It’s very easy for me to for example think that: Well, today I feel a little bit down, so I’ll just binge out on snacks and watch a movie or two. Instead of doing what I initially planned to do.
It’s not as easy as just deciding to change a habit (duh!).
If I remember it correctly, it takes 21 days to actually change a habit and another 24 (45 in total) to make the change permanent in the way that it feels natural.
But even though I cannot just snap my fingers and I’ve formed a more desirable habit, it’s not as if I have no control over myself either. What I’ve realized is that, as with so many things, this starts in my head. I set an intention and then I convince myself to break the intention. It’s not a question of giving in to an uncontrollable urge. It can be that too. But most of the time, I start rationalizing breaking my initial intention, in ways such as in the example above.
How am I going to accomplish anything if I choose the lower option when stuff happen. Stuff always happen.
I think that the binge-out-and-watch-movies example is a good one. Because it illustrates a bigger, core-habit. The one of letting circumstances dictate my behavior. One thing that I realized right now, is that this habit also makes me look for excuses to break my intentions. I had actually not thought of this until now. But if there is a “reward” for a certain type of behavior, I will unconsciously start looking for what can bring me that reward.
One thing that probably is necessary, is to broaden my perspective with regard to my choices. I probably cannot always follow my schedule when I feel too much resistance. It’s probably a good thing to have a certain flexibility, unless I just want to bang my head against the wall. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing productive that I can do. Changing the habit might means that I cannot go for the easy, comfortable option. But it does not have to mean that I have to push through whatever tedious task I have in front of me either.
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