The Difficulty of Changing Habits

People get used to doing some things to the point where they do those actions almost automatically, and with little mental effort. Without habits, a person would be faced with a constant barrage of choices to make. Should I get out of bed after I wake up in the morning? What next? Do I go the bathroom and brush my teeth? Do I got the kitchen and put toast in the toaster? What is the route I should follow? If someone says "good morning" to me, will I answer back? What will I say?

When you develop habits, you are relegating some of your decision making to your subconscious. This leaves your conscious thought free to pursue other matters. So, for example, as you are brushing your teeth you might be planning your agenda for the day ahead. You didn't need to give thought to the questions I listed above, because you decided them long ago. As you develop habits, you increase your overall capacity to think and act.

There are two main problems with habits: they are hard to form, and hard to break.

If you can remember back to your childhood, think of how hard it was to remember to brush your teeth in the morning. At first you probably didn't do it very consistently, but eventually you reached the point where you rarely forget. In building that habit, you probably had someone (a parent, perhaps) reminding you frequently.

Sometimes a habit is counter-productive. You might discover some counter-productive habits if you review your own behavior periodically. Then you would have the reverse problem of stopping yourself from doing something that you would do almost automatically.

Here are some typical problems with habit formation:

For some tips to overcome these problems, click here.


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