Day 74 (Seventy-four) of 365 days

We are all creature of habit. Of course, there are “good habits” and “bad habits”. Our good habits serve us and help us grow in the direction of our highest choice. Our bad habits tend to hurt or undermine us, eventually becoming coping mechanisms, avoidance mechanisms or addictions.

We understand that we’re supposed to cultivate one kind of habit and avoid the other, but unless we understand how habits are formed and how they serve us, the means of doing that – and of discerning between them – remain unclear.

Sometimes, though, habits that once provided comfort or support start to limit and imprison us. Most of us have had the experience: what starts out as a structure we’ve successfully used to survive a stressful situation or to achieve a particular goal (such as working out three days a week to lose some weight) can become an addiction that overtakes our life. We start to believe that if we don’t get to the gym every day and work out for at least one hour, we will be unable to function.

Habits are learned, therefore they can’t just be deleted, but they can be replaced by more desired behaviors. Many people have habits that they want to break, but they feel like they can’t do it, the idea of it seems impossible or too difficult to challenge.

Breaking a habit is easier than it seems. To break a bad habit, we must first define the habit. What is the behaviour you want to stop and why do you want to stop it? Many people are eager to break a habit without being sure they want to make the change and why they want to make the change.

Once you recognize the habit you want to stop and the reason as to why you want or need to stop it, you then need to identify what triggers this habit. Many habits are habitual behaviours that have evolved because they have been rewarded in some way.

Habits shape your life far more than you probably realize. Habits are very strong. Our brains cling to them at the exclusion of all else – including common sense.