Sixth, I need you to mark your progress. Always
remember, the key is progress, not perfection.
Keep a calendar specifically dedicated to your
efforts. When there are days that you feel you
lack self -control, mark it on your calendar
and journal about what preceded it that perhaps
triggered that lack of impulsivity. The more
you become aware of yourself and your patterns,
the easier it will be to see the challenges come.
challenging times coming. For example, maybe
the holidays are a stressing time for you and
you notice yourself eating much more than just
the pressure of everything you have to do. Next
year, you will know that the holidays are at
a time that self -control becomes difficult for
you and you can prepare yourself by beefing up
the strategies you've learned about while educating
yourself about binge eating. motivate yourself,
maintain clear reasons for yourself, why you
want to control the behavior and remind yourself
of them continuously. Try to find your inner
motivation and then journal about it. You can
also keep a list of reasons on a small piece
of paper in your wallet or program a reminder
in your phone. For example, say you're trying
to develop self -control about smoking sensation.
You could write down the cost of buying cigarettes,
the effects on your health, the smell, or caring
for your teeth, etc. Also make a list of the
positives of quitting smoking, including having
more money to spend on other things, wider teeth,
breathing easier, having a decent breath, at
least something other people might want to smell.
I'm not saying anyone will. Whatever reasons
you can think of that will motivate you to quit.
Okay? 8. Channel the energy into positive behaviors.
Try to fold it in different behaviors to replace
the behavior you are trying to build self -control
around. You can look at this process as a journey
to find out what works for you and try not to
get discouraged if a coping strategy doesn't
quite resonate with and instead move on to something
else. Caring for yourself will reinforce that
you are actively trying to change and practice
better self -control. For example, if you binge
eat when you are stressed, start exploring other
ways to manage your stress other than eating.
Explore different relaxation techniques and replacement
strategies such as, well, I'm not a fan of these,
but I'll give these as an option. Belly breathing.
i don't know why that just sounds wrong to me
yoga physical exercise meditation martial arts
and tai chi that's the last time i'm taking examples
from a friend of mine belly breathing okay um
nine develop new hobbies getting lost in newfound
hobbies such as cars puzzles motorcycles sports
painting cooking sewing and even crocheting among
other countless things can be a wonderful distraction
as a practice yeah as you practice self -control
part of changing behavior is replacing that behavior
with something that is healthier and not vulnerable
to impulsivity there are many resources on the
web that can access um in your mobile phones
or computers or what have you for yourself to
help you get started such as pinterest social
media groups etc where you can meet other people
with similar interests to help you 10. Build
yourself up. Proactively encourage yourself to
make the changes in your life that you want.
Having a positive attitude can truly influence
your ability to practice self -control. Don't
be too hard on yourself if you feel like you
aren't reaching your goals. Keep your focus on
continually making the effort and let go of perceived
failure. And just try again. Always try, try
again. Okay? You can use your journal to refrain
negative statements if you feel you gave in to
impulsivity instead of reaching your goals. For
example, if your goal is not to spend money impulsively,
but you went on the shopping spree anyway, take
another look at your goals and remind yourself
you had a really bad day. Take some time to journal
what you could have done differently so next
time you'll maybe go to a yoga class or something
to help avoid that. and then congratulate yourself
on your awareness and get ready to try one more
time. On to the final three things. Use your
support system, okay? Let your friends and loved
ones know that you are trying to change your
behaviors. Ask people in your life who are supportive
if you can call and text them if you need support.
Part of believing in yourself and creating change
also means allowing others to help you. Although
empowering yourself is a large part of building
self -control, letting others in your life give
you pep talks, motivate you, and even listen
when you need it will help reinforce your decisions
to create this much needed change. Next, reward
yourself. Make sure you're giving yourself proper
kudos for attempting to build self -control and
change. Rewarding yourself for practicing self
-control will help reinforce positive behaviors
to replace impulsive behaviors. I know, it is
a mouthful. For example, if you're quitting smoking
cigarettes, you could save the money you would
spend on cigarettes and treat yourself to a massage
or spa day if you're a female. Not to say that
guys don't enjoy them too. Or, if you are trying
not to binge eat, from the previous example,
reward yourself with a small gift, such as a
new shirt. Yeah, I know, not a very good example.
Lastly, learn when to seek help, okay? This is
the big one for a lot of people. While building
self -control is a wonderful and ambitious faucet
of changing your life and feeling more in charge
of yourself and your choices, there are circumstances
when a person may need more help than just their
own willpower. Here are just four quick suggestions
for when to seek professional help and support.
