How to change a habit?

Habits are the level of subconscious mind. You may consciously decide to beave differently, but if you have not change at level of subconscious mind, you would behave the same as before. After consciously decide what you want to change, then you can do several steps that help you to change at level of subconscious mind.

1. Imagining
Imagine yourself are doing the new habit. When you are imagining doing something, the same neurons (nerve cells) will be activated as you are really doing that act. If you vividly imagine, your brain does not know the difference between if you are imagining or really experiencing it. This also makes your body to learn how it feel before you do the new habit.

2. Autosuggestion
Autosuggestion simply means repeat to yourself what you want to be or do or have. With repeating something to yourself, you change your subconscious mind and it will become you habit. For example, you can repeat to yourself, “I am healed” or “I am successful” or “I am calm”.

3. Practice
Act in the new way. The most important factor for brain plasticity (means rewiring your brain) is practicing the way we want to be.

Initially you must do these 3 steps consciously, until overtime it become your new habit and part of your subconscious mind. Your brain will rewire.

Basically, your wants, your thoughts and your actions become aligned. The more you do these 3 steps, the faster you will get the result you want.

One example for using these 3 steps
Say you want to be calm.

  1. You imagine yourself you are calm in different situations that usually make you upset. Imagine with details and as vivid as possible.
  2. Repeat to yourself over and over something such as “I am calm” or I choose peace, or I am calmer today.
  3. When you are in the situation that you usually get upset, you practice staying calm.

As James Allen said; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, “peace, be still!”

Dr. M. Rashidi