Beating Bad Habits

Have you ever had the feeling that you are sabotaging your own success? That you are unconsciously doing something that you know you shouldn’t be doing, but you do it anyway and you don’t know why? Ever feel like you are repeating an old, familiar pattern once again and wondering how you fell into the same old routine that you KNOW doesn’t work for you? If you are like most of us then you answered at least one of these questions with a resounding YES!

The simple fact of the matter is that we, as human beings, are creatures of habit. Allow me to emphasize that word, HABIT. From a very young age, we begin to assimilate ourselves to The World through repetition of “Right Actions.” We learn what constitutes a “Right Action” from the behaviors of those around us, as well as from the way that our individual behaviors are reacted to by people of significance in our lives.

In our early youth we tend to mimic the actions of our family members and surrounding people in an effort to gain acceptance from these people that we consider to be socially important. As the years go by, people begin to consciously realize vast differences between our prior concept of “How The World Works” and the ACTUAL reality of the world we’re living in. This is the level where you think “why do I still smoke despite my knowledge of the obvious health risks?” or “why do I feel like eating even after I am full?” or any number of similar thoughts

Because these ideas were formed at an early age, our mind tends to find evidence as to why they are correct. We don’t instinctively look to find ways in which we are wrong about the world we experience. The human brain cannot possibly interpret all the stimuli that it receives at any given moment, so we have no conscious choice but to filter the information based on previous experiences. Or, more accurately, we have no choice but to filter the information based on our INTERPRETATIONS of past experiences in order to prove ourselves right.

So when it comes down to personal habits, it is simply a matter of questioning the validity of said habit. For example, how do you feel when you think about smoking or drinking? Do you create a mental image of yourself in this state? In what way does smoking/drinking actually enhance your life? Is it just a mental illusion, conjured up in your head? Do you really gain anything from this practice?

Ask these questions to yourself and BE HONEST with your answers and you will surely gain some valuable insight into why you do the things you wish you didn’t.


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