How to Change Your Bad Habits

Sometimes it seems to me that I have devoted my life to changing my habits.  I can't remember a time when I wasn't working on something, and as I've aged, I find the effort to live more delightfully and consciously immensely entertaining and rewarding.  In the beginning I tried to change out of ego and shame.  I thought I wasn't good enough and wanted to change so as to be able to approve of myself and get approval from other people.  Those motives never really helped me change.  As I've read and practiced and learned, I've found that creating a life of awareness and peace is much more motivating.  So here's a list of some of the ways that have helped me make positive changes in myself:

• Set goals with deadlines but only set goals that are so easy and simple you can't help but reach them.  Baby steps really work.
• Write goals down and look at them every day.
• Never, never, never, ever give up.
• Tell all the supportive people in your life what you're doing and report back to them.
• Find someone or more than one someone who has already made the change you're working on.  Ask them how they did it and do what they did.
• Prepare ahead of time.  If, for example, you want to eat more nutritiously, find receipes and buy the food.
• Expect to be uncomfortable.  Change is uncomfortable.  Make a plan for how you're going to deal with the discomfort.  Examples:  Get plenty of rest - change takes a lot of energy.  Read stuff that inspires you. 
• Expect to be imperfect.  Don't be a slacker but don't quit if you mess up.
• One of the reasons change is difficult is that our egos interpret it as criticism.  Remind yourself of why you're making the change.  Examples, to have more energy, to enjoy life more, to learn new things, to increase peace of mind.

These are just a few of the strategies that I've used that worked.  Do some research of your own.