Introduction:
Deciding to do an article on habits it dawned on me that when researching this topic how immense this subject is, which is why I decided to make this article asks the question, what are good and bad habits? Having said that to come up with a logical answer we do need to examine how to change our habits, create good ones, change annoying ones and stopping the bad ones.
Changing Habits To Improve Your Life
As daft as it seems when you change your habits the quality of your life can and usually does improve. For the last six years I was on the Membership Council of The Royal British Legion, yes a very worthwhile cause, but until I stepped down I did not realize that it had all but taken over my life. Now I can do what my wife and I want without thinking about what I should be doing for the Legion, going away too meetings often for a few days at a time, phone calls at all hours, reports, emails and so it went on.
Do not misunderstand me I loved it, but in retrospect it did play havoc with our lives, including that of our children and grandchildren. When I was the County Vice-Chairman, we even came back from holiday a day early, so I could set the Marquee up for the County Show. Will accept that my web based business does take up time, but that can be factored in to suit our needs, not the wishes of National or County diaries. All in all my health and temper have improved, I certainly am sleeping better.
It is not my intention here to list things that you could change that have become a habit, only you can analyze your life and decide that. Why not take a sheet of paper and go through your weekly or monthly doings or tasks, better still use a planner. Can these be changed or altered to make life better. Another simple task I do is the weekly shopping, usually on a Thursday or Friday, but I do not have a set time of day, it can be morning, afternoon or evening, it depends on when I want to go. Not I must go because it is Friday morning, result no pressure. This week I went on Wednesday Evening because I felt like it and I was able to.
Learn To Create Good Habits
You could ask yourself what are good habits, this depends on a number of factors, if you begin by identifying what your habits are, for example if you created the list suggested in the previous section, you will have an idea of what you should need to change.
The other question is what are your bad habits, we have already said that drinking alcohol in excess, regularly, or at a given time is a bad habit. This is a question that I cannot answer as I do not know you, what I think are bad habits maybe perfectly acceptable to you. A chat with your partner or close friend might help identify this for you.
Changing Your Annoying Habits
Another good question, just what are your annoying habits? These can be quite numerous, but the first thing that we must understand is that neither us nor our partners are perfect. When we arrive on this earth we are all different, that is fact, no two people are alike or absolutely perfect.
When we live in the same environment as each other a little give and take, or remolding is bound to be called for on both sides. After all apart from our clothes (usually) we share everything, including those annoying little habits, these unless recognized or changed can lead to very serious problems in the relationship.
These habits can lead to us nagging, even criticizing, not to mention moaning and complaining, this results in our behavior becoming annoying.
Some annoying habits include:
- Always arriving late, either from work or when getting ready to go out to name but a few.
- Being a mind reader, you say I knew you were going to say that, or that is what I thought.
- When the other person is talking, constantly interrupting.
- Constantly complaining, this can lead to the other partner thinking that they are not good enough.
- Walking away when the other is talking, this makes them think that what they are saying is neither interesting nor important.
There are of course many more habits which we could consider annoying, it is up to you realize what they are, talk to your partner, after all talking is cheaper than a divorce!
The placing of this image here is deliberate as it applies to both this section and the next one.
Prevent Addicitions By Stopping Your Bad Habits
Let us begin this section by defining just what an addiction is: It can be an activity, I must go to the match, this happens every time the team play, this can become a form of addiction, as I mentioned in these posts before, a glass of wine a night is fine within reason, my several was becoming a habit or a form of addiction, which it certainly would have become, if I had not had the commonsense to realize it. But to be honest I have been there before.
Addictions as we have just seen often start off as a harmless activity or the way we behave, these can quickly turn into a habit, then an addiction. The problem is the addiction does not stop there, it overflows into your relationships, your work, your family. Eventually it can destroy all that you once held dear. All because following the team or consuming more and more wine became an addictive habit.
These as bad habits are of course a tip on the iceberg. You need to take a long hard look at yourself to stop what is or was a minor habit and slowing it down or stopping it all together. I am not saying do not go to the game, I am saying think before you do, we have season tickets for our local team, but if I cannot go it is not the end of the world, just think and prioritize your behavior and life.
There are a number of ways to stop your bad habits, these are but a few:
Try to replace the habit replace the habit with something that is likely to not cause you harm, instead of alcohol try water or a juice.
Remove the repitition break the habit by not getting into the habit of same time every day having a drink or reading the paper, I tend to drink a cup of tea at regular intervals each day, just realized this, so it is a habit that I will now stop.
Try a befriending system find someone with the same problem compare notes, help each other.
Stop punishing yourself when you fail to stop the habit, it will only make matters worse, try a different way of solving the problem.
Give yourself a treat when you have a success at breaking a habit no matter how small, give yourself a small reward, no not another drink!
Conclusion
It is hoped that this article has given you some ideas of both our good and bad habits, breaking the bad ones replacing them with good ones, will enrich not only your life, but those you surround yourself with.
The next article will be ‘Change your spending habits and start saving money’
As always your comments are appreciated.
Take care
Edwin
https://learningandwealth.com
That was nice of you to point out the realities of our habits that affect our lives. It’s not everyday that we can reflect upon this matter but articles like this can help us realize where we are at this point. Bad habits are hard to break as they say, but it can be. We need to assess ourselves how we are living our daily lives. My bad habit before was procrastination. I would set aside important matters and enjoy cramming in the end. Then I realize at my age I should have become more organized at work so I decided to put an end to it. I set up a daily schedule so it will be easy for me to do my tasks. So for me, time managment became my ally. There are still bad habits that I should turn into good ones and I know I need to work on it to improve myself. Thank you for sharing your thoughts to us.
Appreciate your comments and honesty in your own habits, procrastination affects me if I let it.
Stuart
I really enjoyed this post. It is very good and very explicit. I once told someone who wouldn’t let me finish a sententce that is was completely rude to do that. He was surprised as if he was never thought that. He was like, ohh I knew what you were going to say. That is soooo annoying! And I never talked to him again, until he changed and start actually listening to what others had to say, which is more respectful too.
I hope people will read your post and get some ideas on the good and the bad habits and I wish it will lead them to change and get some good habit.
Thanks for sharing
Very many thanks for your thoughtful comments, it was a very bad habit of mine interrupting people who were speaking, think that I remember not too now.
Stuart
It is such an insightful and concise article, great sharing.
The annoying habits are definitely something anyone should change immediately. They basically communicate to the person they are meeting or talking to that they are not very interested or just have other things to do specifically the one about tardiness. It is a waste of time for both of you to delay the appointment you just agreed with.
The remaining ones are also a waste of time and energy to add it up it shows your attitude about yourself. Mainly focusing ONLY on your own interests at the expense of letting other people feel like they are not valued.
Moreover, there is a situation which can cause you to become ‘addicted’ to your bad habits, to change this I want to recommend an article that I have recently stumbled upon on Euphoria- Design your life
I hope you give it a try, because I tell you what it is very much helpful
Many thanks for commenting,
Stuart