Habit SWAP Plan

It is a big day in loopchange history as we have had our first television coverage on a local news station in Houston, Texas (Fox 26).  Thanks to all who have visited the site for your contributions along the way!

I'll post the link below, but in the mean time here is the Loopchange Habit SWAP Plan that was discussed.

One of the great blessings of being involved at loopchange has been the incredible opportunity to read along with people as they are trying to make genuine changes in their lives.  I've seen people post a single time and never come back and I've seen people who have been at the site for six or more months.  Because I read and follow every mission and every post that is made on the site, it has become clear to me that the missions with staying power have four common elements.  That is where the SWAP comes in.  If you really want to succeed, I recommend that you make sure any mission you are involved in has these elements:

SWAP

Specific - You MUST be specific with your goals.  "I want to read the Bible more" will almost always fail.  "I will read my Bible every day" is on the right track.  "I want to eat healthier" will almost always fail.  "I will cut soft drinks and junk food from my diet" or "I will track my calories and keep them under 1600" will have a much greater chance for success.

Write it down - There is something about writing a mission down that is powerful.  Suddenly our goal seems real.  It is almost like a ceremonial 'ok, I am serious about this'.  Writing down your mission gets it front and center in your brain; which is right where it needs to say for quite a long time.  To change something, you must be intentional.  To be intentional, you must always be aware of what you're trying to do.  

Accountability - It takes a village to raise a child.  It also takes a village to change a habit.  You will need accountability, support and encouragement to get where you want to go.  Trying to do something all on your own is so hard that it isn't even worth trying.  Why do it the hard way??  Make sure you have these things and your chance of success grows significantly.  Loopchange is perfect for this (this is what the site was made for) but I would always encourage folks to get real world accountability as well.  Tell your family.  Tell your friends.  There is no shame in asking others to help you.  Asking for help does not make you weak; it makes you strong!

Patience - The greatest enemy of change is impatience, I'm convinced of that.  We get discouraged when the results are not coming as quickly as we would like them to.  We want to give up when things aren't as easy as we'd hoped they would be.  Patience is absolutely essential because patience is what will get you through the rough patches and the struggles (and there will definitely be rough patches and struggles). 

Now, on to our feature presentation: