Habits Guide

Our habits are supposed to help us master the world around us.

Yet most people live life as if their habits are in control. They spend their lives struggling to break bad habits and are unable to make healthy habits stick.

The truth is you can accomplish great things in life when you learn how to master your habits. Once you know what your purpose is, you can use the power of habits to help you automate daily tasks and achieve difficult goals.

This guide will show you everything you need to build good habits and break bad ones. With the power of habits, you can turn your dreams into reality.

It will not be easy. But you can control your habits and your destiny.

What are Habits?

When shopping at a store for the first time, your brain is completely alert and focused. Your conscious mind is actively looking for everything on your list.

Through a process of trial and error your brain will learn the most effective way to take action. Over time as you continue shopping at the same store it gets easier to find everything that you need on your list. You can stop using your conscious mind and start to make decisions with little thought or awareness.

The fact is when our conscious mind is not forced to work our actions are controlled by our subconscious mind. Our automatic mind is always creating habits through repetition which allows us to process information quickly and without much effort. Our brain can then focus on doing new tasks since routine tasks become easier to do. This is how we master the world around us.

And why we spend most of our lives doing things we barely think about.

Our habits are supposed to help us become more efficient at completing tasks. As neural connections in the brain strengthen, it becomes easier to repeat a behavior. However, the process of habit formation does not discriminate.

The same process that forms good habits hurts us when we learn bad habits.

Because our habits are stored in the subconscious mind, changing them is not an easy process. It takes conscious effort to break bad habits since they are literally wired into our brains.

How Habits are Formed

When you do a task for the first time your brain forms neural pathways. These connections between neurons get stronger the more you complete a task.

It will determine all of your decisions in life.

How do Habits Work?

Your brain is more complex and more powerful than a supercomputer. It is a versatile organ that was designed to adapt to changes in the environment.

For example, every time you exercise you increase the blood flow and oxygen to your brain. This boost in oxygen is not only good for your body but also helps create new neurons in your brain through a process called neurogenesis.

By pumping oxygen to your brain and creating neurons, aerobic exercise not only makes you fit but it also improves your memory and increases your focus and learning.

Neurogenesis (how neurons are created) and neuroplasticity (how neural connections change) work together to determine how your brain is wired.

The good news is you control the switch if you rewire your mind for growth.

4 Worst Habits for Your Brain

Your brain is divided into two different but connected systems: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is where you think and rationalize. It is your logical mind where mental processing takes place.

However, the conscious mind does not control what you think and do.

Neuroscientists estimate that up to 95 percent of all brain activity occurs in the subconscious mind. All your beliefs, habits, emotions, personality, creativity, and experiences are stored in your subconscious. It is a huge data bank with unlimited capacity that stores everything that has ever happened to you.

Your subconscious is always at work storing and retrieving data. Everything you think in life depends on its programming. Any negative beliefs in your mind create limits that shape your perception of reality and who you will become.

What you believe influences all of your thoughts and behavior.

Your Beliefs Become Your Destiny

Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can or think you can’t — you’re right.”

The fact is your subconscious mind has a direct impact on all of your thoughts, behavior, and habits. How it is programmed will determine what you believe and what you think. And your daily actions form habits that become your destiny.

What you tell yourself and accept from others as true affects everything you do.

Unfortunately, if you are like most people, you have already heard the word “No” over 100,000 times. Without knowing it, your parents, caregivers, and teachers told you “No” when you were growing up. And every “No” helped to create a wall. Your dreams and potential lie on the other side of this impenetrable wall of “No”.

The reason most people fail at building good habits is because they focus primarily on their behavior. They try to change their habits without overcoming self-limiting beliefs that stop them from creating lasting change.

By monitoring your thoughts and changing your beliefs, you can rewire your brain. You can break free from the wall that holds you back by reprogramming your mind for growth. Learn more by clicking below:

Your Habits (What You Do)

When shopping at a store for the first time, your brain is completely alert and focused. Your conscious mind is actively looking for everything on your list.

Through a process of trial and error your brain will learn the most effective way to take action. Over time as you continue shopping at the same store it gets easier to find everything that you need on your list. You can stop using your conscious mind and start to make decisions with little thought or awareness.

The fact is when our conscious mind is not forced to work our actions are controlled by our subconscious mind. Our automatic mind is always creating habits through repetition which allows us to process information quickly and without much effort. Our brain can then focus on doing new tasks since routine tasks become easier to do. This is how we master the world around us.

