THE DESIRE FOR CHANGE

In order to change long-established habits, you must want to change. Note that desire was the first step in our change model. It was discussed from the previous post. What we suggest is not simple, and change is not for everyone. All the suggestions in the world are worthless if you don not want to change. And changing the way you use your time is largely a voluntary effort. You cannot force others to use their time well and they cannot force you to use your time well. The "want to" must come from within.

Habit change is extremely difficult, but it is crucial for all serious-minded people who wish to use time well. To improve your efforts to eliminate self defeating habits and replace them with self reinforcing habits, try following these approaches:

1. Identify the habit you want to change. In order to pinpoint the precise behaviors that you wish to change, you will have to analyze many of your behaviors and the situations where they occur. Carefully examine your closely held assumptions to see if any of them are holding you back from achieving the change you desire.

2. Carefully define the new habit you wish to develop. Draw a line down a sheet of paper from top to bottom. On the left hand side, describe the habit you wish to change. On the right hand side, describe the new behavior you plan to adopt and the situations where it will be most appreciate.

3. Begin the new behaviors as strongly as possible. Tell everyone you can about the new habit you want to develop. Set up a routine to go with your habit. Put signs to remind you of your new behavior. Remember the importance of cues and the interrelatedness of all habits.

4. Never deviate from the behavior until the new habit is firmly established. You will be tempted many times to do things in the old way. resist these temptations. Some people rationalize deviations by saying, "Just this once won't matter." The truth is that each deviation matters a great deal. everytime you deviate you must start over again. The more you attempt to start over, the harder it is to change.

5. Use every opportunity to practice the new behavior. No matter how strongly you are commited to a new habit. It will not become yours until you actually use the new behavior. Seek out opportunities to use it. Do everything you can to practice the new behavior until it becomes a habit.

How long does it take to replace one habit with another? This, of course, depends on your personality and the nature of the habit to be changed. Habits are the backbone of daily time use. each action is cued by some previous action and is, in turn, the genesis of other actions. As William James observed, "The great thing, then, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy."