Good Habits, Bad Habits

It’s surprisingly easy to form habits. And it’s less difficult to break them than it may seem at first, with some exceptions (nicotine, for example, is notoriously addictive and hard to quit).

I read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, and I found it to be a lot of words to say something that could be summarized in a few sentences. But the core idea is solid: start small and slowly build up until a thing becomes habitual. Breaking habits is the same but opposite: quitting cold turkey often fails, but slowly reducing the habit can be effective.

When it comes to habits, I like to occasionally take a habit inventory. Sometimes, I inadvertently develop habits that I later realize are not beneficial and need to break them. Other times, I realize that I’ve stopped doing something that I should be doing, and I need to start doing it again.

For example, not long ago, I got into the habit of snacking before bedtime. This started because I was hungry one evening and decided to make a snack…and then I did the same thing the next day, and so on. At some point I realized I needed to kick this habit, and so I did. In this particular instance, I just stopped doing it, and that was that.

Developing good habits is a powerful way to improve your life. A common example of this is getting into the habit of regular exercise. It’s hard to start, but once you do, it becomes easy to maintain, provided you continue the habit. The same is true for many other habits, such as reading, writing, or meditating. With exercise in particular, I tend to reject the concept of rest days because rest days just turn into extra rest days, and before I know it I haven’t exercised in a week. I find it easier to just exercise every day, even if it’s just a little bit, and simply adjust the intensity as needed.

You can combine habits with routines, which reinforces the habit. For example, you can exercise at the same time every day, or you can read for a few minutes before bed. This can help you remember to do the habit and make it easier to maintain.

The more you can put your habits on autopilot, the easier they are to maintain. Having positive and negative associations can either reinforce or break a habit. For example, some people want to smoke when they drink and have built up an association between the two. Breaking that association can help break the habit, rather than just trying to quit smoking outright.

Certainly the best thing is to avoid bad habits in the first place, but we’re all human and have our vices. The key is to recognize when a habit is forming and take steps to either reinforce it or break it, as needed.

I like to think about habits as a tool like any other, one that you can use for positive or negative purposes. The more you understand how habits work, the better you can use them to your advantage. Whether it’s your fitness goals, learning new skills, or just improving your life in general, habits are something you should pay attention to.