There are lots of factors that are incredibly important in creating any positive change: starting small, taking small steps all along the way, finding motivation and accountability, finding the support of people around you (or finding it online), learning to mindfully notice your urges to quit.These are all super important. But there’s another factor that most people overlook: how you feel about the change.
Source: An Overlooked Factor in Creating Positive Change : zen habits
Our minds are very good at running from discomfort, and most of the time we don’t even realize it’s happening. We just have an urge to switch, and follow the urge immediately.The trick then, is to catch ourselves when we’re about to switch. When the urge comes up to switch, we have to notice.Then we have to pause, and deal mindfully instead of mindlessly with the urge.
Source: A Guide to Overcoming Procrastination & Finding Focus : zen habits
“I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.
walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
I walk down another street.”
― Portia Nelson, There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
-Oliver Goldsmith, writer and physician (10 Nov 1730–1774)
“It’s hard to know
what you’ll need to know
in order to know
what you’ll need to know.”
– Merlin Mann