Good Habits and Bad Habits Get Established the Same Way

Anything you repeat often enough becomes a habit, whether you like it or not.

How many of our daily activities come about as a result of habits we have formed — either for good or for evil?

I dare say we are mostly creatures of habit. Many everyday activities are so routine and habitual that we barely or rarely even think about the whole process.

We set our alarms for the same time each day. If we have no need of alarms, our biological clock tends to go off around the same time to wake us from our slumber.

That morning cup of coffee, as much needed as it may now be, started out as a new practice and slowly took hold of its permanent place in our morning routine.

Our daily commute may be habitual.

Our fitness routine is born of repetitive actions.

The restaurants we frequent, the groceries we throw in our shopping cart, the fact that we turn on the evening news while preparing dinner . . .

. . . Habits, every one.

We often think of habits as something we want to try and establish to make ourselves better people.

We would like to believe that habits are something good that we can control and use to our advantage (or something detrimental to our well-being that should be banished forever). We want to make it a habit to hit the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We want to make it a habit to add vegetables to all or, at least, most of our meals.

The truth is, many (perhaps most) of the habits we carry out have slowly engrained themselves in our daily routine without us even being aware of it happening. It happens because routine things require less thought and planning. What starts out as a convenience ends up as a habitual way of life.

So, what does it take to change a random act of behavior into a deeply engrained habit that helps to define our state of being? Or, what is involved in making a deliberate choice to create a behavior that is performed consistently enough to have the beneficial effort we desire?

A couple of things come into play here.

First of all, a habit can’t really be called a habit unless there is a level of frequency involved. Drinking a martini on New Year’s Eve but at no other time of the year is not a habit (more of a tradition). Drinking a martini (or two) every evening before dinner — well, that can definitely be called a habit (or an addiction, depending on your personal level of commitment to your alcohol consumption ).

Consistency is a key component to any habit forming behavior. If you want to make it a habit to go to the gym three times a week, you have to — you guessed it — Go To The Gym Three Times a Week! You can’t brag to your cronies that you make it a habit to be a gym-rat when you haven’t been there since three weeks ago last Thursday.

As the old cliche goes — The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

If you want your good intentions to be more than simply paving stones to hell, you might want to consider piggy-backing your desired new habit along with a similar habit you already have. For example, if you think your soul could benefit from a daily meditation practice, consider adding a brief three minute meditation moment while you are brewing your morning cup of coffee (a habit you have already established). Very soon you won’t be able to drink coffee without relaxing into a more meditative mode.

For a behavior to become a habit, repetition (similar to consistency) is a must. Some folks say you must repeat a behavior for 21 days in order to call it a habit. Others insist on a much longer time frame — often as much as 66 days must transpire before your new behavior locks in. Most likely, the time requirement will vary somewhat from individual to individual.

Regardless of the time commitment from you, good habits are formed, or bad habits eliminated, with a predetermined level of commitment and determination. The decision to change something in life requires a conscious effort to change that desire into reality.

If you enjoyed this article, perhaps you would like to check out a few of my other thoughts on living and growing in a rich, full, vital life.