The habit series: what are habits?
A habit is anything that you become accustomed to doing regularly, and proceed to do regularly. Good habits lead to overall health and well-being, as defined by a health professional, most likely (you probably feel good after eating two or three more slices of pizza than you ought to eat but whether this was actually a good move is probably a decision best left to your doctor). Even habits that seem neutral are good for you from a social or health point of view: regularly bathing, for example, is a habit that I pray most have fallen into, and those of you who do it because…you just do have probably noticed that when you don’t bathe, you’re faced with wrinkled noses, a general refusal on the part of most people to sit close to you, or other behaviours that don’t make you feel so good. Before experiencing any of these reactions, you may already feel gross, dirty or smelly, and therefore bathe to avoid that feeling. And of course bathing is a great way to rid yourself of germs that could make you sick.
All of that to say that habits are retained for a reason: they make us feel good. When we don’t do them, we usually feel “off” or like something is missing.
How do bad habits start? For that matter, how do good habits start?
The problem with bad habits is they are good…on some level…or people wouldn’t be inclined to do them. Some common bad habits are:
- nail biting
- eating too much junk food*
- smoking
- procrastination*
- not flossing*
and each of these have a good benefit: relief of stress, suppression of hunger, comfort, (temporary) peace of mind and more time for other things. Unfortunately, these bad habits have negative sides too, which can impact your life and health (to varying degrees) if allowed to continue. It goes without saying that good habits have positive benefits. The only difference between good and bad habits then is the benefits of good habits are all generally positive on you, habit doer.
So, how do we attack these bad habits and make them disappear? How do we find and fill our lives with more of these good habits we hear so much about?
Stay tuned.
*indicate bad habits I may have familiarity with.
habit, habits, good habits, bad habits, breaking habits, smoking
October 10th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I’m saddened to see smoking on the habit list.
I noticed, however, that you failed to mention *chain smoking*.
Phew. I’m safe.
November 20th, 2007 at 7:04 am
[...] eager to go outside, but running and walking are healthy habits that I want to have, and nothing builds a habit better than [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
[...] I am talking about bad habits. [...]
November 10th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
[...] eager to go outside, but running and walking are healthy habits that I want to have, and nothing builds a habit better than [...]