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How to stop a bad habit and create a new one (one week challenge) · Spiritual Sense: Practical wisdom to quiet an overthinking mind and recharge your soul

• 0:01
  Many blessings and welcome. Welcome.
• 0:05
  This is just a little bonus session for you.
• 0:09
  And actually the purpose of this session, to be perfectly honest, is to hold me accountable to do something that I've been wanting to do for some time. And I thought you might like to join me.
• 0:22
  So here's what it is. Most of us in one way or another have something that we do that isn't necessarily the best thing that we could be doing.
• 0:38
  And if we give it up, we get lots of benefits. There's a wonderful spiritual principle which is basically that renunciation leads to fortune.
• 0:57
  Renunciation leads to fortune.
• 1:04
  So when we give up something, when we say no to something, we are saying yes to something else.
• 1:16
  So, for example, if I say no to going to bed late, I'm saying yes to getting up early, right?
• 1:27
  If I say no to going to one thing, I'm saying yes to something else. Like after I've recorded this session, I am going to turn all my computer stuff off and go on a two hour hike in the mountains.
• 1:40
  So I'm saying no to doing anything else and I'm saying yes to going on a walk, right? So this is what we do all the time. Every yes is a no and every no is a yes.
• 1:50
  And one of my bad habits, which I'm freely admitting to you, is that when I'm working on projects on the computer and the Internet's turned on, I'm doing something. What often happens is I feel a little bit tired after a while, you know, after doing a lot of work. And then I, then I get into this trance state because I'm slightly tired and I think, you know, I'm just gonna see what's going on in the news or see what's going on on some interesting YouTube video, right? And it's all very innocent and it's all very like, you know, just, I'm just in between something, I'm uploading something. I just got like a couple of minutes here and there and then I click on a button and then I watch something and then something else happens and then I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, right? You scroll through something and it's all, it's not like, it's not a big deal, but it's somewhat mindless and it can end up extending beyond that little moment.
• 2:50
  And even though this isn't like some major problem in my life, it's one of those little things that I know if I stop doing that, which would require a little bit of effort, I would end up feeling a lot better. So I'm committed for one week and I intend to extend this outwards to consciously not do that.
• 3:14
  Right. So I'm cutting off any random entertainment or just checking this and that for a week and hopefully indefinitely. Right now I don't want to be too extreme because there actually are useful things to consume and things that are interesting.
• 3:34
  You might have something else that is something you'd like to give up or change. So think about it. It could be random scrolling, it could be certain foods that are bad for you. It might be something else, think about something you'd like to give up.
• 3:52
  And one principle that we have to come to terms with when we try and change things in our life is that every time we remove something, it creates a vacuum. It creates like a black hole that has to be replaced with something else.
• 4:11
  Like if someone says, I like my donuts, I love eating donuts, and I'm never having any more donuts, then what are they going to eat instead? You know, they can't just be like, I'm not going to eat anything because that, there's a gap, there's a space, right?
• 4:27
  So in order to give us something up, we have to replace it. So in my case, I'm going to either read a book, take a nap, play the piano, play the guitar, go for a walk, depending on how late it is in the evening, how cold it is, and I have a list of various things. Meditation. The thing with meditation, I do a lot of meditation, but meditation doesn't replace entertainment very well because meditation needs focus, right? Meditation is like a, an active practice. It's something that requires actual focus.
• 5:12
  So there's a certain amount of off time where we're not meditating, we're not doing anything, we're not working.
• 5:20
  So like reading or having a nap or listening to music, playing music, talking to someone on the phone, you know, friends and family, whatever, going out, talking with friends, whatever, right? Like there's certain things and there's different amounts of time needed. Like, I personally prefer to have longer, more meaningful conversations than shorter ones with people.
• 5:47
  So think about this for yourself. If you're going to give something up that you know is not the really the best thing, what are you going to replace it with?
• 5:59
  And ideally it's going to be something of equivalent benefit. Obviously it might be more benefit, most likely be more benefit, but equivalent amount of time and energy, it does the same sort of thing.
• 6:15
  Like you can't swap out something that's entertaining and easy to do with something that's really hard and takes a long time because it's not an equivalent.
• 6:23
  It's like people who give up caffeine, they swap it out with some other drink that they like. They might have something else that. It's not the same but it's somewhat similar.
• 6:40
  So for example, the reason I like to watch videos is because I like to learn things. I have loads of courses and trainings and things like that that are somewhat entertaining and interesting and useful rather than random stuff that's a bit random and not necessarily helpful. So I can watch something else that I already have that's much more helpful.
• 7:02
  So think about this for yourself. If you're going to give up this one thing, what are you going to replace it with?
• 7:10
  And let's do it for a week just for fun, right? Just for fun. And then it's worth writing it down so that next time you think, oh, I'm just going to do this thing. Oh, easy, easy, easy, tiger. Let's swap that out with this other thing, right? What I've noticed is there's a reflexive.
• 7:32
  It just happens by itself. We're not, we're so used to doing something that it just happens.
• 7:41
  So hopefully this is useful.
• 7:45
  Think about all the benefits.
• 7:48
  This is a wonderful exercise in self control, of being a self sovereign, someone who decides their own fate, does what's good for them.
• 8:00
  So tune into this, that's my personal plan and I will let you know how I go. Hopefully you found this helpful. Good luck. Wish me luck.
• 8:10
  Sending you many, many blessings. Lots of love. Talk to you soon.