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3 People, 3 Stories & 3 Ways To Break Bad Habits (Which Type Are You?)

Nik

“Ha, that’ll never work! I know a better way.”

Rick thought he was smarter than the rest. Yet again. But we’ll get to it.

Today I want to introduce you to three old college friends of mine.

Just like you and me, they struggle with bad habits.

Recently, however, all three of them successfully broke a bad habit.

Even though the habits were very similar, each of them used a very different approach to breaking their habit.

Letting go of bad habits is not a straightforward task, and the process looks different for everyone.

You and I can learn a lot from how my three friends did it, so I asked them to share their story with me.

Here’s what they told me.

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14 Good Habits You Should Instantly Pick Up From The Minions Cover

14 Good Habits You Should Instantly Pick Up From The Minions (Featuring Animated GIFs)

Nik

Minions is the third installment in the Despicable Me series.

If you haven’t seen or heard about the movie, you should. Because Minions is the 10th highest grossing movie of all time.

Do you know how hard it is for the third movie in a trilogy to outshine its predecessors?

It’s the reason why Avengers 2 is behind Avengers and why the first of the Hobbit movies was the most successful of them all.

So how do you go from not being on that list with the first movie, to spot number 26 with the second, to the top 10?

You double down on what works.

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Why Trampelpfad Is the One German Word You Should Remember (For Boosting Your Willpower) Cover

Why Trampelpfad Is the One German Word You Should Remember (For Boosting Your Willpower)

Nik

Trampelpfad.

Want me to say it again?

Tram-pel-pfad.

Want me to actually say it?

YouTube video

The first half of the word “Trampel” comes from the verb “trampeln” which means to stomp.

As in “When we told the kids they weren’t allowed to watch TV, they ended up stomping up the stairs in frustration.”

The second half of the word “pfad” simply means path.

Therefore, a Trampelpfad is a path, which has been created by people stomping along the same trail.

You can most often find a Trampelpfad in the woods, and it looks like this:

Image via Unsplash by Jens Lelie

Why am I telling you this?

One, because Trampelpfad is an awesome word and there’s no proper English word for it and two, because it will help you remember what I’m about to say next.

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How to Develop a Growth Mindset in 3 Steps

Nik

“Oh my god. I just had a donut. It was an accident coach, but now I’m screwed. If history is any indicator, I’ll have had 7 more by the time I leave the office. I’ve never managed to stick to my diet this long before, so I guess it was only a matter of time until I fail.”

What you just witnessed is called a fixed mindset. I receive messages like these from my clients on a regular basis.

I’ll inevitably cut in with something a little provocative, like this…

“If that’s what history indicates, I strongly suggest you pick a different indicator :)”

…or this:

“So you’ve stuck to your diet longer than ever before, but it’s impossible for you to get better? My contradiction radar just went off!”

You see, as much as I love encouraging my clients, and getting them to pick themselves up and move forward, a fixed mindset is tough to crack, and therefore oftencalls for a steamroller.

It’s one of the root problems when trying to improve your habits and getting rid of it often requires one or even multiple striking, powerful, memorable and somewhat drastic events.

Today I’m going to show you how to create those events for yourself. But first, a story — because everyone loves those.

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Toxic Habits Cover

7 Toxic Habits to Let Go Before 9 AM

Nik

“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” — Buddha

When you wake up, does your brain go straight into overdrive? Do you feel tempted to snooze? Do you think about all the things you have to do today and start worrying about what could go wrong?

Not long ago, I didn’t want to leave my bed either. I’d browse the web on my phone, read some emails, and procrastinate. Often, this meant I’d already be late by the time I finally did get up. I would rush into the shower, get angry about stubbing my toe somewhere, and end up with no time to eat.

When I arrived at work for my internship, I was already feeling behind, so the best I could do was spend the rest of my day trying to “catch up.” That’s not the frame of mind you want to operate in.

Now, however, I know exactly what the first hour of my day looks like. I don’t even have to think about it because it’s a set routine, and that’s wonderful. My internship is over, and so are my chaotic morning — because I made a deliberate change.

My morning routine makes starting the day easy, and it sets me up for success. There’s no perfect day, but if you’re prepared to have a good day — every day — that’s a great place to start. How you spend the first hour of your day determines how you spend the rest of it.

Before you can add new, good habits, however, you must let go of the bad ones. Here are seven toxic habits you can drop. Don’t bother with these, especially not before 9 AM. Doing so will make you feel calm and happy as you start your day.

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Willpower Hacks Cover

9 Free Ways to Increase Your Willpower in 1 Minute or Less

Nik

How often do you wish you were more disciplined?

Chances are, if you spent all this time taking baby steps towards more willpower instead of lamenting your lack of it, you’d be halfway there already.

Today, you’re not getting off the hook for once.

You could have more self-control less than 10 minutes from now.

These nine actions can be taken in 60 seconds or less each – and they won’t cost you a penny.

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