Time: this page will probably take about 3 minutes to read.What are Habits?Well, according to Merriam-Webster, 'habit' can be defined as, "manner of conducting oneself", "a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance", or "an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary". Basically, how you're acting when you aren't paying attention, or how you're acting when you can't help it. Your habits are, for the most part, determined and shaped by your beliefs. Not just the big, grandiose beliefs, like "I believe in God" or "I love my country", but your more personal beliefs, like "I feel good about myself when I do 'X'", or "I do 'Y' for a living", or "'Z' scares me/makes me uncomfortable". You have beliefs about who your are, and what you like and don't like, and those beliefs motivate most of your behavior, whether you realize it or not. Those beliefs have built your behavior from the ground up. If you haven't dug around in your mind before, you might be surprised at how many beliefs you have, and how bizarre some of them are. What are beliefs?Going to Merriam-Webster again, a 'belief' is "conviction of the truth of some statement". I like that one a lot. In a nutshell, beliefs are a thought or idea that you have a visceral, emotional, "gut" response to. So, if your habits are determined by your beliefs, what determines your beliefs? How did they get there? Well, nobody really knows. Some beliefs are definitely gained through constant, low-level exposure, like those from the culture you grew up in, as your "gut response" slowly builds up for frequently-repeated ideas. Other beliefs are picked up in more haphazard ways, possibly coming from a single traumatic event, or possibly being created as a side effect of other beliefs that you already have. But really, nobody knows, myself included. But if you don't know where beliefs come from, that tells you a few things. For example, you have no direct control over your beliefs - they are formed without your realizing it, and without your really having much say in the matter. So, a lot of them will (hopefully) make sense to you, but some of them will be strange. Likewise, most of them will be helpful, positive beliefs, but some of them will be very hurtful to you. Odds are that your negative, limiting beliefs are the main thing holding you back - your limiting beliefs are triggering the habits you want to get rid of, or they are preventing you from developing new habits and skills. If you're depressed, they may be preventing you from doing much of anything. You need a way to get rid of your limiting beliefs, and to install new beliefs that will help you achieve your dreams. In fact, if you think about it, that's really what self-help and therapy are all about. You could go into therapy to understand (and root out) the strange, limiting beliefs that you acquired as a child. Similarly, you could adopt positive affirmations, to try to put new, healthy beliefs in place. But how much does that really work? How much can you achieve, without resorting to "faking it"?
As you may have guessed, I have something that I think may help you.
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