And why we spend most of our lives doing things we barely think about.

Because our habits are stored in the subconscious mind, changing them is not an easy process. It takes conscious effort to break a bad habit and replace it with a good one. Lasting change requires our dedicated time and commitment.

Unfortunately, our bad habits affect our ability to make good decisions.

How Bad Habits Hurt the Brain

According to a 2009 study, on average it takes at least 2 months for a simple behavior to become automatic. But complicated habits can take almost 9 months to fully develop. It is simply much easier to stick with an old habit than replace it with a new one. Even if the old habit we want to change is bad for us.

And to make behavior change even harder we are surrounded daily by products and services that are engineered to keep us addicted to our bad habits.

Every year food companies spend billions marketing foods that are unhealthy, tasty, and addictive. Tech companies deliberately design apps that glue us to our smartphones. And streaming companies create new content to keep us hooked.

By eating fast food instead of a salad we neglect the brain of nutrients. By using social media instead of learning a skill we stop challenging the brain. By watching television instead of going for a walk we give the brain less oxygen.

Our habits, mind, and brain are interconnected in the brain power loop.

While good habits will grow your brain and make it stronger. Your bad habits will damage your brain and hurt your cognitive function, learning, and memory.

The fact is bad habits will affect the decisions that you make. And making better decisions is essential to mastering your habits. Learn more by clicking below:

How to Make Better Decisions

Your brain is always changing in response to experience and its environment. It is designed to become stronger and more powerful. Whatever skill you want to build, you are born with the ability to master it.

The key to reaching your potential is to make a commitment to acquire new skills and knowledge on an ongoing basis. By making learning a lifelong habit, you can strengthen neural connections in your brain and grow new ones.

The opposite is also true.

Your brain cells lose their function if you don’t use them. If you don’t sufficiently challenge your brain by learning new skills it will eventually deteriorate and shrink with age. If your brain doesn’t get proper nutrition, exercise, rest, and hydration it can’t function properly.

The only way to master your habits is to keep your mind sharp. A mindset focused on growth is key to making better decisions and living your best life.

Are You Focused on Growth?

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck coined the term growth mindset to explain how you can develop your talents and skills through experience and hard work. The fact is there is nothing about you that is fixed.

If you challenge your brain, it will create new and denser connections of neurons and become more powerful. This is the science behind a growth mindset. And why your mind grows when you develop your talents and skills through effort, learning, and experience.

Even if you grew up believing that your intelligence, talents, and abilities are fixed traits that cannot grow you can develop a growth mindset.

Change the way you think and you will be able to grow your mind.

Why and How to Track Growth

To track your habits and measure growth, a mindset tracker is an effective and simple tool you can use.

It is similar to a habit tracker since you just need to mark an X on a calendar each day you stick with your routine. But by subtracting your bad habits from your good habits you can visually see if you are growing or harming your brain.

I created the Mindset Tracker below to make this process as easy as possible:

Healthy habits like exercising and eating more vegetables help your brain to grow and keep your mind sharp. While unhealthy habits like eating junk food and watching too much television harm your brain and hurt decision making.

Habit tracking works because it keeps you motivated and reminds you to act. Keeping track of how your good and bad habits affect your brain will also make it easier for you to grow your mind and make better decisions.

By tracking your habits each month, you can review your progress and make any necessary adjustments in the new year.

The Mindset Tracker will even show you if “You Have a Growth Mindset!” or if “You Have a Fixed Mindset” to ensure that you stay focused on growth.

Learn more about the Mindset Tracker.

How to Design Your Best Life

A meaningful life is not about accumulating more. It is not a life of comfort that is free of pain and suffering. A meaningful life is not supposed to be an easy life.

The truth is you can’t live a good life without hard work and sweat. To live a life that is meaningful is to focus on what matters to you and will give you purpose.

Want to learn how to grow your mind and master your habits? I recommend the Master Your Habits School.

To fulfill your potential and live your best life, you will need energy, strength, a focused mind, and good habits. You will need a healthy brain that is functioning at its optimum level to maximize brain power and make better decisions.

The Master Your Habits School is designed to help you do the meaningful things in life that matter. You will learn all the tools and strategies necessary to change the way you think about your habits and how to master them.

Learn more about the Master Your Habits School.