Changing Bad Behaviors

It isn’t what happened to us that is important. It’s how we re-act and learn from it.

Psychologists say that much of our behavior is instilled in us as children. We all received a steady IV drip, drip, drip of parental advice over endless dinner conversations, car rides and family gatherings. All this shaped the parameters of who we are and might be.

In this sense, one could argue that who we became as adults is not our responsibility. Imagine if we had grown up in a different household and our parents were, say, Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, or even Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie. Wouldn’t we be different in significant ways? However, sticking with those behaviors that sabotage our personal lives and careers are most definitely our responsibilities.

Changing bad behaviors can seem like climbing a mountain, but it’s actually just three easy steps:

• Step 1 – Identify those behaviors that are not serving you or those around you (at home and work.
• Step 2 – Determine what you want to replace those behaviors with.
• Step 3 – Create a disciplined plan of action toward achieving your desired change. There’s been an entire library of books published on how to change behavior.  My personal recommendation is The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek.

Oh, and here’s the most important step: Get started!