Habits…..

A habit is simply a behaviour that’s repeated over and over again until it becomes automatic. Your mind is a really clever piece of kit and it’s really important to consider that before you start a new behaviour you need to ask yourself

Is it useful? Will it help? Is it a going to become a regular habit?

Many of us already have habits that we do everyday/week etc for example:

Cleaning your teeth every morning and night. Think about when you do it – before breakfast or after – why? Which hand holds the toothbrush to clean your teeth? Have you tried using the other hand? To start with you’ll find it impossible, but if you persevere you WILL do it and eventually it becomes a habit!

Exactly the same with showering or bathing, most people have a preference, until they are forced to change and might find they prefer the alternative, keep doing it and that will also become a habit.

A favourite programme on television you watch every week, easier now with today’s clever tools, catch up is regularly used and avoids the adverts!!

Going to the same Supermarket to shop for many is also a habit, and while it works there’s no reason to try an alternative, until it’s no longer fit for purpose, maybe availability/ Prices go up and you try another. Many switched to online deliveries during COVID and liked it better so stayed doing it!

All of these are called habits, when considering our healthy eating, and healthy life habits are the ones you’ve made still working? Are you still doing them? Are they still fitting the purpose that prompted you to make those behaviour changes?

The more you repeat these behaviours the more they are likely to become a habit. And the sooner we feel the benefit of them, the more powerful they become.

Breaking a bad habit is difficult though isn’t it! Bad habits are like comfy beds, easy to get into, hard to get out of! So instead of trying to break a bad habit, look to replace it with a new good habit. One really successful way to create a new habit is to link with something you already do, for example, you know that drinking more water will improve your health, but you keep forgetting to drink it. Link this new habit to putting the kettle on for a cuppa. While it’s boiling, have a glass of water, remember, the more times you do it the more chance you have of both creating a new behaviour, which turns into a habit!

Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us.
We are what we repeatedly do.

sean covey