Personal Growth Cafe

Bad habits can form without you even knowing it and they can prove to be difficult to break.

However, it’s always the first step that’s the most difficult. Once you get started, you’ll build both momentum and confidence.

With a proper focus and willingness to succeed, you’ll find that you can overcome any bad habit. Then you can choose to replace that bad habit with a more positive one.

Breaking Bad Patterns of Behavior

Before you can tackle the problem of replacing a bad habit with a good one, you’ll need to be mentally prepared to detach yourself from the habit.

A strong mindset allows you to tackle nearly anything!

Keep these tips in mind as you prepare to transform your habits:

Get organized by figuring out the bad pattern you’d like to break.

Start small, with one habit at a time. Trying to change too much at once can overwhelm you.

Decide that you truly want to change. If you don’t want to change, you simply won’t.

Don’t judge yourself. If you make a mistake, get back in there and keep trying.

The Substitution

The key to permanently breaking a bad habit lies in being able to replace it with a good one.

If you engage in a bad habit and decide to simply stop entirely, it can be incredibly tough.

You might be okay for a while, but chances are you’ll find yourself back to your old bad habits in no time.

Consider some of these situations for substituting good habits for bad ones:

Exercise. Exercise is an excellent substitution for bad habits. Exercise can make you less likely to overeat and help you battle other addictions as well.

With exercise, instead of just trying to refrain from the addicting activities, you’re actively releasing your energy in other ways.

“Being social” and other excuses. Sometimes we say that our bad habits happen in social situations only.

It’s true that we’re social creatures, but certainly you can be social in ways that aren’t detrimental to your health! Change your routines to avoid the temptation.

Taking action. Your solutions don’t have to be conventional or from a textbook, but they do have to work for you as an individual.

Strive to take action and stay the course, even if you stumble from time to time.

Fulfill Your Needs

 You must learn to fulfill your needs in a healthy way.

Chances are you’ve developed a bad habit because of an underlying need. Identify this need and find positive ways to fulfill it.

You might need to do a little soul searching in order to find the true underlying causes for your bad habits.

If you have a bad habit of grinding your teeth at night, you might need to ask yourself why.

Taking an action like wearing a mouth guard is one thing, but maybe you also need to take action to get to the root of your stress!

You might engage in many negative actions because you don’t feel needed and loved the way you think you deserve to be.

This is the root of the problem that we often ignore. Masking the pain with self-destructive habits is clearly not going to solve the issue.

Instead, discuss your concerns with family, friends or a health professional and be proactive in solving it.

Following these tips to help you turn bad habits into good ones may take some time and effort, but the benefits of a happier and healthier life are well worth it!

What good habits have you recently practiced?

How has your habits, good or bad, affected your life?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

Also, as your gift for taking this to heart – and this is profoundly important… to us ALL – go to UnitingPlanetEarth.com/ignition/ and do the Uniting Planet Earth 7-Day Quick-Start Ignition Program… and Allow it to Transform Your Life.

Before you leave…

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Inspirational movies have the power to stir you into action in a mere 90 minutes. A seemingly simple movie may even have the power to change your life!

We created a list of the top 10 inspirational movies to get you fired up and motivated:

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

It’s a Wonderful Life will be found on most inspirational movie lists because it has such a simple and universal message to give.

The movie’s main character learns what life would look like if he’d never been born.

He sees how bleak everything looks and learns the true meaning of life. This is an oldie, but goodie.

2. Dead Poet’s Society (1989). T

he message of Dead Poet’s Society is quite simple as well; it’s all about carpe diem, which means, “Seize the day.”

This movie has the power to inspire by showing you that the time is now to take action to achieve your hopes and dreams.

Life’s not about making other people happy; it’s about your own happiness.

3. Field of Dreams (1989).

Field of Dreams has been known to tug at the heartstrings of even tough men.

This movie is also about acting on what you believe in.

The heart of the movie yields the inspiration that you should follow your dreams even if you have regrets and even if logic is telling you otherwise.

4. The Sound of Music (1965).

The Sound of Music is a movie about doing what’s right in your heart, even when there’s overwhelming opposition to the idea.

It is set in a time of war and promotes the importance of loving your family and following your heart.

5. Life is Beautiful (1998).

Life is Beautiful is the one to turn to if you want to have great laughs and great cries all balled up into one movie.

Also set in a time of war, a loving father is taken to a concentration camp with his son.

He convinces his son that it’s all a game so he doesn’t bring worry and hurt into his son’s life.

6. Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Shakespeare in Love is known as an incredibly well crafted movie.

It creates more fiction about fiction from the past, but includes some truths in there as well.

Also, the moviegoer will end up believing that true love always wins in the end.

7. Chariots of Fire (1981).

This inspirational movie is a true story about two men who set out to meet their goals of competing in the Olympic Games.

They show the viewers that they’ll do everything that it takes to achieve their goals, except give up their honor.

8. A Beautiful Mind (2001).

This movie details the life of John Nash, a famous mathematician. He has incredibly abilities but also must overcome incredible struggles.

The movie details how he gets through life with the help of his loved ones.

9. Roots (1977).

This famous movie details what slavery was really like in Civil War era America.

It’s a long movie in mini-series format, but it’s more than worth the time spent when you realize all the truth and inspiration it has to offer.

10. Holland’s Opus (1996).

Mr. Holland’s Opus is the movie to go to when you feel that life is not going how you intended.

The main character has to deal with seemingly giving up his true dream to fall back on a Plan B.

Music is his life and when his son is born deaf, he feels as if he can’t relate.

The ending of the movie will show you how truly inspirational it is.

What do you feel when you watch a good movie?

How can a good movie help you have fun?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

Also, as your gift for taking this to heart – and this is profoundly important… to us ALL – go to UnitingPlanetEarth.com/ignition/ and do the Uniting Planet Earth 7-Day Quick-Start Ignition Program… and Allow it to Transform Your Life.

Before you leave…

Please share the link to this post on your Facebook, Twitter, etc., and like it, and comment right here – THANKS!