Everyone who strives for growth knows well that habits play a crucial role in how we unintentionally interact with our surroundings and perceive the world around us. Whether for the better or to the worse, the habits we have are generally affecting the turn of events. 

How habits shape our lives

Although habits are sets of actions that we get used to doing in response to a trigger, they have a huge importance in shaping the quality of life. In general, habits are things we do repeatedly, and are consistent.

Habits set a pattern to life, and are fundamentally different than routines, in the sense that habits are things we do without thinking. This is why building good habits can have a positive impact on life quality and having unhealthy habits will lead to a bad quality of life. 

Training oneself on good habits can have two main benefits: 

• Less thinking, more doing
• Organizing things without the hassle

Imagine the difference between having to actually go think of something you do, and having it as a habit. If for example, you are someone who has the habit of putting things in their places, you never have to think of how organized you are. Now think what would the situation be if did not have this as a habit, and you just left things here and there. Not only chaos will be everywhere, but you will eventually have to go through the cumulated chaos and waste time organizing things. 

On a large scale, this example can be applied to nearly everything we do in day-to-day routines. From choosing what to wear to drinking your coffee, to how you sit on your desk. Everything you do has an impact on your life. But guess what? If you make things a habit, you will have more time to worry about the more important things, plus enjoy the perks of having a good and healthy lifestyle to support your journey. 

Forming a new habit

One way to have good habits is to form them. The good news, habits are not innate, and you can train yourself to have new habits, based on how you want to shape your future. 

According to psychology, you need to do something for 60 days before it can become a habit, a kind of upfront investment. So for example, if you want to have the habit of doing your bed, you have to remind yourself to do it for 60 days. Over time, you will do it without even thinking about it, and it will eventually become a habit. 

Think of it as engineering your intuitive reactions, to make room for other more important decisions you have to make. You do not always have to make decisions when making coffee, it becomes a habit. So goes for all other more important things in life. In how you communicate, solve problems, think, and plan, habits can affect how successful you become.

Establish Healthy Habits

It is no secret that healthy habits can make things better, and in the end more organized and consistent. 

Practice makes perfect, so establishing these healthy habits requires that you repeatedly work on making good actions part of your day-to-day activities until they become part of your personality. We have outlined three important questions to think of when establishing healthy habits. 

What is the reward?

It is very important to know the reason behind the habits you build. Are these habits really important? Or am I just building habits for the sake of habits?

Since these habits are built to reap rewards, having these rewards in mind is important. For example: I intend to have the habit of greeting people in the morning because I think this will enhance how I communicate and create some sort of synergy. 

Keeping the reward in mind, it is easier to commit to a habit, because the drive and purpose are clear

What are the triggers?

In the early stages of building a habit, it is important to be consistent, or else the habit will fly away. Triggers in this case can be anything that will remind you to actually do that behavior that you intend to establish as a habit. This trigger can be anything, from alarms in your mobile device to things you encounter every day, to events that can happen in your surroundings. 

Get Feedback 

Think about the quick result of the behavior. Is it what I want? Will it be beneficial on the long term? Could I have done this differently? 

Feedback will help fix things while you go, and over time you will adjust what you do and how you do it.

What are some good habits that I should learn?

While all healthy habits are important, here are a few that are general and can help nearly everyone reading this post:

• Read
• Exercise
• Study
• Ask questions
• Reflecting
• Think Positive
• Listen
• Help when possible
• Drink Water

Get rid of unhealthy habits

Establishing healthy habits is very important, but will not have the wanted impact if it does not go hand in hand with getting rid of unhealthy habits. 

In fact, healthy habits can build positive qualities and results, but it cannot erase the damage made by unhealthy habits. This is why an additional effort needs to be made to get rid of routines and habits that we all do every day, but never notice how the impact of these habits is damaging life quality.

What are bad habits that I should avoid?

Here are some of the habits you need to run away from:

• Interrupting others
• Quickly becoming defensive
• Judging
• Procrastination
• Always thinking about the past
• Skipping meals and water

What does this have with my career?

Habits are not only for personal life but can also affect your work. Starting with how you get to work, and how you interact with customers and solve problems, everything you do can be impacted by habits. And because how you work is affected by how you live, every habit can somehow contribute to a better result in your career. Most importantly, focus on making progress a habit, this way you can start a chain reaction of good habits that never end making you a better success machine.

Don’t forget that habits include believing in yourself, and being consistent. Integrity, motivation, and positive thinking are also good habits that can fuel your success story. 

Conclusion

Habits are necessary to sustain a successful living in a fast-changing world. The good news is that we can create habits by adapting to behaviors and making them part of our reflexes and what we do in response to specific events

Knowing what to do and when is the key, this is why it is best to establish new healthy habits and get rid of unhealthy habits. 

According to psychology, this can take 60 days. What are you waiting for? Start now!!