Habits are like rivers.
If your leave them alone they more or less follow the path of least resistance.
Indeed, if you look close enough at habits they are very consistent and if they meander at all then that meandering takes time. That’s similar to what rivers do when the terrain is flat and gently sloped. No surprises. No sudden obstacles. So, a continuous flow of water.
Most of the terrain around our habits is flat and gently sloped. No surprises. No obstacles. So, a continuous flow of habit.
That’s the nature of habits.
Once they flow…they flow...and they stay the course.
A habit stays the course, be it good or be it bad.
When we compare habits to rivers, each has its ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.
The main ‘pro’ enjoyed by a river is: it is governed by an amazing force we call gravity. Gravity makes rivers flow downhill…always toward a larger body of water, either a larger river or a lake or an ocean…always downhill…with feeding a larger body of water being the ultimate purpose/goal.
The main ‘con’ suffered by a river is: it has no ability to choose. Gravity grips and controls it…always.
The main ‘pro’ enjoyed by a habit is: the owner of the habit has choices so the owner can influence the course of the habit. When the course feeds into a positive purpose/goal the habit is a Good Habit.
The main ‘con’ suffered by a habit is: somehow, ‘somewhy’ habits have a tendency to favour the negative. Bad Habits take hold easier than Good Habits. Bad Habits are tougher to break than Good Habits.
The easiest way to adjust habits, if that’s what you want to do, is accept you only do 3 things: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things.
To correct Bad Habits, do New Things…that’s the way to reduce the time available for Bad Habits.
New Things are the bridges to Good Habits.
Footnote:
When in grade 12 I spent some time thinking about becoming a geographer. I was grabbed by the relationship between earth topography and simple mathematics….maps and contour maps…and, of course, treasure maps [but, that’s a different story].
This week, while listening to a new Napoleon Hill audio book I heard something close to “Habits are like rivers…it takes force to change course”. That triggered this Thought Post.