Illustration by Bruce White
“Use the force” is what many Star War’s heroes have said.
But what exactly is the force?
The force is what’s created after we’ve repeated a behavior enough times.
For example, if you go to bed early and wake up early enough consecutive times, this behavior will then come naturally to you without struggle and you’ll be harnessing the force.
If you alter your diet from eating poorly to eating healthy over a long enough period of time you’ll create new neural pathways in your brain and your new diet will then come as naturally to you as your old diet once did. The force is with you.
If you habitually think negative thoughts and make the decision to stop those thoughts that don’t serve you over a long enough stretch of time, positive thinking will come more naturally to you and you’ll be harnessing the force.
There’s no question it can demand great effort to repeat a specific behavior enough times to gain access to the force.
But the truth is that whatever effort it demands to create new habits pales in comparison to the price it costs you when you’re a victim of your habits instead of the creator of them.
The dark side of the force
Habits that do not serve us are the dark side of the force.
Habits such as eating junk food, waking up late, or expressing anger all hail from the dark side. They do not reflect our inner truth. And can not only harm ourselves, but others as well.
The good news is that with enough determination and consistent action these bad habits can be completely destroyed and replaced with good habits.
I’d end this post by telling you to use the force.
But first you must earn it.
Bamboo Forest is an Email Life Coach, helping people work on something in their life over the course of a month through email. He’s also the founder of Tick Tock Timer.
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