Habits and Behaviors
A basic trait of human consciousness is to give meaning to everything. A person's perceptions are embedded in the brain as concretely as physical objects. People cannot be aware of their own perceptions and ingrained patterns since those are their entire frame of reference.
Awareness is essential to stimulating healing changes in your brain because you cannot motivate your brain to develop in a given direction unless you know where you are starting from. Of the different kinds of awareness, ingrained attitudes and thought patterns are the most problematic. You cannot see them without actively seeking them out as every action you take today is determined by your entire life experience up to this very second.
Repeating behavior in the same context reinforces mental associations between the context and behavior. Habit is said to have formed when exposure to the context unconsciously activates the association, which in turn causes an urge to act. The major benefit that a habit provides is structure which is important since it gives us a sense of rhythm in life.
Habits are essential to our health. They can make or break your chances of achieving and maintaining lifestyle goals along with increasing quality of life and promoting longevity. An ingrained attitude, belief or habit has existed for a long time and cannot easily be changed. You cannot see these attitudes and behaviors because they are inherent to identity or ego that can be “dug out” by each person.
It is impossible to recognize your own ingrained patterns without being open to outside input and having the desire to develop self-awareness. Usually, it takes some type of interaction with another person in an individual or group setting. You cannot see yourself the way others see you. You must first decide to learn more about these patterns to understand their impact on you and others close to you. Life becomes infinitely more interesting when you choose awareness.
How long does it take to build a habit? The amount of time needed will depend on multiple factors, including the individual and the intended behavior. While you might be able to pick up a new habit in a matter of weeks, building healthy habits can take many months. Why is it so hard to change bad habits? Habits are a person’s behavior running on auto-pilot. The brain is not used to analyzing why a bad habit is carried out. Bad habits are so ingrained in the mind due to the rewarding feelings that they bring. How do I stop a bad habit? Trying to mindfully consider why you engage in a bad habit and what other options there are may help. So could taking some time to think about what prompts the bad habit and reevaluating what you get out of it. Keep in mind why you want to make a change, including how the change reflects your values.
Old habits can be difficult to change and healthy habits are often harder to develop, but through repetition, it is possible to form and maintain new habits. Even long-time habits that are detrimental to one’s health and well-being can be broken with enough determination and a smart approach.
Here are today’s Wellness Wednesday Program reading resources:
“Habits Influence Our Behavior More Than We Realize, Study Reveals,” Lo Styz, Fact Checked by Karen Cilli, Updated May 22, 2022, Very Well Mind, Mental Health News,
"How we form habits, change existing ones," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Science Daily, August 8, 2014.
“Habit and Identity: Behavioral, Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational,” Bas Verplanken and Jie Sui, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK, Frontiers in Psychology, July 10, 2019,
