Hello everyone, I hope you are well. I’ve chosen to write about the power of habits as I believe they are significant to our daily lives. I personally, am trying to cultivate good habits for example eating healthily and exercising more. It is not easy as I do tend to have bad habits. So firstly, I am going to define what a habit is.

According to the Cambridge dictionary , habit means ‘something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it’.

What’s refreshing about having good habits like drinking a fruit smoothie every morning is that you feel good about yourself for sticking to something good that benefits you in the long term i.e losing weight. It is an achievement. However it’s not easy to break bad habits like snacking between meals or overspending on a shopping spree. (I know what it’s like haha)

According to an article from Jamesclear.com, he mentions how most of our bad habits are caused by stress and boredom. He then goes on to say how important it is to recognise the causes of the bad habit in order to overcome them.

The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward, (James Clear).

Cue: “triggers your brain to initiate a behaviour. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward (James Clear)”

Cravings: “cravings are the motivational force behind every habit. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the observer are what transform a cue into a craving (James Clear)”

Response : “The response is the actual habit you perform, which can take the form of a thought or an action. Whether a response occurs depends on how motivated you are and how much friction is associated with the behaviour (James Clear)”.

Reward : “Finally, the response delivers a reward. Rewards are the end goal of every habit. (James Clear)

All in all, we are all human and we have bad habits. I guess one needs to be aware of how they want to improve on making good habits. If we plan ahead of time of what we will do instead of a bad habit, then a feeling of accomplishment can be achieved. But let’s not be too hard on ourselves when we slip and fall into our bad habits. Life is hard. I am speaking to myself as I write this blog post. I’m trying my best to lose the lockdown weight, (so tough!)I’m trying my best to not go on my phone too much, I’m trying my best to not procrastinate and be more productive with my time. If I condition myself to replace my bad habits with good ones then I will feel more happier with myself and a sense of fulfilment will be felt, and I am sure you will too. Thank you, God bless.