“Habits, that thing you do repeatedly because you gain or lose something in return for the action or non-action you decided you wanted or needed to be,    do, or have”.   DLCSr

Habits by definition;

Habits are routine behaviors done on a regular basis. They are recurrent and often unconscious patterns of behavior and are acquired through frequent repetition. Many of these are unconscious as we don’t even realize we are doing them.

Do you notice that the word behavior is, frequently used in the explanations above? Behaviors are tied to habits.

Habits are the way in which one acts or conducts oneself. The way in which a person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus.

So behavior is the way in which we act or our actions as we saw in week 5. Our thoughts become our words, which becomes our actions, which become our “habits”. Our behavior changes as we manage those thoughts that helps to shape our words, that leads to our action’s, that become our habits. Ultimaly leading to the way we behave!

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines habits as:

• an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary. “It is an acquired behavior”
• the prevailing disposition or character of a person’s thoughts and feelings.

“A persons dominant thoughts and feelings”

• a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior.

“A chosen behavior”

•  a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance.

It comes with frequent repetition that becomes you performing the chosen behavior.

So we can see that habits define our character, our thoughts and feelings and our ‘usual’ behaviors. We can also see that habits are behaviors that are nearly or completely involuntary and because they are repeated frequently, we become ‘better’ at them (increased facility of performance).

Psychology definition

A habit can also be thought of as a link between a stimulus and a response. It serves as a mental connection between a trigger thought or event (stimulus) and our response to that trigger (the response). Repeating this connection time and again forms a habit and affects all subsequent decisions and actions. If repeated often enough, this connection becomes near permanent unless we take conscious action to change it.

So lets rap this up by simply saying how you behave is a result of your habits. What you think leads to what you say, that leads to what you do, and the actions you take repeated over time becomes a habit, that ultimately changes your behavior,  and becomes your character. “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” Which brings us to our reason and purpose of living our L.I.F.E,

See you next week we will talk about character on our way to fulfilling our destiny!

“It’s just words”.

Dwight L. Carter Sr.
Writer, Speaker, Author.
www.tellthemyourstory .org
dwightspeaks@gmail.com