
I rarely Love Love or hate hate very many people.
I reserve it for people I know well.
So I observe him as a rather interesting fellow.
A person who says thing s that are fairly obvious but that we somehow forget to do..
Things like:
Do the small things and the large things will get in line.
Focus.
What you focus on is important.
HE does a little exercise where he says
Okay...turn around...find every brown thing in your line of sight...
brown brown brown...
do this for thirty seconds...
got it..
now really do it...look around and look for brown stuff...
I'll wait.
.
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Now...
Name every red thing you saw.
You don't remember any red things?
Right,
because you were focusing on brown.
The same goes for what you focus on daily.
Focus on fear, you'll be fearful.
Focus on gratitude you will be grateful.
etc.
He does  little exercises where you think of things you are grateful for for a period of time....
then he wants you to note how your body is positioned...
Then he wants you to think of a time you were sad  or failed.
IT's so when you need it, you can change your physiology to change your state of mind.
Which I do believe can work.
But physiology and changing your tape alone are not enough.
You need to build underlying habits that support your goals.
For instance.
When I was big....262 lbs.
I had a habit of going through fast food drive thrus.
I had a habit of drinking a grande white mocha with whipped cream whenever I went to starbucks.
I had a habit of having seconds and thirds for dinner.
I had a habit of watching television.
I had a habit of wearing clothes with no zippers.
Now that I am smaller
I don't go through fast food drive thrus.
I drink a tall americano with splenda
I have firsts...and that is all.
I cancelled my cable.
I have pants with a size in them.
I exercise daily...
before I never exercised.
Change your habits, change your life.

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them - quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of great people,
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine though
I work with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin -
it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I? I am Habit.

Tomorrow I will talk about the Time Factor.
Chris out.

10 comments:

Joy said...

Great post Chris. You know I love the focus thing!!

Ahhh you know....

Keep focused!!

Retta said...

Loved this, Chris. And thanks for the reminder about the exercise habit. I need to get firm with my companion, Habit, and make that a priority again. :-)

Hanlie said...

Great post! There's a reason why Tony Robbins is so successful - his strategies work if you employ them. I'm in the process of establishing good habits and it's true that you have to keep focusing on them.

indubitably danielle said...

I like the example you used with the brown and red items. I'll have to try some of Robbins' material. I know who he is, I've just never really listened to anything he's had to say. Might be interesting if he's giving out thought provoking nuggets like that.

Thanks for the great post!

'Yellow Rose' Jasmine said...

So simple and yet so profound.
Isn't this the truth of so many things in life?
Love all your insightful posts.
They do so much good for so many.

~Karen C.L. Anderson~ said...

Excellent post...and it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: what you see depends mainly on what you look for. :-)

E. Jane said...

Such a good post! I can see the "habit" issue in my own life. I think that "habit" is often what we call addiction. They both are compelling and hard to manage.

Kelliann said...

I LOVE this post - thanks so much!!
Focus, focus, focus!!

Clydesdale Jogger said...

Loved the Constant Companion. Thanks for the post!

jo said...

You always write such thought provoking posts. I'm with you on Tony, neither love nor dislike. I just take what I can use. This was good.