Learning about a new book while inscribing into the gym and forcing myself to go on a regular basis, had me thinking again about habits and routines.
In this new book, Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don’t, and How to Make Any Change Stick, the psychologist Jeremy Dean talks about the function of habit. This is an amazing theme to discuss especially because we seemingly complain about its weight in our life at the same time of cherishing its necessity.
There are many facets to habit, mainly as a routine, or as an attitude towards life (eating healthy, exercise, reading or the contrary, constantly watching TV, eating junk food etc.). The interesting part is when we can actually learn from them about our lives, about ourselves and our interaction with the environment. For example, when we try to begin a new habit, learning a new language requires daily practice, so does learning a musical instrument or perfecting the one you have. It seems that there is time requirement before something becomes a habit. Doing sport is a good example. For someone who has just begun going to gym or the pool it will be a constant fight until the activity becomes routinely. How long will it be?
In his book, Dean is trying to help with some good advice of that problematic period of in between, when you are convinced at the what and why yet too weak for the where and when. Change is difficult in any context yet learning how to embrace the change will not only benefit your body (considering we are talking about acquiring a healthy habit of course) but your mind as well.
Changing habit is also well known creativity boaster. When in automatic repetition of our daily life, our creativity becomes dull, fading away into a circle of false sense of security. Being able to change your habits means to regain control on your life, bringing back that spark we all had as children in the search of our happiness.
We tend to think that we are in control of what we wear, our choice of food, flavor, and our daily habits. “I can stop smoking whenever I decide”, we hear occasionally from a-pack-a-day smokers (I said it myself for some years), yet if and when we try to stop the habit in question suddenly we feel the void and we become less sure of that. Control and conscious decision-making is an issue we only little know about. “It is possible to neurosis to begin in childhood?” asked himself Freud. Well, it is certain that many of our identity do begin in childhood and with it many of the repercussion on our daily life as adults.
What are your habits you can´t give up or have difficulties begin?
S. I. COHEN 