When you work in the development sector, you will have come across this phrase, evidence-based programs which are programs that have been implemented to solve certain problems and have been proven to have worked. How? There is evidence that has been gathered to show that this place was once like this but now it is this other way. For example, 10 years ago Country X might have recorded 1 maternal death per 10 live births. Today, a check on this Country X might reveal a rate of 1 maternal death per 10,000 live births. Though this rate is still high, we would ask what is Country X doing to lower this rate? Could more of the same be done because there is evidence that what is being done is working? This got me thinking, What if I used the same reasoning on myself? What if I looked at myself to be country X and that the habit that I am trying to break is a rate that I would like to reduce or eliminate?
It is no secret that I have a few habits that I am working hard to break and others that I am working hard to pick up. If you have been reading my articles for a while now, you probably have an idea of what these habits are. Let us work with watching TV. Prior to the start of this year, the number of hours I spent watching TV were quite high and working from home did not help this situation. When I realized that this habit was getting out of hand, I started noticing how frequently I would reach for the remote in response to anything that was happening. When I wanted to be entertained, I would turn the TV on. When I felt I had had a particularly rough day at work, I would reach for the remote. This eventually progressed to whenever I had a particularly difficult meeting I would reach out for the TV remote. When I was bored, I reached out to the TV remote … All this was evidence that my brain was accumulating was proof that I had become addicted to watching TV.
You become what you continuously do. James Clear
Last year I tried to break this TV watching habit by, placing a pinboard in front of the TV effectively blocking it. On the pinboard, I had stuck reminders of who I wanted to become. Reminders of what would be delayed if I continued watching hours and hours of tv instead of doing what was listed on the pinboard. This worked for a couple of days until I would just pick up the pinboard, place it aside and switch TV on. When I was ready to go to bed, I would place the pinboard back in front of the TV. It got to the point where I would not even pretend to put the pinboard back but left it lying there on the side and I would imagine it staring accusingly at me. I tried other things too. Disconnecting the power cable from the TV and hiding it from myself. In my defense, this seemed like a really good idea at the time! I also tried not paying for a TV subscription service. I held out for exactly three days and then caved.
I had to admit that what I was trying to do was not working. However, I was determined to change. I picked up the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, a book that I had bought in 2019 and had already read twice. As I read it for the third time, I noticed something. A lot of the notes that I had jotted down the sides of the book and the questions I had asked had influenced me without my being intentional about allowing this to happen. I decided to give the book another pass and this time to put what it said into practice.
James Clear says that we fail to change our habits because we try to change the wrong thing, or we try to change the wrong way. Often, he states, we try to change things at the outcome level. This level, unfortunately, has the least effect on longer lasting change. The greatest change happens when we effect change at the identity level. When we change what we believe about who we are and what we consistently do, we change. Interestingly this thinking directed me to this scripture…
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is
—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2(NIV)
Don’t you just love it when science catches up with The Way? In this part of his letter to the Romans, Paul was urging them not to stick to the patterns and habits that they had before but to change. Changing, he added, would mean that they needed to carry new beliefs. Dispose of the old beliefs and adopt new ones and their actions would change. Paul knew this from his personal experience. Years before, Paul had persecuted followers of Jesus Christ, wholeheartedly agreeing with killing them. He even applied and received permission to go out to seek these followers and bring them to justice. After his encounter with God, his beliefs were changed and he could not seek out believers to persecute them anymore. His behavior changed to align with what he believed about God, himself and his purpose.
I believe that the same applies for you and I who want to shed or break off some habits. We first need to renew our minds about what we have believed about ourselves and words, actions and habits will change to match. Then we will gather new evidence of who we are becoming and be able to shed off the old of what we were.
What have you believed about yourself? Have you believed that you cannot change? Have you believed that you are destined to fail? Have you believed that you do not deserve a (yet) another chance? Together, let us take a leaf from Paul’s letter and remind ourselves, what has God said about who He is and who you and I are. Let us dare to test what they say that changing our belief is the first step towards changing what we do. And when we change what we believe and what we do continuously we will change who we are becoming. Let us start with a list of truths that a friend shared with me. Feel free to add your own.
I am loved.
I am lovable
I am accepted
I am an overcomer.
I am wonderfully and fearfully made.
God thinks precious thoughts about me.
I am a work in progress.
I belong to God’s great family.