Weekly Mission #3: Clarity About Personal Habits

What’s important about getting clarity about our personal habits?

Much of what we do is habitual. Our brains are apparently designed that way in order to be efficient. When we perform an action one time, that may be an anomaly, but if we were to perform the action a second time, we would find ourselves on the road to building a habit. We need to be clear about what habits we have and whether they serve our purposes.
By altering or replacing or eliminating some or all of these types of habits, compulsions, or drives, we are practicing our ability to abstain. This type of practice is helpful for building strength of character. Here are some questions to help guide you to gain clarity about your personal habits.

• Do you have any little drives or compulsions that you do daily? These little things can be personal habits – good or bad – or they could be little routines that you follow daily. Start by noticing these things and making a list of them to examine in more depth later.

• Do you complain about things that you do or that happen routinely to you? Take a closer look at these things and decide whether they are the product of some habit or addiction that you have.

• Are there any new habits or routines that would be better replacements for old habits and compulsions that you no longer want to continue.

• Now tackle one thing at a time in the lists of unproductive habits or routines and come up with a workable plan or two to address these issues to gain personal clarity about the things you do without thinking.