The Single Easiest Habit Change to Improve Your Life Forever

life change can be hard really hard but there's a reason we make resolutions every January first we desire to grow and improve and live life to the fullest but getting there takes discipline and work and effort too often we fall short of the desired change we desire to embrace but there's one change available to us that is as significant and beneficial as any of the others the decision and implementation are really not that difficult in fact almost everyone I've ever met that made the change recommends it and here it is watch less television for starters consider the negative effects of television on our lives just as adults number one it's bad for our health numerous studies draw direct parallels between excessive television watching obesity and poor eating habits but we don't need studies to tell us that we eat less healthy when watching television we already know that number two television distracts us from the real people in our lives the characters on TV aren't real they're thought up in an office building they're given life on a piece of paper and in front of a camera in contrast you are surrounded every day by real people living real lives they need you and you need them number three it influences our spending habits corporations don't spend billions of dollars in advertising hoping to influence you they spend billions of dollars because they know eventually they will gain control over your spending number four television literally causes us less satisfaction in life according to the Journal of economic psychology TV viewers report lower life satisfaction higher material aspirations and more anxiety and number five television results in less intimacy with your spouse did you know that couples who keep a TV in the bedroom enjoy intimacy half as often as those who don't and those are only the negative effects I took time to mention today when we consider how t ision influences our worldview impacts our kids changes our mood demands our mental energy the downsides of too much television make an almost airtight case to watch less of it but statistics say the average US adult spends 300 minutes per day 35 hours per week watching television 35 hours that's almost 2,000 hours we could have spent last year doing anything else experiencing any other positive habit learning reading growing contributing connecting with others or pursuing a dream when I decided to watch Les television years ago I was immediately forced to fill my evenings with something else and so here's some of the things that we did together as a family we spent more time together we played more games we spent more time outdoors I began to write I decided to visit the gym in the evening ultimately I took control over my life and my decisions these are all good things healthy habits and cutting out television provided the opportunity for me to accomplish them not only are the negative effects of TV detrimental to our lives the opportunity cost is great there are just better more life fulfilling things we could be doing with our e evenings and our weekends there are greater things that we can be accomplishing with our lives if you agree here are some helpful tips to reduce your personal television watching habits number one it starts with making a decision as a matter of fact all of the healthy habits that emerge in our lives are the result of an intentional decision so if you agree that your life may improve with this simple change embrace it if you don't think it will improve your life go listen to the start of this video again number two if it's helpful remember that less is different than none so put down your defenses really quick I'm advocating For Less television not none I realize some TV can be educational and entertainment is not necessarily an exercise in futility we still have one TV in our house that we watch occasionally but I do watch less and maybe you should too number three I'd recommend limiting the number of TVs in your home one of our first steps in reducing clutter in our home was to take the television out of our kitchen as an unexpected result I began to discover how much I enjoyed cooking and removing the TV out of the bedroom reminded me how much I enjoyed other things number four find a good season of the year to get started while this habit could be incorporated at any time nice weather outside provides a natural opportunity to enact a change especially if you have family to get on board number five if necessary go It Alone speaking of family just because you are personally feeling challenged in this area doesn't mean they are too and that's okay make the change in your own life first become the change you would like to see in your family number six be intentional about planning something else go for a walk find a book join a club or pick up a new hobby intentionally picking something else to do will keep the temptation to a minimum number seven try to eliminate specific shows it may seem easier right now to make sweeping generalities such as I'll stop watching television forever or I'll never watch TV on the weekends or I'll turn it off at 10 p.m. or I'll cut off all reality shows but for most of us at first it's easier to pick just some specific shows that we could easily live without when we started to experience the benefits of living life rather than watching tele Vision it became easier to cut out even more number eight know that it gets even easier over time television really is a self-propagating habit it promotes its own self-interest all the time just think of all the commercials the best new show the most watched Network the can't miss episode or the upcoming game of the year or game of the Century television advertisers play on our fear of missing out but as you commit to watching less you'll be less persuaded by these claims because you see them less quickly you'll realize that you aren't really missing that much anyway life change can be hard but some decisions have a greater beneficial impact than others and watching less television just may be your quickest shortcut to better living right away it only takes the decision to hit the power off button [Music]

Channel: Joshua Becker

Views: 32,003

Keywords: easist way to improve my life, how to make life better, habits for a better life, Joshua Becker, minimalism, minimalist, becoming minimalist, simple living, decluttering motivation, minimalist living, decluttering and organizing, how to get rid of stuff, clutter

Id: wg3UJH7NzJ8

Length: 8min 21sec (501 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2024