One of the most important things you can do as you work to improve your habits is find your Reason Why you want to improve. If you don’t have a “Reason Why,” then I’m sorry to say that you probably won’t have the passion about the habits you’re trying to change to keep on going.
For example, WHY do you want to lose weight? WHY do you want to earn more money? Your habits make or break those goals. If you’re comfortable enough where you are right now, then you most likely won’t feel that desperate need and desire to keep going.
Think of it this way– If you were starving and didn’t have any food to feed your family, but you had an incredible chance to do a little bit of work in order to earn more money, you’d probably go for it, right? If you knew that all you had to do was write a book for Kindle or design a website for someone or choose an extra shift at work… you’d most likely go for that little bit extra that will save you and your family from starvation. Then, you’d keep it up because you never want to be in that place again.
Or, in a much less extreme example, let’s say that you’ve been desperate to get the latest gaming console. The PlayStation 10, let’s call it. It’s all you can think about. It takes up your dreams and you wake up thinking about it. If only you could have that device, you feel like your life would be absolutely perfect. If all you had to do was pick up 4 extra shifts at work or write 10 short articles or paint some numbers on the curb of a neighborhood, you would do it. As long as the thing you desperately want is close enough within your grasp and the thing you have to do to get it is within your grasp, and the passion is there, you’ll follow through.
But if you aren’t starving and you’re pretty comfortable…even if the bills are sometimes late, then you probably won’t be motivated enough. If you don’t care about that PlayStation 10 and you’d rather just go home and watch TV than do extra work, you won’t do that extra work. If you only care a little bit that your jeans are getting tight, and you only sometimes wistfully stare at the thin actresses on TV, wishing to be them, then you probably won’t follow through and do the work it will take to lose the weight.
You probably won’t follow through because your Reason WHY isn’t strong enough and the passion isn’t there. There has to be a really strong and important reason you want to change.
If your health is bad due to your bad habits, why do you want to change? You have to identify that WHY and what is going to drive you. You want to be around longer for your children and grandchildren, right?
That’s a pretty big Reason Why. You have to define it. Or, if you’re tired of being in debt and struggling, you have to decide that you’re finally more uncomfortable staying with the way things are than you are to try to change it.
That’s a huge part of your Reason WHY… are you uncomfortable enough now that you’re willing to make some changes to find the comfort in life you want to have? Are you willing to change to lose weight and get healthier? Are you willing to change to get out of debt and have enough money left over at the end of the month to buy your spouse and children a nice little gift? Would that dramatically improve your life?
Would you love to be able to put money away in your child’s college fund without worry? You have to not only want those things, but you have to be absolutely dedicated to and passionate about getting them.
Those things are important to you, no doubt. If you don’t recognize yourself in those things, you can at least think of things that are similar in your own life.
You have to decide that you’re ready for the change. You have to become so passionate about your reason for changing that giving up becomes unthinkable. You have to decide that you’re going to follow through, no matter what, because your Reason Why is so strong.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve really been struggling to change at this point. It’s probably the case that your Reason Why just hasn’t been strong enough. You haven’t brought it to the forefront. It’s also sometimes the case that people don’t fully understand their Reason Why until they just about hit rock bottom… or worse. Maybe it takes a major health scare or credit card debt collectors at your doorstep to really wake you up. Sometimes, we need to be woken up.
Well, consider this your early wake up call. I want you to do better. I want you to determine what your Reason Why is for trying to do better. There’s a reason you’re reading this today. To try to change your habits, yes… but what does that really mean? Which habits, good or bad, stand out to you the most?
It can really help if you figure out what your ideal life is. If you could design your ideal life and snap your fingers, what would that look like? What would your health look like? What would your weight look like? What would your bank account look like? What would your relationships with your family and friends look like?
Figure that out and then determine what stands out. Don’t just read this—get out a pen and a paper and actually write it down. What part of your ideal life can you absolutely, positively not live without?
Once you’ve figured out your Reason Why, then it’s time for you to figure out which habits contribute to or take away from that goal and vision. What are you doing right and wrong? Which habits do you need to change, right away, so that you can get closer to living your ideal life?
Many people are missing their Reason Why. It’s there, but they haven’t taken the time to identify it or they don’t even realize how important it is to identify it. But now, you realize how important it is and you’re not going to stop until you’ve found the success that you deserve to see.
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