Good Habits + Bad Habits = Life Practice

Our lives are a series of good and bad habits. We all can practice daily efforts to make better habits we can use …For Your Life™ 

Have you considered habits you have day to day? Coffee, cigarettes, exercise, drinking, social media, work, or anything else you do on a regular basis can be a habit. As an activity, write down daily habits (good and bad) and ask “Do I wish I could change them?”

With practice and will power it is possible to hone in on habits to improve and make a new habit a regular part of life. Like any activity, the more you practice the more efficient you become. Habit change can be complex and have several steps to break down. Take for example, driving: you learn to drive, it gets easier, you start drinking coffee while you drive, text, maybe even speed while you do the basic task of driving. Habits help us be efficient and save brain power for other tasks. Humans often crave more and have an innate desire to do more. Habits come from craving more.

There are three segments to a habit. The Cue, The Behavior, The Reward. If you think about these steps with a goal to short circuit one of them, you are on your way to a successful habit change. The Cue: You are bored. The Behavior: You take out your social media. The Reward: You are satisfied that you saw what others are doing. If you recognize you are bored and you find something else to do instead of the usual behavior, you can change the habit. Think of how you can apply these steps to other habits in your life that you want to improve.

In order to live our best lives, we need to embrace good and bad habits and recognize where we are happy. If you are happy with your current habit, leave it alone, but if you want a change or if your habit affects others’, consider a change. Surveys show that self-acceptance as a habit can lead to the greatest happiness.

Gary Gianetti has an M.S. in Allied Health and holds certifications in health, fitness, and exercise sciences. When he’s not coaching, he enjoys outdoor adventures on foot, rock, wheels, and in the air with his little ones and his wife. He is the founder of Healthy Altitudes…For Your Life™