Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits: 14 New Behaviors That Will Energize Your Life

by Joyce Meyer

Nearly everything we do in life is the result of our habits. The good ones bring peace, joy and power into our lives, and the bad ones steal our peace and joy and prevent our success.

In this book, Joyce Meyer explains how to develop good habits -- the things you really want to do -- and break the bad ones, putting an end to frustration, discouragement and stress that drains your energy.

The most important habit comes the God habit. Next comes a willingness to work for the results you want. Joyce reminds us that, "if we don't pay the price for freedom, we will end up paying the price for bondage". Next comes the power of our words. Our words and the thoughts that propel them have tremendous power over our actions, and repeated actions are the basis of our habits.

There are eleven more habits that Joyce discusses in depth, including the habits of happiness, faith, excellence, responsibility, generosity, discipline, decisiveness and confidence.

"Choose one area and begin," she urges. "Don't feel overwhelmed by all the changes that are needed. One thing at a time, one day at a time is the best plan. Celebrate every day of success, and when you make mistakes, shake off the disappointment and keep going forward."

You can transform your life, one habit at a time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Christian, Inspirational, Spirituality, Audiobook, Christian Living

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A New York Times bestselling author, Joyce’s books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries, Joyce teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on how the Word of God applies to our everyday lives. Her candid communication style allows her to share openly and practically about her experiences so others can apply what she has learned to their lives.

Joyce’s programs, Enjoying Everyday Life and Everyday Answers with Joyce Meyer, can be seen around the world through television, radio, and the Internet. Joyce has authored more than 100 books, which have been translated into more than 100 languages and over 65 million of her books have been distributed worldwide. She teaches in cities across America as well as internationally. Joyce Meyer Ministries has offices in nine countries.

Joyce’s passion to help hurting people is foundational to the vision of Hand of Hope, the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Hand of Hope provides worldwide humanitarian outreaches such as feeding programs, medical care, orphanages, disaster response, human trafficking intervention and rehabilitation, and much more – always sharing the love and Gospel of Christ.

Her latest book, LIVING A LIFE YOU LOVE, releases Spring 2018.

Hachette Book Group has sold over 30 million copies of Joyce Meyer's books.

Reviews

[Kells Next Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can never go wrong when reading any of Joyce Meyer Books.

[Holly Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all have habits in our lives created consciously or not. Joyce Meyer’s book help us to separate the good from the bad and gives practical suggestions on how to eliminate those that are not helpful to us. Her main point is that we should focus on what we want to do, rather than obsessing on what we no longer want to do. Controlling our thoughts (reprogramming our internal computer) is a forceful tool to accomplish this. Other salient points are repetition of good habits, teaching yourself to be organized, and being active in doing the right thing.

She gives us hints on breaking habits such as hurrying, having to be perfect, and being irresponsible. The book encourages us to create worthy habits such as:

• Making wise decisions
• Becoming physically healthier
• Being happier
• Cultivating generosity toward others
• Addressing our addictions whether they be to cell phones or artificial stimulants.

The book is conversational and encouraging in tone. The author is a prolific writer in the Christian evangelical world. Much of the book is devoted to scripture references and how to commune with God.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont.

[Sam Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is full of good ideas, but if you ever tried to get rid of a bad habit, then you know how incredibly difficult it is. Meyer emphasizes the importance of discipline and faith, but to develop good discipline or strong faith is just as hard as getting rid of a bad habit. The vast majority of books on self-improvement offer little to make this process easier. Recently, I came across a book that proposes specific, practical methods of how to change habits. The title of the book is Secret Techniques for Controlling Sadness, Anger, Fear, Anxiety, and Other Emotions written by Vlad Koros, but even though Koros talks about techniques for controlling emotions, these techniques work exceptionally well on habits, too. I strongly recommend Koros’s book as a companion volume to any book on self-improvement.

[IrenesBookReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading any book by Joyce Meyer you will walk away with some great advice and easy steps to follow to make your walk with Christ a better one. This particular book by her will help you in your day to day living. You will learn how to change bad habits into good habits. Her easy to follow chapters are organized and make this book a breeze to read through. I liked the personal examples along with the Biblical ones. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I would recommend the book to anyone struggling with things in their live that they want to change. The tips in this book will help you in multiple areas of your life!

