How To Identify Your "Bad" Habits And "Good" Ones?

First off, let's start with the fact that no habit is bad or good, it is either ineffective or effective, based on an individual's goals. According to Britannica, habits are defined as any regularly repeated behavior that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate. Habits are the tiniest parts of our life that have the biggest impacts.

I have been recently reading 'The Atomic Habits' by James Clear and found a lot of interesting things about our habits and how we inculcate them into our lives. I have derived a lot of information for this article from this fantastic book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in changing their habits.

Before we dive in any further, let us understand why we build habits in the first place. We build habits to reduce problems in our lives. For example; It is our general habit to reach for the light switch as soon as we enter a dark room, this helps us to see in the dark. We were presented with a problem and we found a way to solve it, so it becomes a habit for us.

A habit is built once we have performed it enough times for it to get embedded in our subconscious mind. Practicing an action routinely for a certain period of time ensures that it becomes like second nature to us. Hence it becomes crucial for us to pay attention to our most common actions.

What Is A 'Bad' Habit?

Any habit that isn't helping you get closer to the person you envision to become. All of our habits should be the small yet significant steps towards becoming our most potential self.

For example: Becoming a confident person is your goal but you have a habit of biting your nails when you are worried or tense. This doesn't help the end goal, isn't it?

If another person has the same habit but a different goal, this habit doesn't really have any effect on their end goal.

What Is A 'Good' Habit?

Since we now know what a bad habit is, it is easier to understand the good ones. Any habit taking you a step closer to your end goal is a good habit and one that you should hold onto and continue.

For example, your goal is to become a healthy and fit person, you go to the gym every day and work out for an hour, a habit that is aiding you to reach your end goal.

How To Identify And Assess Your Habits?

It is quite simple actually, we just need to be more aware of our actions when we are performing them. James Clear mentions a method used by the Japanese in the subway stations, called point-and-call. It is basically when the person points at the object they are seeing and says it out loud while pointing at it. We could use the same technique to be more conscious, just before you are about to perform any action just say it out loud or in your mind.

For example, you are about to have a packet of potato chips, just before you have it, say,' I am about to have a pack of potato chips.'

EVERY ACTION YOU TAKE IS A VOTE FOR THE PERSON YOU WISH TO BECOME. - James Clear

Now you are aware of your action, does having a pack of chips help you achieve your fitness goal? Or is it a step away from it? You don't need to stop the action that you are about to take immediately, but you now know if it is something you would wanna repeat.

So until the action turns into your habit, it is crucial to pay close attention to it.