Why are good habits so hard to make but bad habits are so easy to have?
The answer is only one word:DopamineYour brain is like a big fat ball of glue that sticks every single bad habit it can roll over, because every little case of indulgence provides a tiny surge of pleasure.It feels sooo good to get drunk, masturbate, watch N-th funny video on YouTube or eat that piece of chocolate.Good habits, on the other hand, are no fun at all. Blood, sweat and tears. Yikes!Yes, the end result is nice: this book you've finally published, six-pack instead of a bulging gut or money on your account, because you were so productive.But getting there? Bleah!So, bad habits happen "on their own", while you need to work on developing your good habits.Bad habits provide instant pleasure, while good habits mean delayed (but insanely exponential!) gratification.In the end it's not true that bad habits are easy to make and good habits are not. It depends on how consciously you live your life.If you operate in a semi-automatic mode, it's no wonder bad habits glue to you like dirt to a chewing gum.We are not animal, we have power over our actions and ability to self-reflect. You can examine your deeds and correct your ways.As others indicated, we can punish yourself for bad habits and reward ourselves for the good ones.As Victor Frankl wisely said:Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.You are free to choose. You are free to reflect. You are free to modify your habits.The last piece of wisdom in that regard:Good habits are hard to form but easy to live with; bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with. — Brian TracyAnd a perfect illustration of that from The Slight Edge:
Why is it easy to learn a bad habit, but difficult to unlearn same bad habit?
Many of our bad habits usually provide us with some kind of momentary pleasure that’s very easy to obtain.For example, eating junk food or stress eating is a very common bad habit that provides a temporary sense of relief and grants us comfort, despite the negative effects it has on us. It’s so easy to sit on the couch and indulge in a bag of potato chips, candy or other unhealthy foods because they’re “comfort foods” and make us feel just a little better for a short amount of time.There aren’t many bad habits that you have to work hard to engage in, which is why we’re drawn to them in the first place. For stress eating, the negative influences surround us constantly, and they’re always within an arm’s reach.We have a seemingly unlimited amount of opportunities to take the easy way out to get an ephemeral “high” that’s almost always followed by a sense of regret immediately after. But, since we’re creatures of habit, we’ll revisit those vices until we discipline ourselves or actually experience the negative consequences first-hand.The negative effects of some bad habits aren’t always immediately noticeable or impactful, but after an extended period of time, they’ll catch up with us AND THEN we’ll change even though the damage is already done.My best advice when dealing with bad habits is to think long-term. If you find yourself engaging in a bad habit, think about how it will impact you a few months from now. Whenever the temptation arises, immediately ask yourself, “Will this brief moment of relief really be worth it later on in life?” This is a great way to learn self-discipline, which will greatly enhance how you live your life day-to-day and allow you to see what’s most valuable to you and what can be discarded.
Why is it so hard to break a bad habit than to learn a new one?
Sometimes it has been wired for a long time, and we are still in comfort zone.Breaking a bad habit is hard because we are forced to be a someone new. But learn a new one means we never have that one before, so we most likely have no thoughts, and nothing disturbs us and it contributes to the progress better.
Why do we learn bad habits and bad thinking faster (and almost without any effort) than good things?
People tend to get attracted towards things which are not very common or precisely speaking 'rare' and bad habits are not very common. Next point is that people love to show off and they think doing something unique(like drinking alot just to showoff their 'Capacity' how much they can drink) can make them popular between their friends or people they know. But having this mindset they almost forget that what they were doing was not a good thing.
Do children learn bad habits at school, or at home?
Children's can learn bad habits from both places, at home & at school as well….Its totally depend on atmosphere an environment we are giving themHow we behave in front of them they will definitely repeat the things.How we talk & what type of language we use in front of them an decent or rude or something bad. Childrens love to repeat things, words even if they don't know the actual meaning of that thing, still they love to repeat & discuss things with their friendsChildrens learn things from everywhere from School, home, colony, Parks, neighbours home… children's are like clay it's our duty to shape them well….
Why are bad habits so difficult to get rid of?
Our mind can be divided into two, conscious and unconscious. Conscious is logical, analytical and decision maker.Unconscious acts as a storage hub and also stores emotions. It is creative, imaginative and intuitive. Unconscious has all survival instincts.Conscious has smaller memory and hence he can stored information required for immediately processing. Rest of all the information gets stored in unconscious.Unconscious works 24 by 7, conscious works only as long as we are awake.When we are operating consciously, unconscious is observing us and whatever actions we repeat are stored as habit. In other words, whatever actions we need to do repeatedly becomes habits. This frees conscious to think about other issues and actions he needs to take.Since unconscious cannot analyse and differentiate between right and wrong, he accepts whatever comes as it is. Initially, conscious is stronger and gets into repeated actions. Once unconscious takes them as habits, conscious has no control over it. They go deeper into unconscious.Once habits go deeper into unconscious i.e. they get hardwired, it becomes literally impossible to change.Habits once formed whether good or bad cannot be easily changed at conscious level. You can connect with your unconscious and change them with alternative more desirable behaviour.A therapist and NLP practitioner can help you do it.
Why is it comparatively easier to form bad habits than it is to form good habits?
Bad habits are like a comfortable bed , easy to get into, but hard to get rid of.Even i have bad habits and am used to them at certain extent.Most dangerour one is , being lazy is far lot easier than doing any work or thing.Procrastination , drinking , smoking , eating junk foods are some of them which are seen around us.But we should change it , before it changes us.I guess we always find excuses to keep on with our habits , don't we?Spending today complaining about yesterday won't make our tomorrow any better.
Why is it so difficult to quit a bad habit?
“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”There is a simple reward system in our mind that is responsible for this. Each time we commit a bad habit, we get a positive response from the brain that is saved in our memory and is later accounted for repeated occurrences of bad habits. The process is initially very rewarding and manageable but once it becomes a habit, there is no going back since the mental wiring is established and guaranteed to bring a positive reward to the brain.So, this whole story is basically just a rewarding process which can be broken systematically with willpower and persistence.Further reading:https://www.johnshopkinshealthre...
It is proven that bad habits are easier to acquire as compared to inclining towards the good. Why is this so?
Good habits are hard to come by but easy to live with. Bad habits come easy but are hard to live with.In most cases, the reward from a bad habit is immediate, whereas the result from a good habit takes time. For instance, if you star exercise today, you won’t find any immediate benefit today itself. It takes weeks or months to get the desired result.When you first drink alcohol, it affects the dopamine site or reward center in your brain. Your system releases more dopamine, giving you immediate pleasurable sensation you associate with drinking. As a result, you may want to keep drinking to feel more of this sensation, to stimulate further dopamine release. Tension, fatigue, and the blues may also seem to decrease. That is why people drink to relax or loosen up. This, in turn, can reinforce alcohol-seeking habit.