The first one is if you're struggling with alcohol
or other substances at this point, willpower
alone won't be enough to help you. Two, if you're
engaged in dangerous or addictive sexual behavior.
Yes, this is a problem for a lot of people, especially
young people, if not some adults. There is actually
a disease out there where people are just crave
sex endlessly. Three. if you find yourself repeatedly
engaged in abusive or dangerous relationships.
As I've covered previously under the topic of
date rape, which also covered rape, again, this
is an area where simply your self -control alone
is not going to be enough. And lastly, if you're
trying to control your anger or are raging outbursts
or have hurt yourself or someone else in the
process, I really would recommend you rather
go to someone else for help. Because at this
point, just simply working on it by yourself
is not going to be enough. Not to say you can't
do it. It'll just be easier with someone else
to help. And for those who want to know, what
can you do to work on your temper? When you feel
yourself getting angry, take deep breaths and
remind yourself that the situation is always
best approached in a calmer mind. Remove yourself
from the situation temporarily if you're able
to do so, and then remember every time you resist
your anger, you are rewiring your brain to be
calmer and react differently to situations. On
that note, I will be covering hatred soon, which
also covers the topic of anger. later on in this
moral series. Anyway, this brings an end to self
-control. Next time, I will be covering the topic
of contentment. So, with that being said, thanks
for listening. This is Food for Thought, Thoughts
If It Were You, Moral Series by Neogentrics.
Good morning, everybody. It is 12 o 'clock midnight
here in Houston, and you know what we're here
for. I told you we were going to do the Moral
Series, and I covered Part 1 of Perseverance
two days ago. It's been a while since I've been
able to complete the next recording, and I'm
sorry for the slight delay, but we will pick
up where we left off. In the last piece, we covered
what Perseverance is, and a couple of quotes
on it as well to help a couple of people out.
Today, I'm going to show you how to actually
use it, and we're going to cover 10 things that
can help you, along with some tips that follow.
This will bring an end to the perseverance section,
and we'll move on to the next morals, like I
promised, in the next piece. First off, perseverance
is the key to success, okay? After thousands
of efforts to make the electric light bulb, Thomas
Edison said, I haven't failed. I've only identified
10 ,000 ways it doesn't work. Helen Keller, Abraham
Lincoln, Mariah Carey, and an endless list of
other great achievers have basically found that
success inevitably arrives for everyone who perseveres,
regardless of how many times they fail. You can't
succeed or learn anything from anyone if you're
always... 100 % in everything or you're always
correct. Sometimes you have to fail. Sometimes
you have to just lose. It is only then that you
actually learn what you don't know. Acquiring
a desired job or promotion or succeeding at a
business may also present challenges, but this
is part of the learning process. Ultimately,
individuals who persist become successful and
they learn from their mistakes. So this brings
up this question. Do you persevere? Or, after
meeting rejection or difficulty, do you quit?
50 -75 % of the population nowadays, that's pretty
much their response to anything. When a problem
comes up, instead of trying to face it head on,
they just give up. So, let's do this. Like I
said, I was going to cover 10 things. Here are
10 ways to test your perseverance. Ask yourself
each one of these questions, or statements rather.
See if you can answer yes to each one of these.
I believe in myself. That's the first one Do
you believe in yourself? Well? Only you would
know the answer to that To I have a clear career
goal Well, a lot of people will say they do when
I ask them usually they don't have a response
and it takes them more than five Seconds to come
up with an answer Exceptions to those who actually
know what they want but can't quite figure out
how to say it. Third, address your limitations.
You have to address what your limitations are
so you know how far you can go and how far you
need to pull back. Four, I bounce back from disappointments.
Do you? Or do you sit there and whine and complain
like a two -year -old? Actually, I don't think
I can say that anymore. Two -year -olds and three
-year -olds, even they're more persistent than
adults nowadays. And it's a sad truth. I watch
a five -year -old sit there playing with a block,
trying to figure out how to make the square fit
in the triangle. And he'll sit there for hours
on end until he realizes it doesn't go in there
and try something else. Whereas an adult probably
doing the same thing with a bigger, larger scale
project, He'll have to bump his head a couple
hundred thousand times before he realizes, oh
wait, this is not a triangle, this is a square,
and they don't fit. And with that, it brings
up the fifth point. I persist. Do you persist
despite everything that's happening to you? If
you can answer yes to this, then you're already
on a good path moving forward.