Rethinking Habits

Are you enjoying reading Scroll #1 from The World’s Greatest Salesman by Og? Reading and rereading it has sparked in me introspection and extrospection about habits.

Extrospection is the act of observing or examining something outside of oneself. It is the opposite of introspection, which is the act of accessing one’s own conscious states. -Miriam Webster

It seems to me that our culture more often reinforces bad habits by giving them attention, albeit negative attention but attention none the less. A kid misbehaves and what happens? They get spanking or detention. While these aren’t fun, we give them the attention they crave.

Even negative consequences are positive reinforcement. I do believe much has changed since I was a child. Now there is a consciousness about reinforcing good habits in order to help children learn to reach their potential and become more satisfied adults.

Introspection is observing and examining something within ourselves. -Miriam Webster

This week I have looked within at my habits with curiosity. I have a lot of good habits. I drink a full glass of water when I get up. I eat healthy food. I try to be pleasant and nice to others, etc. Bravo me!

I do have some bad habits that have lived with me for a long, long time. I don’t try to remember why I habitually do something but I do question why I need to continue a bad habit. Is it serving me? Does it result in feelings of love, success, happiness? Nope. My bad habits always make me feel bad about myself.

These habits can be replaced with better habits or just deleted altogether. Being conscious is the first step towards changing a bad habit. It also helps to have a good friend point out that I’m disagreeing for no good reason! Then I have to overcome my habit of becoming defensive. I’m a work in progress 🙂