Two weeks ago, I embarked on a new journey I’m calling the “Better Man Project.” For 10 weeks I’m going to be “micro-habit stacking”. So what does that mean? Each week I’ll be adding 2 new habits that are designed to help me live a healthier life and help me as I grow and become a better man. The habits will be either something I am going to START doing or something I am going to STOP doing.
One or two new little habits might not make a huge difference, but I believe that stacking 20 new habits and sticking with it, I’ll begin to see some pretty dramatic results which will result in a better quality of life!
Week 2
I’ve been able to stick with my habits from week 1 (STOP drinking caffeine after 2 PM and START taking Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc) and I was able to add in two more habits.
For Week 2, I decided to STOP eating after 7 PM and to START flossing my teeth each night.
This week was MUCH harder than last week! First off- I NEVER floss my teeth. But after going to the dentist last week, my dentist laid it on pretty thick that I need to start flossing, so I thought that now was a great time to add that habit to my life. Just call me “Bleeding Gums Lindeen” now.
As for eating after 7 PM…that has been a REALLY tough bad habit that I am working on breaking! I’m a big guy, but honestly I don’t consume that many calories in a day. But I have had a really bad habit for the last couple of years of eating late at night, and in particular eating bad carbs at night. It’s my coping mechanism. I don’t drink much and I never smoke anything. I rarely eat ice cream or eat a whole bag of chips. Nothing like that. But having a few crackers and some peanut butter or having a handful of peanut M&M’s gives me just enough of a hit of dopamine, that it helps me wind down before bed.
If I’m stressed out because of church or family issues, then I turn to those crackers or those M&M’s. If I’m hoping for some quality intimate time with my wife but after we get the kids to bed I can tell she is exhausted, then I don’t even try to approach her, and instead I turn to those unhealthy foods to give me that hit of dopamine.
Honestly, breaking this bad habit has been as much of a spiritual and emotional battle as it’s been a physical battle.
So HOW do you break a bad habit that you know you need to change?
- The first step is knowing WHY you have been choosing this bad habit and understanding that it’s a false comfort that could be slowly killing you.
- The second step is taking the struggle to God and asking for his help.
- The third step is trying to replace the bad habit with a good habit- in this case for me it’s been playing more guitar, reading novels, and spending time with my 13 year old son watching fun movies and TV shows.
- The fourth step is going public with the desire to change- which is what I’m doing here!
I want to encourage you- whatever that thing is that you know you need to change in your life- you CAN do it! Do the hard work of trying to understand the WHY behind the WHAT. Take your struggle to God. Replace the bad with something good and life-giving. And then go public with a desire to change, or at the very least, open up to a small group of friends and ask them to help keep you accountable.
You can change and become that best version of you that God created you to be!
On to Week 3!
ERIK LINDEEN 
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