Victims of Our Environment

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You wake up in the morning, meandor into the kitchen, see the coffee maker and you make coffee.

You finish eating dinner, you see the TV, you pour yourself a glass of wine, beer or some alcoholic beverage and begin watching TV.

During your commute to work, you notice the yellow McDonald arches, you pull in and order a breakfast sandwich.

We all develop habits that are triggered by things in our environment.

These triggers eventually become unconscious, meaning you are not consciously aware of them. But, your subconscious is all powerful, and it notices them. Once your subconscious notices an Environmental Trigger, it spurs you on to engage in the habit.

Some of those Environmental Habits are good, some are bad.

If you are unhappy with your life, if your life is not going in the direction you desire, there are obviously many reasons for this. Some of those things are outside your control, but many are completely within your control.

One of those things that have an enormous influence over the status of your life is your daily habits.

The good news is that you have 100% control over your daily habits, meaning you can dramatically improve the circumstances of your life simply by changing your habits.

But changing your habits requires awareness. You must become aware of the habits you have, in order to be able to determine which ones are negatively affecting your life. Those that are, are bad habits.

In my book Rich Habits, I offer a powerful strategy that allows you force awareness and help you identify which habits are good and which habits are bad.

Once you are able to identify your bad habits, then you can take control of your life by eliminating those bad habits that are, in large part, responsible for your unhappy life.

How do you take control of your habits?

One way is to alter your Environmental Triggers in order to eliminate bad habits and forge good habits.

How?

Change Your Cell Phone Reminders

You can change the sounds your cell phone makes and those sounds can become triggers, reminding you to engage in a good habit. The theme from the movie Rocky can serve as a reminder to stop watching TV, get off the couch and exercise.

You can set your cell phone reminders to anything that serves to remind you to engage in a particular new, good habit.

Post Pictures Where You Can See Them Every Day

Every day, millions wake up, head for the bathroom, gargle and brush their teeth.  The bathroom mirror is the first thing many of us see in the morning.

Pictures are effective in forming new habits, but not so effective in eliminating old, bad habits.

If you want to stop eating, place a picture on your bathroom mirror of the figure you desire to have. This will act as a trigger to exercise (new habit), and exercise is one of those keystone habits that affect other habits, such as eating junk food.

You can also download a picture to your cell phone and make it your background picture, something you cannot avoid seeing every day.

Remove Environmental Triggers

If you have the habit of watching TV after eating your dinner, which triggers sitting on the couch and drinking alcohol, put a sign on your dinner table that says “Read” or “Exercise” of “Go For a Walk”.

If your kitchen cupboard is a trigger to snack on junk food, then remove all of the junk food and replace it with some healthy alternatives.

If McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts is a trigger to eat junk breakfast food, then change the route of your commute to avoid seeing those yellow arches or that big donut sign.

Depending on the study, 40% or more of your daily activities are habits. Since habits are a major factor in determining the circumstances of your life, changing them must become a priority, if your life is not what you desire.

You are 100% in control of your habits. But only if you are aware of them and take action to change your habits.

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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