Have you ever paused for a second and thought about your day? If not, probably do it after reading this. What will you find if you do that? 45% of people’s activities in a day are automated. And not only that but how these activities are done are automated too. All of this is simply our habits.
What does this mean? It means that we don’t think about a big percentage of the things we do daily. We are just doing it. We are ‘habitual’ to doing things in a certain way.
What are habits?
What can be the most precise definition of habits? Habits are the methods or tendencies in which people react most of the times. And habits play a major role in determining a person’s future.
Anything that people do or think, they become. The foundation for building a person successful is to install habits in them that drive towards success.
How is it important?
Let’s take an example to understand this.
Suppose, there are two people L and T. Both are of the same age and both are born in a poor family. L is a shy person whereas T is not so shy. Since they are in the same school, they are really good friends.
L is particular about his responsibilities and takes all the homework very seriously. T is the complete opposite of L. T is the one who attends parties every weekend and never takes responsibility for anything.
Why are L and T so different when they come from the same background, study in the same school, and are good friends? Maybe because their conceptualization of how one should lead their life is different. L probably believes in acting as a responsible human being and T feels he should enjoy his life in a certain way.
After they both finish their studies, L goes on to become a successful person whereas T struggles to make a living. This was obvious because of the habits both L and T had. L made habits which helped him become a responsible person. T had habits which were not ideal for any kid who wants to have a successful future should have.
This is not to say that T couldn’t have changed his future. T could have changed everything just by changing a few habits.
Why is it automatic?
This is one of the questions I have pondered over the last few weeks of my life. Why is any habit automatic? If we have a brain, then why don’t we think about doing things we do repeatedly?
For example, when a mosquito bites our skin, our automatic reflex to it is to kill it by thumping a hand hard on him/her. Why don’t we think every time before we kill it?
It is because it is a habit. And a habit becomes automatic. That is why in the above example, L was successful. He made habits which pushed him in the right direction most of the times without thinking why. This still does not answer the question of why are habits automatic in nature?
Here is why (Ps – it is going to be a little scientific for a short while, bear with because it is worth it) – because it is necessary for our survival! Wait, that does not answer the question in a true sense. You are right. So, In the true sense, it is necessary for our smooth survival because just think, if we thought about every micro decision we ever made, how taxing it would be mentally.
Just think about it, if you had to weigh the pros and cons for every little thing you did. Like eating, wearing clothes, bathing, driving, walking, sleeping, and whatever you do for the rest of your lives and that too every second of it. Do you know how much energy it will take? Our brain takes 20% of the oxygen now when we don’t think about everything consciously, how much will it take then? Nuts right!
That is why your brain needs activities for which it does not have to work a lot. And those activities should be automatic for the brain to rest – that is why habits are important.
The default setting
You can treat your habits as the default settings of your brain. Like for situations when you need to make decisions fast, let these default settings work for your brain.
And this is why we need to have good habits. The point is, we are going to form habits one way or another. Then why not form good habits? Why make bad habits? In both cases, our reward can be the same. Then why do people make bad habits? Everyone will have different subjective reasons. But there is one simple reason that can be said – everyone is not aware of it.
If you think about it, it will make sense. We don’t think about our habits a lot. And that is why we don’t think about whether they are good or bad. As I said, it is a default setting in our brain for which we don’t think a lot. So it is likely that any person who is making wrong habits is not aware of it in the first place.
How to form good habits?
The first thing that any person needs to do to form good habits is to recognize the bad ones. See, it’s not just a black and white case. We can’t change or eliminate a habit in a go. Why?
It is because our habits are there for a reason. They are there because they are triggered by something that happens around you. And then that motivates you to move habitually. And that further results in the feeling of an accomplishment.
So If you want to form good habits, find the trigger for your bad habits. Keep the reward same too. Just change what you do when you get triggered. Convert that habit into something else that you deem to be good.
What after?
Nothing. You don’t have to do anything else. If you can control your habits, then for a big percentage of your life, you will not have to do anything. You just have to enjoy while it lasts. Breathe deeper, laugh louder and just make a good routine of habits and you are all set.
There will be ups and downs, but that is okay, we are humans, we know how to deal with it. But surely you can develop one more good habit which is – ‘reading’.
So, for reading more good stuff, you can just tap on this link – Anger can actually make you better!
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