Greetings!
Welcome to STEP INTO YOUR LIFE! It is my way of sharing with you the personal experiences and information I gather on my journey of life. I believe that anything is possible as long as you believe in it, work for it, and stay focused on the goals to achieve it.
This month I am exploring habits- breaking old bad habits and starting good new habits. Are they a conscious decision we can make?
I'm doing a survey about habits and I'd love for you to participate. Please let me know if you'd like to. It should only take about 10 minutes by phone. Give me a call at 203-209-5462 or send me an email and I'll forward you the questions.
Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone, to email me with
comments or to write a little inspiring thought of your own. I'd be
happy to include it in future newsletters!
Enjoy,
Monica
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10 Habits to turn around:
Current bad habit
Living a disorganized life Instant gratification (buy,eat now) Being late
Leaving things incomplete Reacting Impatiently Never taking time for ME Always doing the easy thing
Believing my saboteur voice
Doing without planning
New habit to develop
Create a system and use it
Delay gratification for future goals
Take care to be on time
Work to completion
Patience and proactivity
Put MY needs on the calendar
Do the hard things first
Believe my goals are possible
Begin with the end in mind
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Quote of the Month
"We are what we
repeatedly do.
Excellence then is not an art, but a habit."
-Aristotle
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This Week's Blog
 You Wouldn't Let Them Play With Matches, Would You? Deciding as a parent what you believe in and the values you hold dear
are important to setting the ground rules for your family life. Go to my blog for the full story! www.newstepslifecoaching.blogspot.com
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Habits Part I
Anyone who has been working on setting and achieving goals knows that bad habits can get in your way. What will help you break the old bad habits in order to make room for the great new habits you wish to develop?
Habits become a natural rhythm to our day- brushing your teeth in the morning, reading your emails before you dig into your daily tasks or watching TV every night after dinner. How did we develop these habits? Were they a result of conditioning or were they a conscious decision? Did society or our parents engrain them into our brain? What would it take get rid of bad habits or to develop great new habits?
Bad habits can be thought of like being in a box. You are familiar with the size and shape of the box. You are familiar with the view from this box. You might be unsure or fearful of what life is like outside the box, but deep down you know you want to get out. Bad habits are limiting your ability to make your goals a reality.
I feel the key to turning things around is not only having the desire and knowing what new habits you'd like to create, but understanding what keeps you stuck doing the "bad" things over and over again. Looking at why we have a bad habit will do more to change it than learning the right way to do something. If something you're doing on a regular basis is not working for you, then something inside you is keeping you on that path. Three places to explore what is keeping you stuck are: The Saboteur Voice, your lack of willingness to give up an old way/accept a new way, and Conflicting Values.
If there is an inner voice that is telling you that you can't break the habit or it's OK to continue with the status quo, try to analyze that voice (the saboteur). When does it show up? What is the voice saying? Is it really true? We must break away from the inner dialogue that has convinced us we can never do it another way. "It's a family trait. I'm not strong enough to change my ways. It's OK to sneak a little. The other way is too hard." Whatever that inner voice is telling you and whatever the circumstances have been in the past, you must Believe there is a way to bring change into your life in order for you to shut out that inner chatter and create a new voice. Take a few moments to write down the negative chatter that is keeping you in your old habits. Challenge its validity to see if you really have to believe it or do you want to believe something new.
In our quest to break old habits, most people take the first few steps and then falter. Our willingness to try something new or to give up something old is just not strong enough. Is there enough willingness and commitment to make change happen? If you aren't willing and committed to your goal of changing your habits, then change will not occur. If you are not willing to work at it, then it's not going to happen!
If we recognize that we have a "bad" habit, chances are that we have core values or principles we are acting against. Continuing with that bad habit can cause a lot of anxiety or unhappiness. There could be conflicting values that are keeping you in this battle. Example: I really love sweets, but I really want to lose 10 pounds. In its most simple form, My Health (core value) is losing out to MY Love of Sweets (conflicting value). When you look at the two side by side, you might ask, "How can they both exist in harmony?" Some conflicting values can co-exist by finding the middle ground; one small square of chocolate instead of a whole candy bar each day. Some conflicting values cannot co-exist, such as smoking and good health. In this case, some real soul searching is in order! What is more important to you?
In my next newsletter I will discuss 6 strategies to start new empowering habits.
· New Belief system of perspectives and intentions
· Evaluating what is important to you
· Creating a Master Plan, allowing you to know at any given time if any given task is part of your true goals or not.
· Commitment- Yes and No to what matters
· Evaluation-adjust, compromise
· Taking Action
I have worked with many clients on this topic of turning over a new leaf. I have also worked with my own coach on the same subject. A coach helps you find your saboteurs, limiting beliefs and conflicting values so that you can break free from your old habits and get committed to new ones. I encourage you to consider what life coaching can do for you and give it a try. The first session is always on me!
Monica Leggett, CPCC
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Suggested reading:
Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. This book is often quoted, highly respected and very useful for finding the habits to develop the life you want to create. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems.
Other Time management experts/authors:
Julie Morgenstern
Brian Tracy
Look for them in book stores and on line.
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| Thanks for reading and I hope you gained some new insights and tips. Please share your ideas and feedback with me. If there is a topic you would like to see covered on these pages please let me know!
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Sincerely,
Monica Leggett
New Steps Life Coaching
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Copyright (c) Monica F Leggett, All rights reserved.
Visit www.newstepslifecoaching for more info and tips.
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Monica Leggett, CPCC
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