Comments on: Five Strategies for Building New Habits

By: Ashley Musick

Ashley Musick — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:04:00 +0000

I’m a missionary myself and have the same problem. When support is low, pre-packaged, horribly bad for you food is cheaper than buying fresh ingredients to make your own meals. I’ve had to find a way around this issue because the price of healthy food isn’t something I can change. It’s going to take some more initiative to research deals, coupons, and meal planning. I’ll also have to take a second peek at my budget to get some priorities in line.

Isn’t it interesting that it seems the low-income areas in America have more people who are overweight? Sad.

By: Ashley Musick

Ashley Musick — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Isn’t it interesting that it seems the low-income areas in America have more people who are overweight? Sad.

By: The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (July 2010) | Dad in the Middle

The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (July 2010) | Dad in the Middle — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:06:20 +0000

[...] Five Strategies for Building New Habits [...]

By: Five Strategies for Building New Habits « Second Mile Church Blog

Five Strategies for Building New Habits « Second Mile Church Blog — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:04:03 +0000

[...] Simmons recommended resources life change Leave a comment Michael Hyatt has some good ideas about how to develop new [...]

By: ThatGuyKC

ThatGuyKC — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:21:59 +0000

Why did it have to be flossing! I would venture a guess that I haven't been to the dentist or the doctor in nearly a decade either. And I'm only 27.

My wife constantly nags me to do both and I (politely as possible) blow her off. Thanks for hitting the nail on the head and offering tools for success.

By: Deborah Hudson

Deborah Hudson — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:42:33 +0000

Appreciated this post in particular. It speaks to me personally, but also to our ministry to men in recovery. I used this post with them last night. Good life lessons for all of us. Thank you

By: @mm_wilson

@mm_wilson — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:13:49 +0000

Michael – I'd love to hear how people go about tracking daily Bible reading. I've been using a One-Year devotional book but have really run off the tracks since the birth of my second child in mid-May.

By: alisa

alisa — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:29:03 +0000

I try to combine a new habbit with an existing one: floss while letting kids play for a minute in the bath, drink a cup of water while I drive, read a book while I update photos on personal blog, etc.

Teeth are a big deal. We don’t appreciate them until they’re gone.

By: aspires2b

aspires2b — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:13:12 +0000

My problem exactly.

By: John Richardson

John Richardson — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:41:13 +0000

There is a great book by Alan Deutschman entitled Change or Die that really opened my eyes to what it actually takes to make a lasting change or habit in a person's life. In the book, Alan talks about recovering heart attack patients that must change their eating and exercise habits or face certain death. You would think that the threat of death would surely compel someone to change, but the overwhelming statistics prove otherwise. Over 80% of these patients go back to their old lifestyles within 6 months.

Deutschman offers a three prong solution… relate, repeat, and reframe.

His research suggests that people who join a support group, continually repeat good habits, and re-frame their outlook to a positive outcome can actually make a lasting change. In a nutshell, it's your points number 4, 3, and 1 above. In my life, I can attest to the life changing power of a coach, editor, and mastermind group… to name a few. My greatest challenge has always been consistency, and that is where an outside coaching voice is so valuable.

By: Cyberquill

Cyberquill — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:04:21 +0000

I never floss. I use these. Equal results, more fun, and you need only one hand.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:41:58 +0000

This scenario is just like myself and my husband. I have the same exact "bad habit". I absolutely hate flossing my teeth. So I decided that I would floss M/W/F each week. That is all I could commit too. Things have gotten better, but I need to make the next step and do it every day. With any bad habit you need to change, it's a little over whelming if you try and do it all at once. I have found, I have to take baby steps for it to work for me.

By: James

James — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:01:21 +0000

It was looking to the future that I’ve found the real value of a daily routine that habitually starts and ends with the bible. I considered how much benefit it would be, both in helping me grow and in acting as a restraint from sin. Surely that’s worth the time even when we’re tired or don’t feel we get so much from it at times!

By: Spiritual Klutz

Spiritual Klutz — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:52:34 +0000

I think it would be a great habit to commit to getting work done before I check my personal email in the morning. It's amazing how tantalizing it can be to go from checking email to checking out the headlines to – what the heck – checking Facebook. It would be better to just start rolling with the very reason I walked into the office.

By: Terri

Terri — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:21:26 +0000

Scripture memory.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:12:14 +0000

Same for me. I had built the habit in college, but afterward I slumped back into waking up when I had to instead of waking up earlier.

I love the benefits, but right now I'm having trouble getting to bed at a decent time because of various obligations I have. I need to reorganize that before I think I'll make any progress on the other side.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: Randy Willis

Randy Willis — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:57:28 +0000

Great post!

You may have just talked me into flossing! :-)

I’ve always battled the “bad” cholesterol for some reason (I’m in good physical shape, better-than-average diet, parents didn’t/don’t have high cholesterol). BUT, I *can* do better with my diet and I need to be more regular with my exercise. I know I *can* do it — I recently did 30,000 steps/day for 29 days in a row (second year in a row) as part of a denomination-wide incentive program, which I blogged about: http://www.williswired.com/2010/05/19/adrenaline-hangover/.

My problem area in my role as a pastor is that, even though time with God is a value, sometimes my work for God gets in the way of my time with God! :-(

Thanks for the encouragement!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:42:29 +0000

Oh my. I can't remember any blog post where I saw more of myself (and my wife). She's an avid flosser. Unfortunately, it is a habit I have never been able to consistently start. Like you, until I married my wife over 8 years ago, I had stopped going to the dentist. Fortunately for me though, no gum disease, then or now.

Reading your post reminded me that just because I haven't suffered that fate yet doesn't mean I won't. Here's hoping that revelation combined with your 5 strategies will put me over the top.

By: Cara

Cara — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:07:46 +0000

I would like to walk every evening. I've lost 104 pounds over the past 3 years and I have 15 more pounds to go. If I can just commit to walking (perhaps better would be speed walking) I could get these last 15 pounds off. I've tried making this a habit many times before. The most I've been able to commit to, though, is only for about a month or two, then I slack off and it doesn't become a ritual any more.

By: patriciazell

patriciazell — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:42:53 +0000

I only started flossing within the last ten years or so. My problem was I didn't know how to do it–once my hygienist showed me how to do it, I took off. Now, I floss, brush, and use Listerine twice a day. My gums have improved immensely. I have discovered that I am a visual learner, so I need to read directions or see someone demonstrate what I'm learning. Hearing instructions just doesn't do it for me. That's why I wish I either had a tutor or a simple manual of everything I need to know to be tech-savvy.