Habit
Automated behaviors that become integrated into our psyche after repeated exposure to familiar stimuli. Alternatively, habits are actions or tasks that we automatically carry out without the need to reanalyze the situation, reducing energetically expensive decisions. In short, do things often enough and those actions become woven into the fabric of your being.
After exploring the previous sections on creating mental maps, rediscovering a discovery mindset, and the importance emotional regulation, it should now be quite apparent that our bodies are constantly trying to find new ways of saving energy. Habits are no exception to this rule. However, the reason habits get such a special mention is due to the fact that they also determine how successful you are at managing your health and overall productivity.
“All people are the same; only their habits differ.” – Confucius
We get it. Setting good habits is important for success, but if it were so easy to develop a high functioning list of health and wellness habits we wouldn’t have so many people suffering in the developed world. Nor would there be half as many YouTube ads selling ” secrets to success” or Facebook posts advertising a trick that doctors apparently all hate. We’ve all tried to quit bad habits or replace them with habits the popular CEOs confess are what led to their success and usually end up failing miserably.
Instead of giving up on our dreams and wallowing in self-pity, there is a better, albeit less glamorous, way of creating habits that serve your personal goals. In order to do that, it is important that we first cover what habits actually are, how to build a successful strategy to ensure you stick to them, and why your dreams won’t transcend into the waking world unless you take them seriously. Then again, don’t let me dictate your path. There are plenty of options to choose from below.
Choose Your Own
Adventure
The Basics of Habit (To Be Completed)
What it means to form a habit and why it seems so hard to create good ones.
Becoming the Architect (To Be Completed)
How to build the habits you want and how to get rid of the ones you don't.
Sapien Automation (To Be Completed)
The psychology of habit and a heuristics callback.
Habit Building Cheatsheet (To Be Completed)
A comprehensive list of ways to build positive and long lasting habits.
The Habit Rabbit Hole (To Be Completed)
Follow us down into the depths of the habit research rabbit hole.
