Building habit awareness. Are your habits forming you or mis-forming you?
Are your habits leading you toward (or away from) a WITH-God Life + Biz? Habit awareness can help you determine whether your habits are forming or mis-forming you.
Habits do something to shape us in one direction or the other. They shape our relationship with God, our marriage, our friendships, our business results, our bank account, our body shape (pun intended), our joy, our home. But ultimately they shape our heart because they are formed around what we truly desire.
That’s why we have to pay attention to our habits because they shape our hearts.
So what is a habit and how do they form us?
It’s called HABIT FORMATION – the process by which you repeatedly do shapes you into who you become.
James Clear defines habits well in his Habits Guide: How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Habits are the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day. What you spend time thinking about and doing each day ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray.
What we do regularly shapes who we become.
That’s because habits have a cumulative effect. How is what you do daily, weekly, monthly (or even seasonally or annually) forming you and your heart’s longings?
Take for example my coffee habit. Why do I drink it daily? Because I love a good cup of dark pour over coffee. But I didn’t used to be that girl. When we got married, neither my husband nor I drank coffee, but we registered for a coffee maker anyway. It just sat in the cupboard until my coffee-drinking parents visited. My mom would always ask, “Where’s your coffee maker?” and I’d reply, “Where you left it last.”
A few years later, while my husband was deployed, I wanted something warm to hold during my morning time with the Lord, so I started making coffee. I needed flavored creamer at first, but I grew to love that morning cup. When my husband returned and saw the coffee maker on the counter, he asked if I was now a coffee drinker. I guess so, because my habits had formed me into one.
I had become a person who loves coffee through the act of doing it daily.
What are the small decisions and actions you perform every day? That late night bowl of ice cream, that next episode of Netflix, that I’ll-go-fold-laundry-instead-of-following-up-with-a-potential client procrastination…or that daily walk, time reading Scripture, I’m-gonna-reach-out-like-I-said-I-would decision…
And more importantly how are your habits forming you, your life, or biz?
Just to note, it doesn’t have to be just daily habits…it can be things you do (or don’t do) weekly or monthly or even seasonally or annually. The key is the more you do (or don’t do) something, the more you desire (or don’t desire) it. Cuz habits work both ways.
But here’s the thing you need to understand when it comes to habits – it’s more about what’s in your HEART than what’s in your HEAD.
Cuz no matter how much you know that eating after dinner, staying up late or putting off an important task is NOT going to take you in the right direction, in the moment, it’s about what your heart desires more – the sugar rush, the numbing out, the avoiding a no…or the healthy body, the well-rested mind, the opportunity to have a conversation.
That’s why we need to practice HABIT AWARENESS to see what habits we have and how they are forming our hearts…and us!
So let’s take a few min to do just that by asking-WHAT HABITS ARE FORMING OR MIS-FORMING ME?
Habit awareness starts with a HABIT AUDIT…..I know, that may not sound fun, but it’s truly the best way to reinforce the ones that are shaping your heart, life and biz in the way you want it to go…and those that aren’t.
617 times a day….and remember, that’s average, you could be above average, in which case is likely a habit that’s mis-forming you.
I’m gonna challenge you to practice habit awareness – notice the rhythms, routines, and rituals that make up your day-to-day life in both personal life and business…what is getting your time and attention…and what isn’t? Pause over each one and ask, what is it doing to my HEART? And who are you becoming as a result of your habits?
If you sustain your current habits, and don’t add any new ones, where will you be one year, five years, 10 years, 25 years from now?
And is that in alignment with what God is calling you to in our WITH-God Life + Biz?
If not, how can you guard against those desires that are shaping your thoughts, decisions, actions, and habits so that they don’t take you in the wrong direction (aka misshape you)? And how can you set your heart on those desires that would take you towards what He’s put on your heart in the eight areas of attention…not just to measure success by the world’s metrics, but by his Kingdom ones?
For more help with practicing habit awareness, I invite you to book a BUSYNESS BREAKTHROUGH CALL at redeemhertime.com/breakthrough.
Habit Tracker Idea
I recently heard this quote by Jamie K. Smith about Prov 4:23…
“We are what we want. Our wants, longings, desires are at the core of our identity, the wellspring from which action + behavior flows. Our wants reverberate from our heart. This scripture counsels, ‘above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it’”
I suggest you keep a list in a notebook or in the notes app of your phone (avoiding rabbit trails). What is getting your time, money, or energy…and how much and how often?
Include what’s part of a morning routine, your workday, your evening routines, and your weekends. This will only benefit you if you’re honest, so record the good, the bad, the seemingly indifferent. After you do, ask these 3 questions…
- What Habits are shaping me?
- What habits have been misshaping me without my awareness?
- Are the things that get my time, attention, and energy leading me towards a WITH-God Life + Biz? If not, what habits will I let go?
Over the next few weeks we will walk through the 4 steps of HABIT FORMATION – ATTENTION. INTENTION. MOTIVATION. IMPLEMENTATION.
But it all starts with being aware…so pay attention to your habits, what you do (or don’t do) repeatedly… and more importantly, how it’s shaping you.
We’ll be breaking this down so we can apply what God wants to show us about our habits so be sure to come join us inside the REDEEM Her Time Community where we have real, honest conversations about our WITH-God Life + Biz. Speaking of which, here is today’s community question-
What is one HABIT you are AWARE of that is shaping you towards who God is calling you to be in your WITH-God Life or Biz…and what is one HABIT that is misshaping you?
Come join us in searching our hearts and and see you’re not alone.
Speaking of searching our hearts, only He truly knows it all, so let’s commit this HABIT AWARENESS to Him.
Ok friend, I’ll see you over inside the REDEEM Her Time community where we’ll talk more about this.
Remember…..instead of chasing time on a clock trying to control it,
Receive the gift of time from the one who truly holds it
Because as His daughter, YOU. HAVE. TIME.
L.Y.L.A.S. (Love Ya Like A Sis)
P.S. Schedule a BUSYNESS BREAKTHROUGH CALL…and discover the key to stop chasing the clock and start REDEEMING your Time in both Life + Biz WITH God.
Visit the REDEEM Her Time Website https://redeemhertime.com
Join the conversation inside the REDEEM Her Time Community
Grab the free FILL YOUR CUP FIRST Guide + Coaching Video
