Habits are awesome – however – there is a dangerous side. It is when they start to become so automatic that you lull yourself into a mindless process that loses its benefit. Active awareness is the only way I have come up with to combat this. It is hard to believe that a good habit can become negative because you do it without much thought. Actually, I dont think it becomes a bad habit – I just think it becomes less effective then it could be. Doing the habit is still better then doing nothing, but if you are just going through the motions you run the risk of allowing your body, mind, soul to fall into auto pilot and you will lose the real benefit of the activity. Forcing yourself to become alert and think about what you are doing and why, brings awareness and allows you to see how you are performing the habit. With awareness you can clearly see if what you are doing is effective or not.
When you have awareness of what you are doing you can then change it up and shock yourself out of the lull that you get into. Today, I noticed my mindless routine of doing pushups was causing me to slip in my form and I was just doing what I had to, “to get it done.” Same thing with almost everything I build a habit around, it is so easy to slip to the the method of getting it done with the least amount of effort.
The only thing I can say is “NO!!!!” Do not allow yourself to do that, you are gaining such a positive effect from solid habits – make those great habits really go to work for you. When you practice, practice well. When you do something, really engage. When you help another, really love them. When you think, really plan. Stay away from the dark side, make every moment count. Set out each day to make to day the best.
Guy Reams (331)
365 Member
