It’s not the random indulgences; it’s not the late night drinking or pizza; it’s not the time you ate half of your birthday cake when you turned 31; it’s not the fried food you ate last week; it’s not the donuts Monday morning at work.  So what is it that is causing this epidemic, this worldly battle against heart disease and many other “syndrome X” diseases (this includes diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity).

Habits!  Habits take control over the outcome of life because we do these things without thinking everyday.  What is a habit exactly; it’s a routine, pattern, tradition, regular everyday practice.  A habit can make you rich, poor, fat, skinny, buff, angry, stressed, spiritual, uptight, lazy, unhealthy, weak, diseased, achy, and can cause you to develop bad knees, early arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and I think you get the point.

Habits…the one thing that many people don’t think about and just do; the one thing that controls, but many people don’t take control of. 

Habits…won’t change themselves, but can change your life for the better or the worse; the good thing is you decide whether better or worse; unless your not thinking about it.

So let’s think about it!  Now is the time to take control over your everyday habits and make positive changes in your life that lead towards a healthy happy future.  In this article we will go through the first step of the process towards changing personal habits to create a healthy future.

The first step of the process is the most important step.  This is the step that can not be overlooked, underdeveloped or misplaced.  This means that once this step is completed, it will need a storage place that is safe, but easily accessible.  The first step in the process is to brainstorm and devise a list of all the many different areas of your health.  The main areas consist of Physical health, spiritual health, and mental health.  Look into each of these areas of your life and write out the current state of each area.  Once you complete the current state, write beneath each area where you would like it to be 10-15 years from now. 

The best part about step one is writing down all of your current habits.  This portion of Step 1 should have its own page.  Break these habits into daily habits, weekly habits and yearly habits.  This should take up quit a bit of time because you don’t want to skip anything.  At this stage of the process all possible habits must find their way on the page, no matter how simple, complex or insignificant they may seem.  You will soon realize that figuring out all of your current habits is difficult, yet groundbreaking.  Listed below are some key words or phrases that will help you create the list of current habits.  When you see a word or phrase determine if it holds a place in your life and if any habits accompany it. (The Brainstorming Key is at the bottom of this article.)

Once you have finished Step 1 you are ready to start implementing healthy changes in your life.  Understand that changing undesirable behaviors is difficult if you lack direction.  Get the direction you need to change by reading the article “Developing Healthy Habits”.  Watch as the habits you develop change your life completely.

Brainstorming Key:  Coffee, alarm clock, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, exercise, fitness, health, gym, supplements, protein shake, radio stations, weight loss, TV stations, shows, music, CD’s, vegetables, fruits, holidays, parents, personal training, work, workplace, job, park, pets, dancing, singing, arts and crafts, cars, fixing cars, carpentry, home improvement, gardening, landscaping, cloths, household chores, washing the car, sports, bootcamp, children, technology, ipod, personal computer, Journaling, laptop, cell phone, hunting, fishing, outdoors, real estate, beach, rivers, flying, whole grain, relationships, marriage, friendship, church, ministries, family, inlaws. (Try to think of more key words that may help you)