The Importance of Habits

The first post of 2021 ends up being on the last day of the month. Well, better late than never. 

Overall, the start to this new year, while not being particularly solid, did allow me to understand the importance of habits on health. I think that sometimes, we’re not fully aware of what exactly we’re choosing to do at a specific moment in time. We just do things out of routine and instinct; and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, not realizing when what we’re doing is causing more negative effects than positive is extremely detrimental to health. This can span from overthinking/excessive worrying, frequent social media use, huge procrastination, etc. As mentioned previously, daily habits are primarily done from instinct/routine, it’s just what we’re used to doing, so that’s why it’s really difficult to spot the issue and take the right steps to work it out. And if that seems overwhelming or confusing in any way, then perhaps what would help is thinking about it as just blindly doing things without considering the effects they entail. In actuality, it’s impossible to not ever have a single bad habit/negative behavior pattern because people are imperfect, which is honestly a good thing since it makes growth and changes possible. However, it’s not in any way impossible to make an effort to counter our impulsiveness and desire to further indulge in these habits. The first step towards doing that is to understand what is causing these bad habits.

What causes bad habits?

A lot of the time, those bad habits we start to develop, before eventually becoming entrenched, are the way we deal with a certain issue, whether it be stress, boredom, or something else that goes even deeper. After finding and coming to terms with the root of what’s causing you to indulge in certain bad habits, one solution would be to substitute those habits with new and healthy ways to deal with the issue at hand. In the case that the issue is something other than stress or boredom, then it’s ultimately your choice to look inside yourself and think about the truth of what this something is. By understanding the cause of a certain bad habit, you have already taken one huge step to overcoming it.

Why simply quitting never works

The habits in our lives are present for a specific purpose. To an extent, bad habits provide a “relief” from the issue at hand. That’s why when simply dropping a bad habit, it turns out to never work because you’ll feel the loss of the positive aspect it gave, and thus not be able to carry on without that benefit. This means that bad habits are tools to cover certain needs in our lives. Furthermore, it illustrates that without replacing bad habits with new ones, then those certain needs will be left denied, which makes it virtually impossible to keep the effort of simply “not doing” the habit for long. 

Proper methods for breaking bad habits

Substituting in a new one. Reading a book, exercise, yoga, meditation, stretching, walking.

Cutting out the triggers. Throw out the junk food, hide the tv remote, turn off notifications. Our environment plays a crucial role in our actions.

Overcoming negative self-talk. Every time you say something negative about yourself, you have to say three positive things about yourself immediately. Thanks for teaching this to me, Mom.

Accepting failure along the way. Where’s the fun without all the twists and turns. Rather than beating yourself up for a mistake, have the discipline to get back on track and accept that slipping up now and again is one-hundred percent okay.

Breaking bad habits takes time, effort, and dedication, but most importantly, it all starts with a choice. People who end up breaking bad habits go through failure multiple times before finally coming through. Success doesn’t pop out of the blue, and it shouldn’t be what drives you in the first place. That should be growth. And remember that simply making the choice is already powerful in itself, because that’s where it all starts.