Here is the complete transcript of the podcast
Welcome back. Today on the podcast, we are talking about habits. Something that I have been speaking about a lot on this podcast, and also on my radio shows. There are different ways and different approaches to dealing with a bad habit. First of all, the biggest challenge in establishing a habit to be a bad habit is to start two primary ways to deal with habits one is using the conscious mind which is developing willpower and developing a force and defeating the habit using force. And then there is the unconscious part, which is tapping into the unconscious mind activating you know, replacing some incorrect representations that may exist in the unconscious mind, shifting some beliefs attaching new meanings, and doing completely unconsciously.
Now, the studies show or the history shows, when it comes to the brain function, that majority of our bad habits are deep-rooted in the unconscious mind. So up till now, and through all my consultations and through hypnosis, you know, all my hypnotic hypnotherapy related consultations have suggested that easier to track, attack a habit, and get rid of inhabiting, using hypnosis or any other mind-bending tool, that’s the easiest way to do consciously can be done. And you can use willpower, some degree of willpower is needed. So every time I had a client stepping into my office, and telling me what a bad habit was, that means, a part of the conscious mind did get them there. Consciously, they took the step of coming there. Now once they are there, whether I work with the conscious mind or the unconscious mind, it’s my choice. And I’ll see where they’re more responsive. And I’ll use whatever I get from them their mind to solve the problem. Now, let’s for a second, forget about the mind mending techniques specifically, like hypnosis, meditation or yoga, or any of that stuff. And just focus on your willpower for a second, what can you do consciously, to overcome a bad habit. And I’m going to explain this with the assumption that you already identified a habit and you have tagged it as a bad habit.
So first of all, you have to agree that you have a bad habit that you want to get rid of. So assuming that you’ve already identified that, let’s start with step one, step one is that you’ve got to commit to doing whatever is necessary to get rid of this habit from your system. Or whatever the annoying behavior this habit is creating from your system, you got to commit to it. Step number one. Now, step number two of this process. Now, once you’re committed. And let’s assume for a second that this is going to go away. Okay, let’s pretend for a second, that this bad habit is going to go away. Now, what we have seen is, that it’s easier to assume that’s going to go away because you’re making an effort. And then the only way to really take it out. And the only reason why it went away is that you replaced it with another behavior or another habit. Okay, so there has to be some behavior in between. So you assume for a second, that this habit is going to go away, you’re working towards it. But then whatever time goes into nurturing this habit on a daily basis, that pot has to be filled with new behavior. So for example, you are trying a habit that you want to change. Let’s say smoking, smoking is a habit that you want to get rid of. So what’s the filler behavior? For smoking for a smoker? Well chew some gum, I’m just making it up, okay? Do some gum or go for a walk or be with people inside a room where you are prohibited to smoke? Right? spend three hours a day there, whatever, five hours a day, something like that.
The biggest thing we have seen happen in all this is anytime somebody wants to get rid of a habit. Is that why? Why is that? Do you want to get rid of a habit? What’s the benefit of getting rid of a habit that benefit has to be identified. In fact, there are multiple benefits, not just one, if I stopped smoking, then I can live a longer life then I can be around for my grandkids or I could avoid getting cancer or I would be more inviting to places or I could have better travel or I want I’ve traveled the world and I don’t want to be smoking, whatever, there are multiple benefits of, of doing anything for that matter, and in this specific case, changing a habit. So all those benefits have to be identified. Those are the wise. And you value those, and you know that you are self-defeating yourself sabotaging yourself to achieve these things. And hence, this act, this getting rid of this habit act is justified, justified to the conscious mind also the unconscious mind, okay, so the list is very, very important, I would highly suggest that you write down a list spend few days, don’t just start stopping a habit just because you heard this podcast, right? Spend some time writing down why you want to get rid of it, that’s where that makes a huge difference. Then support system, this is a big part, this podcast episode, maybe support, just take that as an example. I’m supporting you from the side, at least that’s how I’m thinking. But then have a family friend, a family member or a friend who lives with you, a family member or a friend who lives outside of the house, or an extended family member, whoever, you know, different phases, and different times supporting you. And we have seen that people who are close to you have a huge impact on forming clean habits, of course, forming bad habits, but also clean habits. So having them make yourself accountable to them is a game-changer.
Now, while these things are in place, you should also look forward to what are the different things that could otherwise force you to stay in the bad habit while you are making an effort to get rid of it, what are the contributing factors that make you stay on the bad habit? So let’s say you’re trying to control your diet. And one of the contributing factors. For you. It kind of sustained this habit is that you go to parties a lot or you go to meet friends a lot and you go on dinners a lot, things like that. So all these are contributing factors that will make you eat a lot. So can you stop this or at least for a while? And can you modify this for a while, don’t go to a place where they are serving high-calorie food, why not go to a place where you can eat some salads and things like that. Or you don’t want to step into a place where there are a lot of aromas and smells that affect your palate and start those cravings with you. This can be well explained using food as an example. But then this is there in every habit, a lot of things that contribute towards making that habit continue, despite your best efforts to get rid. Right, you have to cut that off.
One other affirmation I was able to use is, that at any time, we are getting rid of habits, and we are starting new habits. So some habits are going away from us some habits are coming into us at any point in time. And in the past, it might have so happened that you have made an effort to get rid of something, and you were successful. So if you look at your life, there are things that you have done that were amazing that you thought were very difficult or hard, but you were able to. So why not bring that mindset or that memory back? Hey, if I could do that, I can do this. If I could do that I can do this, that reference is very important. And the last and the final thing I suggest is everything in life, we live in a life where we need gratification. So at any point in time, we achieve something we need to be celebrated. So you need to have a reward system in place for every habit that you remove, and every new habit to successfully start. So reward in both directions. People only talk about one direction, so a lot of hard work goes into getting rid of a habit. And a lot of hard work goes into keeping commitment on an ongoing basis. So you got to reward yourself.
As I close the podcast today, I want to tell you, that there is a lot of hard work that has gone into this commitment I made to keep this podcast running every day forever. One whole full year. And we are well halfway over the month of April of 2022. And getting into me a lot of hard work has gone into this. And my only reward is that if you listen to the podcast, the downloads go down. If you’re not, if I see that you’re not opening the podcast and ignoring the podcast, and you think that it’s dead anyway, I’m gonna go back to it, listen to it. In fact, recently, I made a decision that if you are calling into my office, and you want to consult with me on an issue or a challenge, the first thing that my staff is going to ask you to do is go to the podcast and listen to the last five episodes. Why? Because it gives you an idea of who I am, how I approach issues and things, how I think, and what are my beliefs? What are my values? What do I stand for? It gives a window into my life, to anybody who wants to work with me, who wants to consult with me who wants to talk to me, this podcast gives them a view into my life. So my only reward in this is that you download and you listen to the podcast. A lot of that’s my only reward, a lot of hard work has gone into this a lot of commitment to keep this going. That’s all for now.
Hopefully, today’s podcast is helpful. And if it is, do me a favor. Read the podcast, and write a review. If you know someone who you think will benefit from this, by all means, share this podcast with them. And then you have a question for me. You know how to reach me at 888-818-0404 The number on this podcast. So call me and leave me a message. I’m going to use your message as a question watch drop in an upcoming episode, and I will answer your question. That’s all for now. Wherever you are, be safe, and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye now.