What's the first thing you do every morning? Or maybe what's the first thing you think of before your feet touch the floor?

For me, I'm usually woken up by the smell of coffee. Full disclosure, I'm fairly a morning person.

I actually like getting up really, but what I don't like is coffee that's

been sitting idle in a pot for too long. So the thought of laying in bed while fresh coffee has

just been brewed is all the reason I need in getting out of bed. I pull back the sheets,

pour a cup, take the dog out, and just like that, my day has

started. While I'm sure you're sitting on the edge of your seat, hearing of my morning

routine, I share it to show you the forest rather than the trees, if you will.

Habits.

Patterns, behaviors, good and bad.

Being the first podcast episode of the New Year, it's the season of Breaking Bad and

Starting Good.

I personally have never been one to make New Year's resolutions, as most of them fall off by

just now.

But I'd like to illustrate how easy it is to make new habits, ones that you actually want

to keep, ones that become second nature. Imagine, if you will, a metal chain laid out before you.

Let's make it easy. Maybe 10 links in this chain. For example, the first link of my chain was the

smell of coffee. The second link was pulling back the bed sheets. Third was pouring a cup of

coffee and the fourth chain was taking our Bernadoodle Derby out for a morning walk. Today we're going

to break down why we have the habits we have, be them good or bad, and how we can

replace them. And of course, with a new year, new you, we'll learn why some habits, no matter how

shiny they appear, just don't stick.

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