Habits

I think for some reason, habits have a bit of a bad reputation.  It seems to me that we most often hear of "bad habits" and very seldom do people choose to talk about Good Habits.
Well here's my attempt at changing that.
 Here is what I consider to be a pretty good definition of any habit, good or bad. 
A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
That's a pretty simple, clear definition I think.
I have lots of habits, including some bad ones, but I am going to tell you about some of my good habits.  I'm not going to brag about having all my shit together, because I don't.  The point I really want to make about habits is that they are actually simple choices repeated until they become subconscious.  If you believe this, hopefully you can see that anyone can create a habit, or even change a bad one.
Being a responsible partner to my wife, I sometimes do household chores including laundry.  One of the little habits that I repeat without even thinking is this.  Whenever I am changing clothes and putting something in the laundry, I always make a point of keeping them right side out!  I also separate each piece of clothing from others.  For instance, my socks are kept together as a pair, but my underwear are NOT stuck inside the leg of my pants.  When I am taking off a shirt, I always pull the sleeves off from the end and just don't allow things to be inside out.  It makes sorting and folding so much easier, and it costs me nothing in time or effort.  It is just as easy to undress while keeping the clothes neat as it is to make a mess, and cause unnecessary work.  It's all about efficiency!
I also have a habit of doing the dirtiest or hardest part of any job first.  If I have a workout planned, it is far easier to follow through and have a good workout if I start first thing in the morning.  Then after I am done, I can relax with a coffee knowing I have already done my hard work for the day.  This may seem strange, but I often take this habit even a bit further, some may say to the level of compulsion.  I tend to do everything in the order of "least liked" first.  When I eat a sandwich, I always start by eating all the crust first so I can savour the nice soft fresh body last.  Same goes for pizza, I eat the crust first!  When I am cleaning the bathroom, I start with the shower because it is the largest most time consuming part of the job, followed by the toilet and finish with the easiest, the vanity.  
I don't have a problem with any of this stuff.  For instance, if something happened that my clothes got mixed up or turned inside out, it doesn't bother me at all.  I just have the habit of making sure they don't get that way in the first place.
These are some pretty tame examples of habits, and I haven't done a great job of making my point, but I firmly believe that anyone can create positive lasting habits for themselves.  More importantly, I also believe that anyone can change or replace bad or counterproductive habits with good ones.  The only requirement is the desire to change.  The key is, one small step at a time.


"Successful people are simply those with successful habits."
Brian Tracy 

Love Holij