I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got de-railed and needed a boost this is the book that I kept putting under the pile. It is the one that you need for a break from all the bad.
Make sure you have a journal because I grantee you will making notes and keeping lists and that is a step in the right direction.

Thank you Joyce for all the reminders and enlightenment.

[Mehdi Souiyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me to prove that all success comes with two words: work and discipline.
Without work, they will be no results. And the role of discipline is to improve this results. Beside this two facts, i should talk about the different sides of this book. It gives me some ideas about different part of life as Health, Responsibility, Generosity, and how important to add value to others.
To resume, i've learned many things, and i wish that all of you take a look at this guide to ameliorate what you are thinking that could be more better in your life.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all have habits we would like to change. Joyce has written a very practical book to help us do exactly that. Many people will pay for a life coach but Joyce reminds us we have the best life coach there is - the Holy Spirit. this is a very practical book on habits, how they are formed and how they can be broken. It will take discipline, there is no way around it. this book gives great encouragement to get going. See my full review at http://bit.ly/16vAnNU.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Joyce's book on building good habits. Some of my take aways are;
1. Build your life on principles and not on emotions
2. Discipline and self-control are the building blocks for creating good habits
3. All things are possible through Christ

[Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

a practical book that teaches one that anything is possible and things can and will get better

[Ifeoluwa Shobande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people cringe at the mention of the word discipline. They have a mental attitude toward it that is unhealthy and self-defeating. We need to see that discipline is our friend, not our enemy. It helps us be what we say we want to be, do what we say we want to do, and have what we say we want to have. Saying what one wants is easy and costs nothing, but obtaining it requires discipline.

Discipline doesn’t prevent us from having fun and doing what we want to in life, but instead, it helps us obtain what we truly want, which is peace, joy, and the right relationships as well as other things. We should love discipline and embrace it as our companion in life. We should invite it to be with us at all times because it is always ready to keep us out of trouble. God’s Word teaches us that only a fool hates discipline.

Most of the people I have encountered whose lives are like a train wreck are not disciplined individuals. They live by emotion rather than principle, and wisdom is far from them. They eventually have nothing left but regret in their life over what they have or have not done. We can all have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Wise people will discipline themselves, and that means that they do today what they will be happy with later on in life.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
—Anonymous

Thank you, Joyce Meyer.

[Omar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy-to read, as Joyce has a nice way to write and share ideas with honest discussions and examples one can relate as a Christian. Throughout the chapters, the book challenges us to go beyond our comfort zone and renew our minds or way of thinking and it feels as she is tryng to convince us or compel us to incorporate these moral principles to impact our different areas of life.

The thing is this book does not really suggest a structured method, or specific techniques or steps as such to make good habits and break the bad ones, it but it's more like a collection of spiritual principles she has classified as habits that will help us modify our behavior and personality.

It is thought-provoking, though. I think I would still recommend it.

[Rekishia McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book at a women's group at my church. It was insightful and provided practical steps on replacing bad habits with good ones. Many of the bad habits that most people experience are from learned behaviors stemming from the home environment or individuals that we associate with. I like the fact that Joyce shares her own personal struggles and how she overcame areas that were challenging. This was an easy and enjoyable read and I have found it to be an invaluable resource to share with others who want to create good habits in their own lives. I refer to it often to recalibrate my life to help me stay on track with living a lifestyle filled with positive and fruitful habits.

[Amanda Mankelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the gateway for me to Joyce Meyer's teachings, I read it as a self-help book without at first knowing it was a Christian self-help book. What Joyce has to say is always inspiring to me and at the same time provides an awakening, i consistently feel empowered to make a positive change to my behaviours. What she says makes perfect sense to me and more importantly seems within reach. This is one of those books that I still draw on from memory, and I have since gone on to seek out Joyce's books and television talks for my self improvement and spiritual development.

[Damien O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good advice if you can float around the religious mumbo jumbo, I was thinking that it would be a little here and there, but the book is flooded with pages of religious promotion that really takes away from what could of been a great self-help book on Toxic Habits and how they effect us.

