Habits, Get More Change Into Your Life

January 21^st is known as the most depressing day of the year. It is the day when most of us realize we are not accomplishing our resolutions. If you are feeling a little down or frustrated, you’re not alone. Change is difficult, and the most difficult thing to change is one that requires a shift in our behavior. If you feel that you may never change somethings; or if you just want to get better at change and personal development, I think you will be interested in a scientifically supported practice that can really have an impact on how you go about change.

45% of your day is directed by habit

A Duke University study in 2006, found that over 40% of actions people performed each day were not due to conscious decisions, but were directed by habits. These routine and mostly unconscious behaviors are what are so incredibly difficult to change. These behaviors are literally entrenched into our neural pathways in our brain.

A habit, of course, is regular tendency to act in a specific way on a regular basis. It might be something like sitting down to the computer and reading emails or looking at Facebook first thing in the morning. Or it might be saying "yes" to people that ask you to do something before really thinking about it. Or it could be downing a bag of chips as soon as you walk in the door from work.

The Three steps

What exactly I am doing? 

First clearly identify exactly what it is you are doing that you don’t like. This is deceptively simple. We are trying to identify behaviors that are unconscious, which means we don’t always know what we are doing. Start to pay attention as soon as you become aware of them write it down. For example: I don’t like when I ...

What initiates the behavior?

What is the trigger? Believe it or not, something happens that triggers your habit. For sitting down at the computer each morning, the trigger is walking to the office right after waking up. Saying yes is triggered by someone asking you a question. Eating a bag of chips might be walking by the pantry right after entering the house after work. Make it clear by asking yourself what is it that triggers this habit? Write it down.

What would I rather do?

What is the new behavior I want to do? The key here is that the new behavior must take 60 seconds or less. Find something you would rather do and make sure it takes less than a minute to complete.

Putting it all together.

Here is a sentence that has all three components. When I get up, (trigger) instead of walking to my office (bad habit I don’t like), I will walk to my dining room table and open my bible (new behavior done in less than 60 seconds). Or when someone asks me to do something, instead of saying “yes”, I will say “let me think about it and I will get back to you”. Or, when I walk through the door after work, instead of walking by the pantry I will walk around the kitchen and go straight to the office.

Some Tips

Focus on one habit at a time.

You may think, “I can do that with so many things!” Don’t get carried away just yet, remember the turtle beat the hare. Slow, dedicated, conscious effort on one habit at a time is worth far more if you work through them methodically. I promise that even after just a few times of doing something different you will feel a difference. When you feel the change, celebrate it, pat yourself on the back, remember that feeling, then move on to the next one.

Keep a habit journal: 

Write these down in a notebook. Write down when you did well and what it felt like. Or if you’re struggling, make a change  to one of the components and write a new sentence if you need to. Later, when you’re feeling down, you can open your habit notebook and look back at them, which will help you with boosting your morale on a hard day. It can also help you remember if you lose your way, that you can always get back on track.

Stay positive, you will fail. We all get distracted and fall into the old rut; the key here is to remember it’s not about perfection, it’s about progress. Focus on improving, be nice to yourself and start again.

So today, when we are all down because we didn’t lose the weight yet or spend every morning seeking God like we wanted to, realize its ok. Just find one small behavior that you want to change, follow these steps and see what happens from there. 

It is still a Happy New Year!

Need a change?

For change to occur the first step, is realizing we don't have the ability to make the change on our own. Also, from the attempts at trying to change on our own, we have created a mountain of problems in our life and it has become unmanageable. I will continue to explore this in the future. For I think this is the hardest concept to grasp. How does the ability to win come from a complete surrender? For now, what is the motivation for change? I believe it is pain? Emotional pain is the result of separation from the one who created us. Separation the result from the fall. Check it out in Genesis 3, God said to the woman you will give birth in pain. To the man, he was to labor and work and the ground will bring but thistles and thorns. These were the consequences for us, because of our choice to follow our own desires over his direction. It is painful to be apart from our creator, and every time we choose more of our own will, over Gods will, we move farther away from him and life becomes more painful.


