Over the last year I’ve stopped a lot of bad habits.
I actually wouldn’t call them “bad”, it’s just that I wanted to stop them so that I could improve my health.
For example, I stopped drinking – completely. It’s been 6 months now and I rarely even think about it anymore.
I also stopped having “fun” food at night when I watch TV. I’ve been having a treat that’s around 300 calories for as long as I can remember.
Again… neither of these habits are necessarily bad. I just wanted to replace them with something that aligns better with my goals.
This is part of the Calibration phase of the Ideal Body Formula.
Having been through these habit changes, along with many others, I’ve really tuned into the experience and how much willpower is really needed.
I’m just going to give it to you straight – the initial days, or possibly even weeks, could require quite a bit of willpower to get things going.
When I stopped drinking, the first weekend that came when I normally would drink was pretty difficult. I was so used to the cue, behavior, and reward of alcohol, that I really had to lean on willpower to get through.
But each successive day and weekend got easier and easier, and now I don’t even think about it. In fact, at this point it would be harder for me to drink, than not drink.
The same went for changing my nighttime snack. The first night without my ice cream sandwiches or jelly beans was tough. It was like a feeling of withdrawal.
The urges were strong to go to the store and get the foods that were no longer in the house. But again, I leaned on willpower to push through the night.
And just like before, each day got easier and easier. Now I much prefer my greek yogurt and blueberries.
I wanted to share this to make sure you understand that changing habits isn’t always easy at first. You do need to use some (or a lot) of initial willpower sometimes.
The way you know it’s working is if each successive day or week that goes by gets easier and easier, and you have to use less and less willpower to maintain the new behavior you want.
When it’s not working, each day is harder than the last – needing more and more willpower to maintain, until you eventually break.
But those first few days? They feel the same either way. So you have to go into this understanding that. And then pay attention to the way things progress.
So willpower? It’s a great tool and should be utilized. But it shouldn’t be a crutch that gets abused.
Talk soon…