Habits I want to install for 2008

[Guy665]

Hey all,

It is becoming clear to me that our habits have a large influence on the quality of life that we lead. So I have taken a long hard look at myslef and come up with a list of habits that I wish to implement in 2008.

1. Waking up at 6.00 am at least 5 days per week.

2. Spending 1 hour per day working on dating/relationships

3. Stretching before and after exercise.

4. Spend at least 2 hours per day during the week and 5 hours per day at weekend on my own business/activities.

5. Read one book per week on self-development.

6. Enter my journal every single day.

7. Have cash in my bank at the end of each month, as well as no debt on my credit card.

8. Wake up and decide to be happy and spend the rest of the day in a good mood.

9. Exercising for a minimum of 40 minutes per day 5 times per week.

10. Change my eating habits to a healthier vegetable based diet.

11. Ban myself from randomly surfing the internet during the day. No looking at Facebook until after 8.00 pm everyday.

12. Become more organised in everything that I do.

14. Become much more neat and proper in everything that I do.

15. Take consistent and persistent action towards my goals

What do you think? I think by the end of 6 months all these behavious will become a habitual part of me.

Anyone else want to join/share their new habits?

[Angela]

Are you going to take these all on at once? I'm burned out just reading them!

Best wishes with your intentions for 2008!

[martin]

The only suggestion I have is to not get discouraged. You're taking on a lot all at once and you're more likely to give up if you have a lot on your plate. Also, don't look at all these tasks as "all or nothing", because doing some of it is better than doing nothing.

Good luck with everything!

[SuperManny]

Wow, I agree, that's a lot to take on at once!
It takes about 3 weeks to develop a habit, so I'd just take a third or half, for a month or so, and then look at taking on more. Whatever you decide, best of luck with all of it!

[Guy665]

Apologies should have mentioned, these are are habits I would LIKE to install for 2008. If I can install just 3 or 4 of them I will be very happy.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Even though it is a long list, I think it's great you've clarified for yourself who it is you'd like to be. It gives you a signpost to look at in order to make the best decision for the path you want to be on. Good luck with all your goals!

[kerilinn]

I am so behind on my resolutions, and I only had a few. I am really interested to see how this goes for your. You have a lot planned out! Is that list in order of importance? Make sure you have a core set of goals which are do-or-die for you. So lets say that journal part falls by the wayside, you're at least maintaining those core goals.

[Calculusaurus]

I would certainly prioritize them and focus on only a few at a time.

Also, from experience I find that journaling daily is unnecessary and restrictive. For me, journaling is most effective when I use it only when I need to. I can go 3 months without journaling, then one month where I journal every day.

I remember feeling frustrated when I had my journal-once-a-day commitment because there were some days I just didn't need it. It felt forced.

YMMV, of course.

[Tobias Zimpel]

That's a lot you have on your plate there, but you already mentioned that you'd be happy if you only implement a few of them.

My suggestion is that you try to figure out what habits would have the greatest impact over your life and concentrate on those first, or else you would be taking the risk of being overwhelmed by them all.

I would also group these habits to tackle a few of them at the time.

I just wrote a series on How To Change Your Life In 30 Days on my blog that I think might be interesting to you. I also wrote about How To Effectively Handle Recurring Tasks, what includes techniques to habitualize certain actions you'd like to take regularly.

[evelynlim]

It's great to know that you have an overall goal to improve yourself. Most of us do not even realise that we are capable of doing better and better. When we put a goal behind our intentions, it helps to motivate us better.

All the best,
Evelyn