Page 38 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

Chapter 8
The Effect of your Habits

“We are what we repeatedly do.”- Aristotle

Habit refers to an activity which you keep doing repetitively and have
no control over it. Habit is an activity or a settled tendency which is
not as easy to change as it seems, and which has become an
integral part of your personality.

So why can't people change their habits easily?

Every habit has several triggers that makes us acquire it. Triggers
are those elements which push you towards building a certain habit.
For example, if a person wants to quit smoking then he will have to

leave the company of people who smoke or are addicts. Or else
whenever he smells the cigarette smoke (because of others’
smoking), he will be tempted to smoke again— so people smoking
near him can become a strong trigger. The smoke will make him
restless, it will tempt him and he will not be able to control himself.
Before changing any habit, firstly recognize its triggers, the signs and
signals, the people and factors that push you towards it. If you know

that you have a bad habit and you want to break it, understand what
triggers your bad habit and if possible, change your environment.

Positive and negative habits

First, let us understand the basis on which I am considering a habit

as a positive or a negative one.

A positive habit takes you ahead in life, polishes your personality,
gives you energy and helps you to earn respect in the society. It
raises you up in your own eyes. It improves your qualities and opens
up new avenues of employment, opportunity and prosperity. “Good
habits are worth being fanatical about.”- John Irving.