Habits

It’s a neuro chemical fact that habit patterns are etched in your brain. They are neuro chemical pathways. A computer program illustrates this in a simplistic way. A computer program uses pages of binary code, symbols, numbers and letters that don’t mean anything as you see it on the page. Machine code doesn’t make any sense until a programmer enters it into the computer system when it takes on meaning and creates a program. So when the person at the key board presses some keys and hits enter, at the speed of light produces a command, the response. Your brain works in a similar way. It has 100 billion brain cells that processes electricity at one one thousandths of a second, making 30,000 new cell connections every single second never repeating the same pattern. We process thought at 1,250 words per/minute and speak at approximately 250 words per/minute.

A habit is an experience that has been repeated so that it is etched into your brain and when something triggers a particular feeling at the speed of light you get a response. Just like when the person types in a bunch a keys and hits enter you get a response. Because of the repetition of a response to a feeling you have created a habit or a behavior. Now if you want to break this habit when you get that feeling instead of doing what you normally do (the response) you employ will power and do something different, your goal or new habit. By doing this you have just jumped track shall we say and formed a new pathway. To form a new habit it has been estimated that you keep that up for 21 – 80 days. Depending upon your diligence you can form a new habit or response to your old feeling or behavior. Use your will power, our gift of choice. Take what you know and how you feel to make new decisions and shape new habits. Use your strong feelings about things that you want to change or achieve and couple that with your knowledge, and your goals to make a new decision and you have just employed will power. Example; I feel like watching TV but I know that it just contributes to my laziness so I will do what I have set out in my goals and go do it. You have just jumped track and well on your way to a new habit, overcoming an addiction or any behavior you want to change.

There is another habit of ours that I briefly touched on in “Part 4 – Identifying Obstacles” that is worth a re-mention. That is our avoidance behaviors or our automatic reactions to some input. We can control our responses and create new actions that enable us to move beyond past experiences or programming. Our past negative experiences form fears and beliefs. The purpose is to protect us but in fact they limit growth. As Scott Peck described in A World Waiting to be Born; “People will employ a variety of psychological tricks we call defense mechanisms. While sometimes necessary, even life saving, these defense mechanisms are more often employed in an unhealthy fashion. When used this way, they are self-imposed limitations and prevent the person from moving forward becoming all that she or he can be.” The clarity of your goals and development of your plans as I have described should surface these mental obstacles or limitations. Lack of awareness being is most of the problem. Application of your will power and commitment to form new habits will help you to move forward and achieve your goals.