Raise your hand if you have a bad habit! 

Me too!

Maybe you want to exercise more, or eat better. Maybe you want to change a communication style, or a negative thought pattern, or you want to start a positive habit. 

Do you sometimes get motivated at night to make a change, then completely lose all motivation when you wake up in the morning?  Also me too!

Studies have shown that we are more motivated in the evening for a few different reasons. Firstly, we are more relaxed in the evening. It’s also fun to imagine the future and think about ideas when we don’t have to act on them immediately. 

But thinking is easier than doing.

It is important to remember that we have control over our minds. We just need to have the discipline so that we can train our mind.

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Dr. George King gave a lecture in 1965 entitled Become More Useful Humans. In this lecture he not only explains that we have control over our minds, but also how that works in relation to our Spirit and our Soul:

“The soul is the higher mental consciousness. It’s a physical thing…the Spirit isn’t. The Spirit is the link with God. The Spirit is your Divinity, which exists in each and every one of you. But the soul is the master of the total mental capabilities. But, as Spirit, you control a soul, which in turn controls a very compact computer mechanism called the brain, which is given physical energy by another very carefully created machine, called the body.”

We are in control of our minds and our bodies. Therefore, we are in control of all that we do and we are absolutely able to break any bad habits and create new, good habits. 

When I first started on my spiritual path, I wanted to have a regular spiritual practices schedule. 
I decided to say all the prayers I knew and all of the practices I knew every day. 

I knew they would be of great benefit to me, and I didn’t really know where to start so I thought I would just try them all at once. Even if this meant spending an hour on practices. 

That plan did not last long. 

Knowing that I had a long list of practices to do made it very difficult to find the time to do them. 
I decided to change my approach and start small. I would say one prayer when I woke up. If I felt like doing more after that I could, but I began by only holding myself to the one prayer. 

This was a much better way for me to begin because I knew I would succeed with this format. I wasn’t constantly letting myself down. 

Since then, the spiritual practices I do have developed and changed, as I have grown on the spiritual path.

Something you can try:

In the lecture Become More Useful Humans, Dr. King recommends using the affirmation “I am master of my mind and my body.” 

Try reciting this affirmation at a set time during the day. This can be in the morning or in the evening, whatever suits you. Try it for just 2 to 5 minutes. 

Really focus while you say this affirmation, and put a lot into it. Believe every word.

By doing this you will begin to instill in yourself greater discipline, determination and mental strength.