Spiritual Practices

Cultivating Good Habits

Spiritual Practice: For any spiritual practices that are performed in the outer world, spend a few minutes morning and evening visualizing yourself performing that act. Form the habit in your mind first, which will help you perform it outwardly—just as athletes visualize themselves performing exactly as they want to on the field, track, or court. See yourself performing the action in the places and circumstances you expect to perform it. In your visualization, see it as happening right now. The more you do this, the easier it will be to create new spiritual habits.

Spiritual Practice: Spend more time with people who have the good habits or spiritual habits that you want. You’ll see the possibility of forming those habits and be encouraged to create them.

Spiritual Practice: Affirm what you want to be and it will help you to manifest it. Everything begins with thought. “I am calm. I am courageous. I am generous. I am compassionate. I am [fill in the blank].” “Always concentrate on the ideal as an already existing fact” (Charles Haanel).

Spiritual Practice: Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. If you have a habit of being lazy and watching too much TV, decide to form the habit of doing something constructive like meditating or journaling. It doesn’t help to say to yourself, “I shouldn’t watch so much TV,” because what you’re focusing on is “watching TV.” Instead, cultivate the desire to meditate or journal by keeping in mind the benefits of these activities.

Spiritual Practice: It takes an act of will to create a new habit. Decide to perform a beneficial action that you want to become a habit. Decide how long you want to do it and how often. Stretch yourself but make it doable. Then do it, no matter what, even if you have to lose a little sleep to perform at. Make up your mind and follow through on your resolution. Hold yourself accountable.

Spiritual Practice: Ask yourself why you want to create a particular good habit. Is it because there’s a parental voice inside your head saying you should? If so, you’ll need a more compelling reason to cultivate it. The best initial step for creating a good habit is to have a desire to create it. Contemplate the benefits of it. Read about it. Talk to people who have the habit and find out what benefits they have gotten from it. Increasing your desire will increase your willpower to create the habit.