Today’s Mandala Message: Make a List of Habits
This week I’m working through Principle #34 from Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles” entitled “Develop four new success habits a year”. I set my intention today to ponder the idea of making a list of habits that keep me unproductive. Canfield states: “One of the problems for people with poor habits is that the results of their bad habits usually dont’ show up until much later in life. When you develop a chronic bad habit, life will eventually give you consequences. … Negative habits breed negative consequences. Positive habits create positive consequences.”
I have four main areas where I’ve picked up bad habits: 1) keeping up with household chores; 2) keeping better track of my finances; 3) keeping better track of what I eat; and, 4) managing my time online better. What I’m about to share are not meant as excuses for these habits, but rather a sharing of my awareness of their root causes. I know that it’s up to me to take full responsibility for them.
For (1), I grew up in a very strict housekeeping environment. My mother had solid routines for every day of the week. No play was allowed until the chores for that day were done. And so when I went out on my own, I rebelled and basically turned into a slob. As an adult, I’ve made some improvements and I do appreciate a clean and tidy house however I tend to lapse into my old ways. I know if I had some good habits in place, I could keep my home in better shape.
For (2), this also stems from childhood. My father didn’t believe in giving us an allowance and he also keep a tight fist round the purse strings, so we never learned how to have a healthy relationship with money. Asking him for money tended to be a horrible experience. When I started to earn a little money or was gifted money as a teenager, I tended to spend it because it was such a luxury. Over the years my relationship with money has improved. My greatest accomplishment was getting out of credit card debt a few years ago. What needs to happen now is getting a handle on managing my money better and creating a budget for myself.
For (3), yet again, this all began in childhood. Interestingly, my handling of food and money seem to be similar but instead of my dad being the overlord, it was my mom. She kept a tight rein over food. Whenever any of us were in the kitchen, she’d come in to question what we were doing. Many a night I would sneak into the refrigerator to grab a bite or two of a favorite food item (usually dessert). She also had a private stash of food that no one was allowed to eat. In my youth I could eat anything and not put on any weight. When I would pig out on food, my mother would curse me with the words “if you don’t watch you, your going to get fat like your mother.” So lo and behold…here I am 35lbs overweight (I’m barely 5’2”) I’ve tried just about every diet out there and because they all require me to limit my intake of food, it feels like my mother all over again. That being said, in any of the programs I followed, if I tracked my food, my weight would go down. Time to get back on track.
For (4), this one I can’t trace back to my childhood…I grew up in the 1950s and 60s. It does tapping into my addictive personality and FOMO (fear of missing out). It also conveniently keeps me from working on projects that trigger fear and/or discomfort.
Regardless of how these habits started, it comes down to me taking responsibility for whether I want to continue with the results I’ve been getting or to replace my negative habits with more successful ones. For the rest of this week, I plan to go more in depth with each one.
A good mindfulness practice would be to contemplate the habits that hold you back.
So how about you? Are you able to look at the habits that negatively impact you? Are you willing to make a list of habits that keep you unproductive? Are you ready to choose better ones?
“We are what
— Will Durant
we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then,
is not an act,
but a habit.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
All Things Mandalas
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”. You can download this mandala at MandalaoftheWeek.com.
Mandala of the Day 