Bye, bye old habits

This past Sunday, as the last opening song was sung, and we settled into our chairs, I smelled the unmistakable, sweet aroma of Skull Chewing Tobacco. My mind wandered as I recalled the countless Turbo Leadership Development Lab (LDL) participants who have given up, quit, this nasty, enslaving habit.

On June 18, 2019, we published a Turbocharger entitled Tobacco 5X Free. Donald’s story is available at https://blog.turbols.com/tobacco-5x-free/. You can read, how in Session 3 of the LDL, he set a personal goal of giving up chewing tobacco. Four weeks later in Session 7, he reported he’d kicked the habit. When Sam Kennedy, Safety Manager for Kerr Contractors, read that Turbocharger he sent us the following note:

“That was one of my goals in the 2014 Turbo Class. I fell shortly there-after but got back up again and am pleased to say that I now have been 100% nicotine-free for 2.5 years. I never believed in a million years that the day would come when I would not only be a non-user but also have all the desires and cravings lifted. There is a big difference between being a non-user and still fighting the urge and being free of the desire. I am truly free today! I see he has six weeks so, if his experience is like mine, he is through the most difficult part. For me, it took another couple of months though before I started to really feel free from it. It’s a big deal that he has six weeks! Please pass on my encouragement and congratulations to Donald. If this 3-can-a-day guy can do it, he can do it! Best thing I ever did.”

Hundreds of LAB participants have quit smoking or quit chewing. These are enslaving habits. All our habits can be enslaving or liberating. It depends on the nature of the habit.

We became controlled by hypnotic rhythms. What are hypnotic rhythms? They are patterns, habits, things you do without thinking, that actually run our lives. We were born with zero habits. Two or three instincts, no habits. As our lives progress, we do things repeatedly and then turn our lives over to those repeated patterns.

This is a good thing. If you had to think about all the things you’ve already accomplished today, you wouldn’t have half as much done. Because of cultural norms, it’s easy to fall into patterns that don’t serve you at the highest level.

Most of your habits are good. Are any of your hypnotic rhythms holding you back? Now is the time to break them and you’ll have more fun in 2021!

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