Both habit and addiction grow out of repeated behavior. I used to think that bad habits were easier to develop then good habits, I am starting to think otherwise. If you do anything repetitively for a long period of time it will become a habit. If you develop a penchant for eating a bad thing everyday, it will become a bad habit. The reverse is true, if you repeat eating a good thing everyday for a long enough period of time then it will become a good habit. However, I think there is also addiction. I think addiction is connotative of a bad behavior, something negative.
I looked this up, and sure enough there are several studies in psychology literature on the difference between addiction and habit. Most conclude that something becomes an addiction when it starts to have a negative impact on your life, you find yourself in very risky situations because of it, you have withdrawal symptoms without it, and you find yourself hiding it from others. A bad habit is something that you should not be doing, but you have developed a pattern of behavior around it.
So if a bad habit can become and addiction, what can a good habit become? I supposed a good addiction? Not sure that meets the clinical definition of addiction. I looked around for a while on this topic and I finally came up with lifestyle. A series of good habits will eventually lead to a lifestyle, and that is universally better then a life full of addiction. A lifestyle is just what you do, and how you interact with the world. When I was trying to develop a habit of running, it was a bit painful. I had to remember to bring things, pack the right things, figure out how to run in the heat, cold, darkness, rain and a variety of other environments. Building the habit was difficult because my lifestyle was designed an centered around a person that was NOT a runner. Now that I have built a consistent, repetitive habit out of running, I have now developed a running lifestyle.
I have finally become one of those weirdos that wears running attire everywhere and goes on long runs while on vacation because it is just fun. I hated those people when I was not a runner, but now, I am very happy about becoming that annoying runner person. The health benefits, the energy levels, the improved mental attitude are all the net benefits of the lifestyle change.
Whereas an addiction has a negative impact on your life, a lifestyle is tremendously positive. An addition causes you to take risks, where the lifestyle produces a calming effect and perspective is so much easier to obtain. An addiction causes a withdrawal, a lifestyle is just part of you – it is not possible to go without. An addition you want to hide because of a shame, a lifestyle is so part of you that people eye roll behind your back all the time because it is all you talk about.
Addiction is self destructive, lifestyle is self. Start developing good habits, until they become your lifestyle. Much better then escaping your reality with some addictive substance!
Guy Reams
