Accessing Abundance Through Habit
Habits.
Our lives are run by them.
They form the foundation of our behavior 24/7–how we spend our money, the foods we eat, our exercise routines and our bedtime rituals.
More than 40 percent of what we do every single day is based on habits, but often we aren’t even conscious they exist!
According to a 2012 study published in the British Journal of General Practice, habits are “actions that are triggered automatically in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance.”
For example, when you get into your car, you automatically put on the seat belt. You don’t think about doing it or why you do it.
Your brain likes habits because they’re efficient. When you automate any behavior that is repeated regularly, the effort required to complete the action is substantially decreased, freeing up mental resources for other tasks.
So how are habits created in the first place?
Scientists believe that habits run in a loop.
Every habit begins with a ‘cue’ that prompts a given behavior. What we call a habit is the normal action you take following a cue.
A cue can be a time of day, a location or a situation.
If A, then we do B.
If we drink tea, we then eat a cookie.
Change the contextual cue, you will begin to create a new habit.
What is important to remember however is that every cue is linked with an underlying emotion–either positive or negative.
When it comes to the habits around abundance and prosperity, what is your contextual cue and how does it make you feel?
When you sit in the kitchen and write a check to pay a bill, how do you feel?
Does this habit feel rewarding or does it produce anxiety?
What if you changed the contextual cue?
Maybe, instead of just writing a check at the kitchen table, you put on some nice music, light a candle or even go to your favorite comfy chair?
How would paying your bill feel in that situation?
Shift the cue and you will shift the emotions around the cue.
When you begin to think about abundance, what do you feel? Does it feel like a struggle…or does it feel light and easy?
If thinking about abundance feels like a struggle, why not change the cue?
The cue could be a visualization about prosperity or a journaling exercise.
Change the cue and you will change the feeling.
And that is very powerful.
The great thing about habits is that over time they become automated. Just like driving a car or putting on your seat belt, you can automate the ability to access positive habits and feelings around prosperity and abundance too!