Take advantage of the automatic nature of habits

Habit rules us all. We go through life developing certain patterned behaviors. Sometimes we are conscious of these and sometimes we have no awareness of them. Sometimes they are positive habits and sometimes they hold us back.

If you have a habit of smoking cigarettes you know about your habit. But if you have a habit of feeling entitled too quickly at a job, do you know you have this habit? What about if you use too many filler words when speaking to others?

The reality is that you probably have no idea that these habits exist. Instead, you justify any behavior with logic.

You think, “I’m not entitled, they just don’t appreciate all the work I do.”

You assume you are speaking in a perfect manner. You don’t even know what filler words are so how can you say them? And who cares if you use filler words? Other people do too so what difference does it make?

In Atomic Habits, James Clear says, “This is one of the most surprising insights about our habits: you don’t need to be aware of the cue for a habit to begin. You can notice an opportunity and take action without dedicating conscious attention to it. This is what makes habits useful.”

For some reason, this means that we are completely biased about our own habits. We don’t see the dangerous ones that can potentially hold us back. We don’t realize that our struggle to get ahead at work is due to ingrained habits. We don’t realize that people find us misleading and dishonest because of the way we talk to them.

This is why the systems and habits approach to improvement is so powerful. We constantly search for ways to improve. Then we make very small improvements. Over time we turn this new improvement into automatic behavior. Then we do it again.

When we find out that we have a problem habit, we know how to change. We don’t defend our ego. We take the feedback as insight and then make a change.

We can start to design the habits in our life to take us in the direction that we desire. We no longer become a prisoner of our habits. Instead we use our habits to create our own freedom.

Because habits are often below our own awareness, we have to learn to see these subtle behavior patterns. Then we have to know how to turn bad habits around. We have to learn to build positive habits that help us get better over time.

This is how we take advantage of the automatic nature of habit. We change the habits holding us back into habits that propel us forward. Then we can stop worrying about them. They become automatic.

As we go through our day, we can be confident that our behaviors align with our desires. We don’t behave different from who we want to be. We act in accordance to our higher dreams and aspirations in life.

So, learn the systems and habits approach to improvement so you can take advantage of habits. Don’t let them sabotage your life and create miserable day after miserable day. Instead get ahead of them to create the life you deserve and the one you know you are capable of living.