Happy Tuesday, Limitless Family. We’re going to talk about creatures of habit. Now I’m not talking about
the oatmeal, but you should check that out as well because man it’s good.
So, according to research, this seems to be quite true. Perhaps, more important than the time that we
dedicate to these habits are the factors and forces that make them habits. It’s more than just your
repetitive nature that makes specific behavior habitual.
Know that’s certainly an aspect of what most of us would say if asked to describe a habit. In fact, Wood
and her team, along with other psychologists and researchers identified three main characteristics of a
habit.
First, habits are often performed without or even realizing it managed through unconscious thought.
There’s no deep thinking involved, no “should I” or “shouldn’t I,” debate. It’s seamless and natural.
Second, just as habits are free from high-level cognitive processing, they’re also free from intense
emotion. This isn’t very surprising when you consider that habits are activities we repeat over and over.
Just like with anything else, that repetition breeds familiarity and indifference eventually removing
emotion.
Third and finally, habits have a context. A collection of environmentally and intellectual factors that are
associated with habitual behavior. This can include a wide range of things like where you are. Who are
you with, what time is it, all which combined to form a queue to execute a specific behavior.
Now, understanding these factors allow us to identify which of our daily activities are in fact habits. By
understanding what a habit is, we can also start to understand how they are made or broken. The key is
to sustain your healthy habitual habits.
