How to change your norm by creating new habits

You ever hear the saying, “It takes 21 days to create a new habit.”?

I believe this to be true. We all have the habits and ways of being we’ve created that make up the default way we operate and govern our lives. I wrote a blog post on expanding your default in the way of expanding your knowledge arsenal of shooting photographs.

That directly translates into everything else we do in life.

We are what we do repeatedly. I believe we can create new ways of being, and things we want to do by doing them daily for at least 21 days. Habits are things we do subconsciously, so if we do something repeatedly for that long every day we move it from our conscious to our subconscious, therefore making it something we naturally do.

For me, working out was a huge challenge for me. I hated it, and I still don’t love it. I now work out 4-5 days per week and it feels weird not to. I started by creating a plyo training workout that I could do in 25 minutes at my house. Plyo training is a shorter but more intense workout that does more for you in a short amount of time. Just what I needed to start my new habit – the idea of going to the gym just didn’t work for me. It was something small and palletteable that I designed into now something I naturally do. For some people, maybe it’s just putting forth the effort to even step into a gym and not even working out. Do it daily enough pretty soon it will feel weird not to, then you can take the next step and start working out. Now working out is a subconscious part of my life. Though it still takes effort, it is way more natural to me now.

Another example, is my recent #The100DayProject I joined with my friends. I decided to do a hand drawn type quote every day. It’s now become a habit that I am really enjoying, and a good practice for working in a different creative flow. I pick a quote daily that resonates with where I’m at and draw it. You can check out the project #OnkenDrawsType or follow me on instagram.

This also translates into our self talk. We are who we think we are, so if you want to be a better version of yourself or there are things that you want to change about yourself, the first step is believing you can. The second step is to become aware of these thoughts when they come up. Then it’s a conscious effort of changing the story we tell ourselves. We all have one or many. Next thing you know, new ways of operating become subconscious.

Do you have something you’ve been wanting to change about yourself? Most of the time it’s because of a fear or a story that you tell yourself. Step outside. Change the story, but repeat that change every day until you don’t have to consciously think about it.