Why our habits matter (and why you shouldn't listen to the people who tell you they don't)
Have you been hearing guys online saying: Oh, habits don’t matter habits kill all the fun live your life freely! Do not believe them. All of this non sense is designed to distract you from your mission. Trust me habits are the secret to a happier and more fulfilling life. Hear me out.
WHY HABITS MATTER
1. HABITS MAKE YOUR DAY EASIER
Yes, you read right. Habits make your life easier. Let me explain. First of all, we need to know what a habit is. A habit in quite simple terms is an action that is done without conscious thinking. So, if you wake up and then immediately drink 1 liter of water without thinking, that is a habit.
Having the right habits can make your day easier as you do not have to spend energy on thinking: Oh, what am I going to today, and then you just waste the whole day, maybe you think that this energy is pointless but believe it saves you so much time and energy of thinking.
2. OUR BRAINS LOVE HABITS
Our brains hate using energy so they will do everything in their power to save us much energy as possible. Maybe you have already guessed how they do that. Habits!
To understand this better imagine that your brain is a highway. When your brain does a completely new action that it has never seen before it is like it is walking the high way. So, to save energy it does it again and it starts getting familiar with the action. With repetition our brains save us energy. Now it is using a bicycle to go through the highway. Then a horse then a car then a train and then a space rocket. Repetitions make the habit easier and faster.
That works for both good and bad habits so the longer you have had a bad habit the more difficult it will be for you to change that habit. So, start taking action cause now I will give you a cheat code that will help you transform your habits without needing to read a whole book as I have already done this for you.
HOW TO ACUALLY CREATE NEW HABITS
1. THE HABIT PROGRAMER
This is not going to be really easy but trust me it actually works pretty well. The main idea of the habit programmer is to write exactly the habits that you want to implement to your life. You should actually be very precise and over analytic with this. You do not want your habit programmer to look like this:
· I will exercise
· I will read 20 pages of a book
· I will write 600 words in my newsletter
· I will sleep at 23:00
As you can see, I am just making promises to myself I say: Oh, today it will be amazing I will do this I will do that. And where do you end up? Being awake at 3 in the morning scrolling endlessly. But here is how to change that. Be analytic write the time and the place that you are going to perform your new habit. Make your habit programmer more like this:
· I will meditate for 2 minutes in my bedroom at 9 a.m.
· I will run the building block one time at 10 a.m.
· I will go to the gym for 10 minutes
· I will sleep 10 minutes earlier.
As you have probably already noticed the habits above are really easy and doable, everybody can do them with minimum effort. And that brings to what I believe to be the most important factor in creating a new habit.
2. THE 1% RULE
I first learnt about this rule when I read James Clear’s masterpiece Atomic Habits. In very few terms this rule says this. Take a goal that you want to accomplish, and then make it as easy as possible, and then day by day you are increasing the difficulty by only 1%. This way your brain can adapt to the changes you are trying to make. So:
· Running 4 km. becomes run the building block.
· Read 20 pages of your book becomes read 1 page
· Meditate for 10 minutes becomes meditate for 1 minute
· Write 600 words for your newsletter becomes write one paragraph.
CONCLUSION
Now you know why habits are important and how to create new habits the right way sο they can last you for a life time. But now there is one super important question. What habits should you create to improve your life?
Wanna know what habits can make you happier and more fulfilled? Do not miss my next post!!
And also I wonder, what do you think of my work?
I would be really grateful if I read your opinions down the comments.
John.
Pushkin — the great Russian poet — once wrote:
"Habit is given to us from above; it substitutes for happiness."
As a survivor of abuse and boat loads of trauma, habits are my life line, my coping mechanism when I become overwhelmed. Not all of them have always been healthy, but as I am on my journey to healing, I’m learning to spot the bad ones and either delete them or change them to a positive direction. Thank you for sharing your insights ( and for saving me a read I may not have made in full book form😂)