Flicked through chapters, managed to read whole book in about Two hours.

If you are a religious person, go for it, but as someone without faith this book is a no-go and super distracting.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro lleno de valores, de desafíos y de vida principalmente. La autora anima a desarrollar los hábitos de forma sencilla, de a poco, y con las cosas cotidianas. Va desde el interior, por lo que es bastante confrontante a lo largo de los capítulos. Leerlo con el corazón dispuesto y abierto creo que es la clave para poder realizar cambios y caminar la vida desde hábitos sanos en cada área.
Dios me habló mucho a través de cada capítulo.

[Moureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from my friend thought of reading the book

This book shows and tells
GOOD HABITS AND HOW TO GET RID OF THE BAD HABITS

This book is in a way interesting because u get a way to know what u are doing is good or bad and how to get rid of it

SO IF U WANT TO KNOW ABOUT UR HABITS WHAT U DOING IS CORRECT OR WRONG THEN READ THIS

[Drea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful reminders on how to alter aspects of my life in which I know need to change. Engaging book to read during my bible study time, did not feel like a chore. I appreciated the way JOYCE spoke from her heart and used examples which helped her to break bad habits. Scripture references were helpful to reiterate strategies.

[Leonor Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesssssssome

Once again love love love and love this book. I will say it time and time again i am purchasing all of Joyce books love her she is awesome i tend to not spend on no other books but here because I love how she teaches us from her own life i find her to be honest and I love her for that.

[Nancy Korb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. She has a lot of insight and is a great writer of the word of God. She has broken it down to 17 chapters of life. Although I am sure most of us have more than 14 areas of our life can see where there needs to be improvements. I read one chapter per day tto see how I could learn more and do more in these areas.

[Liane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelmed. I was interested in reading Joyce Meyer and this was on my TBR list for years, so I picked this up at the library. Unfortunately, it felt judgmental, controlling and dated. e.g. you must do the following actions or behave in one certain way or you do not meet the definition of excellence and will not have good habits. Hard pass for me.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I can’t say that there was anything groundbreaking in this book, there is a lot of wisdom and solid advice for breaking bad habits and creating good habits. I didn’t really find anything I hadn’t heard before, but it definitely helped reinforce some of my goals for this year. I think it’s worth a read.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be filled with common sense suggestions. It didn't "wow" me or say anything that stuck out to me as super helpful. It was also a little "preachy". That said, I did finish the book and am grateful for the reminders.

[Ofili Uche · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Joyce Meyer book and so far, I like her writing style, her use of personal experiences, other people's experiences, everyday examples and clear, simplistic approach to seemingly complex things. Generally, I think She's a big encouragement.

[Douglas C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book-I have read many Motivational Books but this has been the best yet & I will never again waste my time or money on another so-called Motivational or self help book. Joyce is amazing & makes me feel stoked about making the changes I need.

[Kell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspirational

I gave this book a three star because it has a lot of inspiration to lift up th soul but she was often too personal with her examples and is obvious that she doesn't live in the average person world. Get pass her personal examples and it's a book worth reading.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good one

Very good as always...Joyce always speaks to my heart and at me...I love her humor and conviction. I'm never disappointed in any of her books. I can always glean something.

[Katarína Dóczéová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neznámy autor: Stráž svoje myšlienky, pretože z nich pramenia slová. Stráž svoje slová, lebo z nich sa stanú skutky. Stráž svoje skutky, pretože sú základom návykov. Stráž svoje návyky, pretože vytvoria tvoj charakter. Stráž svoj charakter, pretože určí tvoj osud.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book. Took me awhile because I read it with one to two chapters a night before bed. A lot of it helped with pointing out bad habits people have and why they are bad. Nice explanations and were easy to understand. I’ve been trying hard on some of these habits. I’ve got a long way to go. 😀

[Denise Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the emphasis on doing the right things instead of wrong things because you overcome evil with good. This book has helped me to become more disciplined in developing good habits. The main habit I need to develop is my God habit.

[Kerry Batchelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Joyce's teaching and love her books. Each book speaks to my heart, addressing issues I didn't even realize exist and in the proper timing. I love her enthusiasm and positive approach to life. Excellent read.