If pain is the result of separation from God, then healing would come in the presence of God, right? When Jesus walked the earth, thats a lot of what he did, in his presence people were healed. So can we still get healed today? Yes, I think so. Jesus said "the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matt 4:17). What is the kingdom of heaven other then the place where the king dwells and in the kings presence there is no pain. He promises us that we can be in his presence. For he has given us his holy spirit to inhabit us. James 4:8, Psalm 145:18, Eph 2:13,


Today with all the fears of the world's problems. The big questions I have no answer to. I choose to focus on what is right in front of me. I choose to seek Gods presence and comfort in my life just the way it is. I will choose to love and encourage others no matter the fears that try and paralyze me. To speak words of hope and encouragement no matter how I feel. Just for today!


Step One,
We admitted we are powerless over __________, and our lives have become unmanageable?

Wake up and don't do taxes

This morning I woke up early headed to my office to sit down for my quiet time. My computer is on my desk and I have recently been racking my brain over taxes. Instead of going to the Bible, I thought I would briefly check on my turbo tax, I was sucked in and there went my quiet time. am one of the few that gets excited to do taxes, or used to get excited. Maybe because every year I can expect a return. This year I started my own small business, I have put away more then enough to cover me for tax time. But my expectation, was I am going to get to keep most of what I saved. Cause com'on the government wont take 30% of my gross. But sure enough between both state and federal; I wanted a return and instead I'm getting... well this is a Christian blog and I wont publish those unkind words. But I am not too happy today. Here is the point though, I woke up this morning and instead of turning to my helper to establish a good foundation for my day. Instead doing what I know I should, I did want I thought I must. I thought I must solve this problem and figure taxes out first so then I will feel better. I didn't feel better! The more I dug into them, the more problems came up.So my day started with a real nice resentment against ol' uncle Sam. I did have a moment of realization when I was not being so kind to my wife because I was in fear over money. I have now gone to my father asked for his forgiveness, and Kelly too, and decided that from now on I must make God and the time I spend with him my priority, or it wont matter what the bank account says even if its doing great. I will not have the fulfillment I am seeking, but better yet when things don't work out the way I wanted them too. God can show me he had me and my problems in mind all along, and its all going to work out ok.

A seed of interest!

This year I want to be closer to my God then ever. I have prayed recently for the "meat and potatoes" of God. I have felt that I want to push past the "milk" and grow deeper in my relationship with Chirst. So like every other time, I have made up my mind to seek out this goal.  I begin early in the morning, I grab my coffee and sit down at my desk. I flip my bible open and begin to read. But there is a problem, everything I read seems old and common to me. I don't have any excitement in reading the word of God. I am becoming discouraged. I feel like its even harder to remember what I have just read. Each phrase seems barred from my memory. I read it over and over hoping it will sink in, but it doesn't.  


I have had the same feelings after a great Sunday sermon. I step out of the front doors of my church and reality confronts me. I lose hope of what I just heard. Within minutes the passionate spark dies, my head sinks and I accept once again the limitations of my life. Words that 20 minutes ago inspired me to be an overcomer, are now drowned out by the passing traffic. This happened every Sunday that I could remember from when I was 16. The inward church did not connect to my outward reality. Now this is the point to which I am reaching out to others that feel the same way, looking to a solution to a life constrained by "reality".

My reality, as I understand it, is outlined by the bad news at every turn. From the world news; war, earthquakes, tsunamis,  persecution. To the country; politics, mass shootings, economic distress, foreclosures, credit, and debt. The list can go on and on. In my own life; addictions, the death of my parents, a sense of unworthiness, lack of purpose, depression and fear. To my doubting friends these are the very reasons there can be no God, for how can a loving God permit such atrocities. My purpose here is to indulge into this argument and try to answer this specific question. God is good and he will not interfere with any persons freedom to choose. I have always held onto this belief, but this "reality" does weigh heavy on my heart. I know I am not the only one. Depression today is at epidemic levels, in this, the most affluent society on earth.  A good spiritual uplift is what I need, and not one, that only lasts 40 minutes of a good sermon, but each and every day, all day, and into the night. I seek the presence and closeness of my creator in everyday life. 


How do I get this spiritual up lift; and when attained, How do I sustain it? How do I get the strength of the lord, (Nehemiah 8:10). 

Anagoge a Greek root word that meant a spiritual up lift, referring to a principle. Thus the title of this blog. The search for Anagoge. I plan to give my practical experience in how I  find hope and encouragement in these dark days. The solution is not to run from these troubles, but to have the strength to confront them head on, and the faith and courage to see them through. Join me I will publish my experience weekly on Wednesday afternoon.