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Posts Categorized: Habits

Developing Your Personal Plan of Action

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

This month, we have reflected on and became aware of our habits, both habits of thinking and habits of behaviors.

Go back and review the answers you gave to the questions asked in each of the four previous blog posts:

Which habits grabbed your attention?

Which current habits are helpful, and which are not?

Look at your list of potential habit changes and prioritize them. Which one would benefit you the most?

Any habit change requires starting small. Continue reading…

4 Ways Habits Are Created

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

sticky note on bathroom mirror

Change is ongoing throughout life. We will experience many ups and downs, bumps and bruises, most of which we take for granted.

It is when we encounter major upheavals and setbacks that it takes longer to get back on our feet. At those times we have the opportunity to reflect on what is working and what is not and explore new ways to improve our life and make our goals happen.

This month, we have been reflecting on how current habits can either help or hinder us.

In How to Replace Bad Habits With Beneficial Habits, you made a list of how you spent your days and the habits that either got things done or got in the way.

In Changing Negative Habits Formed During Childhood, you explored the messages you heard as a kid that resulted in many of the habits you have today.

In How to Replace Critical Self-Talk with Affirmations, you learned about your internal critic and how to replace it with critical thinking.

This week, I want to summarize how habits are created. Behaviors repeated over and over eventually become a habit. Continue reading…

How to Replace Critical Self-Talk with Affirmations

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

finger pushing "play" button

Going through tough times can be discouraging. You find yourself becoming more and more critical of yourself and others. While each day offers an opportunity to work towards new solutions, our self-talk can become a major stumbling block.

When negative thoughts and self-imposed judgments are constantly repeated, they become an ongoing internal dialogue, like a recording set on auto-replay.

This recording only contains our failures, the times we have been disappointed or rejected. I call this on-going recording your “internal critic.”

Changing Negative Habits Formed During Childhood

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

child crying in kitchen

Hard times bring up old memories; unpleasant or discouraging flashbacks from our youth.

There may have been traumatic times earlier in your adult life. Presumptions about who you believed you could become have been shaken. You might hear your parent admonishing you for not getting better grades or fighting with your siblings, unfair comparisons with a sister or brother or scolding for disobeying.

At such moments, we question ourselves.

Am I really that incompetent? Those old messages can erode any confidence you are gaining.

How to Replace Bad Habits With Beneficial Habits

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

habits

Habits affect every aspect of our lives; from the moment we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed. We usually think of habits as our daily routines, so we don’t think much about them.

But our habits involve much more than our usual routines. How we think, perceive, and respond to the world become habits.

In this article, we’ll examine how our typical ways of responding can become habits without us even realizing it.

I’ll give you tips for recognizing non-productive habits, and strategies for replacing them with beneficial habits that will help you become more positive and productive.

7 Things You Need to Know About Habits

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

habits

There are many ways you can design a new road map. But before you do, you need to know what you are doing now.

What habits do you have in place that help you use your time effectively?
What habits are time wasters?

Once you become aware of your habits, you can put in place those that benefit you the most. Often it only takes some small habit changes to result in huge benefits.

Today on my blog and podcast, I’ll show you 7 things to remember about habits.

8 Warning Signs of an Anger Problem

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Anger, like all emotions, has a purpose. It is neither bad nor good on its own. When managed and expressed appropriately, it can be an important ally and friend.

The energy that anger creates can help us make important changes. When used as a motivational force it gives us the motivation to change our lives for the better.

Left unchecked, however, it simmers beneath the surface, ready to explode at any moment. Anger then focuses on everything that is and has been going wrong in our lives. It keeps us from seeing anything good.

It is to our benefit to find out how we acquired an angry-aggressive habitual response before it becomes a wildfire that burns everything in its path.

12 Steps to Aging Confidently

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

12 Steps to Aging Confidently | Focuswithmarlene.com

1. Develop a new focus – a new mindset.

Focus on what you can do; don’t dwell on what you can’t do. As we age, there will be things we no longer can do and things we struggle to do. For example, arthritis can make it difficult to pick up objects or hold onto them, and we begin to worry about our abilities declining.

Worry can become a habit that eliminates possibilities. Do what you can and do it with confidence.

2. Acknowledge and accept.

It is hard to accept that we are aging. But each day is an opportunity to begin again.

  • What interests, passions, or things have you wanted to do but never had time for?

Replacing Habits That Keep You from Being Successful

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Replacing Habits That Keep You from Being Successful

“Successful people are simply those with successful habits.”
—Brian Tracy

To be successful, you need to be in charge of both your time and habits. Chores need to be done but we also need fun and relaxation.

In my recent post, Are Your Habits Sabotaging Your Efforts? you kept a record of how you spent your time each day for a week.

Last week, in Take Charge of Your Time – Take Charge of Your Life, you re-examined the log you kept, and formulated a workable structure for how you spent your time each day.

This week’s post will help you understand how habits are created and reinforced.

Take Charge of Your Time – Take Charge of Your Life

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Take Charge of Your Time – Take Charge of Your Life

What is your daily time routine? Habits and time management go hand-in-hand. If you want to maximize your time, you need to put habits in place that will help you follow those guidelines.

Next week you will learn what keeps habits in place. But first, let’s set up a time management program that works for you.

Time management is more than making to-do lists.

We all make lists of things to be done and then either abandon them or become stressed in the process of trying to get everything done. And we tend to do the things we like doing first and then put the rest on hold until we feel like it.