TWO-WAY HABIT

October 11th, 2019

Habits unwind in the exact same way that we arduously construct them.  As positive habits increase in strength as we will ourselves into new behavior past run streaks that pass thresholds, like 3 days, 7 days, 21 days and so on and so forth, so to do good habits fall from influence in the same way.

No matter how many days or years we’ve done something consistently, it doesn’t take long for all of it to fall apart. 

One day without meditating?  Not a big deal.

But three?  And a new detrimental pattern is beginning to emerge. 

A week without hitting the gym and it’s far more likely we’ll hit three weeks without once performing as we hope.

As good habits get easier as we push through that first month of thresholds, the undoing of such habits becomes more and more likely as we let things slide.

They are symmetrical cycles.  And it applies to the undoing of bad habits.

The first 3 days of no drinking or no cigarettes or whatever it be are the hardest.  After that third day, it gets just a little bit easier.

This whole system is like a transmission through which we can downshift on the bad habits and shift up on the good habits. 

We can even compile the two.  Start a good habit at the same time as we try to schluff off a bad habit.

Then, after 3 days. . .

there’s double the reasons to reward one’s self.