The Emotional Side of Habits

Much of my reading and study since the Spring has been on habits. As I’ve come to understand the process by which habits form a little better, I’ve started thinking about the emotional side of habit-building. 

I don’t just mean the discouragement we have to overcome to make a habit stick. I’m talking about the storylines and barriers we have to overcome emotionally to allow ourselves to commit to certain habits. 

We’ve been told “you’re not creative” or “you’re not athletic” or “you’re not organized” before, and so when the opportunity arises to become those things, the emotional weight of those words keeps us from it. 

These words hurt us when we first heard them, no doubt. But even though the decibels have completely dissipated, they reverberate louder than ever before in our minds. They keep us from growth, which means they’re hurting us more now than they ever did at the start, like compounding interest on a bad debt. 

If there’s an area in your life where you can’t seem to build good habits, maybe it’s worth considering the emotional side. The only person those words still exist to is you. 

Good luck out there.