Published on March 16th, 2011. Originally Written May 1st, 2009 (revised, edited, updated, overhauled, tore down and rebuilt)
This evening I destroyed an accounting exam. I put it through a paper shredder and then electrocuted the paper shreds somehow. The toughest part was jockeying for coveted elbow room on the arm rests. Being strangers with the guy next to me, it would have been awkward to exclaim, “I’m entitled to use this space for my elbow because we are both right-handed, so your left elbow should leave!” Considering that, I was filling in the bubbles very well.
After that semi-grueling experience (traffic-laden trip included), I wanted to catch up on Fringe and House. I did and it was nice. However, before I watched them I promised myself that I would put my 2 or 3 day old CLEAN laundry away after viewing them (I may be understating the time period to attempt to salvage my self-image).
About 2 hours pass by (2 x 40 minute shows plus 40 minute buffer) and I’m lounging on my bed. I suddenly remember my promise and just as quickly dismiss it with the greatest ease. It was soo easy to nullify that promise – I mean, come on – did I have any idea how relaxed I’d be after watching TV? The promise obviously wasn’t fair or in my best interest. I just wasn’t thinking correctly when I made that promise.
NOOO! This is a true story and I actually thought those thoughts. I fully convinced myself that I was out of my mind when I had promised to take 5-10 minutes to put my 1 day old laundry away! Were these two different people? I think so. One of them was a rational human being that knows to put away his laundry after a few hours (The clean laundry seems to get younger as the story goes on). The other one was a lazy slumcat that has the lone interest of being lazy and justifying it.
Bad Habit Discovered
I was astonished that I had become so irrational so quickly. Something “triggered” me to justify my laziness. I was procrastinating like I’ve done many times before and my typically-thinking mind did not screen it for validity because I was familiar with this justification. Familiarity caused me to erroneously believe that this justification was valid. This phenomenon is what is commonly known as a “bad habit.”
What makes bad habits so bad is that they are bad (bear with me here…) AND they can easily supersede the mind’s defenses. We are automatically at a disadvantage when it comes to preventing these blunders. It is the difference between a frontal assault and a sneak attack. These are sneaky.
It is essential to find these bad habits because they can help us identify bigger issues. Not putting laundry away might seem insignificant, but it is significant. It points out a character flaw of laziness and unproductivity. In addition, I broke a promise to myself, making it reasonable for me to question my follow-through ability in the future.
Bad Habits And Trees Have Roots
Do you want to know how to expose your bad habits? It is easy to do and can be applied to your life immediately. It relates to one of my favorite concepts – opportunity cost. Get into the good habit of asking yourself why you’re doing this now instead of anything else you could be doing. This simple habit will unleash an avalanche of development opportunities for you. You’ll find that you waste a lot of time, spend too little time on some important things, and you’ll start to notice many of your bad habits.
It may sound like a lot of work to continuously ask yourself why you’re doing activity A as opposed to other activities. In reality, it ends up being a quick check that you habitually do before you take on a new activity. It is all done inside the mind and you will get very good at it in time. If you do catch yourself with a bad habit, like one of the ones below, think deeply about some possible underlying causes for your bad habit.
Examples:
Bad habit – possible bigger issue(s)
- Biting the nails – This is the bad habit that shows up in my mental dictionary. Harmless, right? Actually, biting the nails could mean anxiety or stress, low self-image, nutrition deficiency and more.
- Leaving the seat up (guilty) – This could mean that you’re too inwardly focused or inconsiderate. A man who is always thinking of how he affects the lives of others would not leave the seat up.
- Leaving the seat down – Just kidding. 🙂
- Poor listener – Poor listening points to a lack of respect for others, ego-centrism, and poor social skills.
- Arguing – It is interesting that some people are drawn to arguing. Possible reasons: insecurity, fear of vulnerability, emotional instability… (see picture below)
- Addiction – Addictions have some genetic disposition factors and others, but are perhaps just as often compensatory measures to fill a void in life. Loneliness and low self-esteem are examples of issues that lead to addictions (sex, drugs, alcohol).
Why Do We Fail To Think?
It is important to understand why we fail to think about some things (including bad habits). The answer is urges. Urges are desires that tend to spring up out of nowhere. Urges are the children of addictions and bad habits and they can be subtle or extremely powerful. These bad habit parents send their urging children out into the world to remind people that they should visit them. People of the world are made aware of the parents and will often times visit the parents without a second thought. The next time an urge child appears in front of you, call the police think before acting on it. This is what separates humans from the other organisms that simply respond to stimuli (i.e. urging children).
This all goes along with being a thinking person. You might be thinking, “Well, what are the benefits of doing this? Why would I question everything I do?” That is a great question! Also, that is exactly what a thinking person would have done once I suggested this way of living. If you asked this, or agree with the reasoning of asking it, then you have answered your own question. This question exemplifies the point I’m making – think about and question everything! The best paths in life will hold up to rigorous questioning.
If you want to develop into the person you really want to be, you need to know what you’re working with right now. You find out by asking the question: “Why am I doing this as opposed to anything else?” The ‘anything else’ could be specific ideas you have in mind (such as your dreams) or a general encompassing of the infinite nature of possibilities. This website is a result of that question, and I’m very happy with it. As you can see, it does a lot more than just expose some bad habits.
Once you do expose a bad habit with this method (many will be related to wasting time), you are well on your way to changing it; It requires the mental awareness used to discover it. Bad habits with deep-rooted causes like the list above should be attacked at the root (which could take more time, thought, and effort). Others might be surface-level or ignorance-based habits that can easily be remedied – poor posture for example.
Why am I slouching as opposed to sitting up? “I’m slouching because my back is tired.” Hmm…well, I know that my muscles need to build up to support my back, and slouching is a temporary solution with a very negative long term effect. After answering the question and thinking about it, I’m now sitting up straight and will visit the massage chair soon.
It can also be reaffirming.
“Why am I writing on my website as opposed to anything else?” The answer fires back immediately: “Because I love it, feel like I’m accomplishing something, and I believe I am creating permanent value for myself and others.” That doesn’t sound like a bad habit to me. 🙂
