PENnED

“I never gave up, I never raised my hands and said, ‘That’s enough, I can’t take it anymore, you win’… And because of that, I stand tall now, ready for what comes next.’”**

Did Matthew Perry win or lose in his battle with drugs and alcohol? It’s hard to say and I don’t want to speculate.

But before he died, Matthew Perry said, “I never gave up, I never raised my hands and said, ‘That’s enough, I can’t take it anymore, you win’… And because of that, I stand tall now, ready for what comes next.’”

I admire Perry’s determination to never give up. But was it really enough? Did he succeed? I don’t know. But looking at other people who also struggled with drugs and alcohol and failed, it seems that willpower alone is not enough to quit bad habits.

I’ve been listening to James Clear’s lessons in “Building Habits for Success” on MasterClass.* And in it he also talks about quitting bad habits and uses smoking, the classic bad habit example that many people are trying to quit.

There may be other ways and techniques to use to win, but rather than focusing on the goal (such as quitting smoking), Clear recommends having a system and using strategies that would help us quit bad habits and build good ones that would lead to success.

One of the techniques he recommends is to begin with an identity you choose for yourself now, rather than being someone who is trying to achieve a certain goal in the future. Thus when offered a cigarette, you can simply say, “No, thank you…I’m a non-smoker,” rather than say “I’m trying to quit smoking.”

I think the new identity that you choose for yourself could help greatly, especially if it is socially shared and reinforced (so yeah, Facebook, for example, can be helpful in that regard).

The Bible says something similar to that:

“…if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17
New International Version).

When you share such identity in Christ, your being ‘a new creation in Christ’ can help you live as such!

*https://www.masterclass.com/classes/small-habits-that-make-a-big-impact-on-your-life?utm_source=Organic-Social-PR&utm_medium=iOS&utm_term=Aq-Remarketing&utm_content=Share; not a paid ad

**https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/friends-creators-spoke-matthew-perry-2-weeks-died-was-happy-rcna123120

#matthewperry