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In the following article, the importance of healthy habits will be discussed. Along with distinguishing good from bad habits, where and how habits originate and how habits differ between everyone.

The importance of healthy habits

A habit can be defined as an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary according to Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster). They can also be seen as a learning mechanism (Barnett, 2022 ).

Because habits are so prevalent to the daily lives of everyone, it is important to be aware of the line between healthy and unhealthy habits. A healthy habit is something that is beneficial to an individual and creates a positive impact and reaction on them. Whereas an unhealthy habit is something that has no beneficial effect to the individual.

Habit Occurrence

Habits adapt over time due to continual occurrence and satisfaction. When an individual performs an action on a daily basis and they emotionally are satisfied with this action, they attach those to each other. Whether it be a positive or negative emotional reaction, the individual will perform the action, now habit, in order to release emotion. In order to change bad/neutral habits to healthy habits, it takes time and there are different stages that go along with making habit changes. A large part in how habits are formed is the action of dopamine being released when a behavior occurs. The brain registers that this is an action that causes the brain to react in a positive manner, which is when a single behavior now becomes a habit. Once a behavior is an automatic action, it is much harder to change or stop, which is why it takes time and multiple stages of change to create healthy habits and prevent bad habits from continuing to occur.

Habit Adaptation

It has been shown that the best place to start in creating or adding new habits, specifically healthy habits, is to implement one in the morning. These have shown to reduce stress and give natural energy throughout the day. In creating healthy habits, it is proven to be more successful when the individual is in the mindset that it will be a continuous goal to strive for keeping this healthy habit up, rather than a resolution that is set. This is because when a healthy habit is set as a “resolution”, there is a set date it should be reached by. In making healthy habits a goal that will grow and adapt as the individual does, this is shown to be more successful.

While habits are a part of one’s everyday life, that is the reason healthy habits need to be emphasized on being the top of the pyramid when it comes to these being daily goals. Habits are essentially the way of succession, or downfall, when it comes to accomplishing one’s health goals. Ensuring that healthy habits are continually attempted  during one’s daily routine makes it more likely that these habits will stick; in trying, there will come a time when it’s trying no more, now a set habit.

Bad and Unhealthy Habits

In order to distinguish healthy from unhealthy habits, the root of unhealthy habits should be known. Bad habits can stem from many things; the main causes of bad habits come from stress or frustration. However, these bad habits may be harder to break and replace due to the fact that a new behavior can’t necessarily replace original behavior that has been learned. It just takes mental motivation to continually choose the better behavior over the bad behavior, which can be done. Habits adapt over time and in changing bad habits to healthy habits, they require much time and dependance. In order to do this, it is usually emphasized that a mindset change is needed, which will motivate one to continually doing the action.

Distinguishing between Good and Bad

From the beginning, it may be hard to be able to distinguish a good habit from a bad one. That can be attributed to many factors, such as the surrounding environment, the habit itself or the feeling that occurs because of the habit. A habit that may cause a good reaction for one individual, may be the opposite for another individual; this is because habits are not equally valuable to each person. There are a grouping of habits, such as smoking, drinking, or overeating that will cause the same negative effect on everyone. When it comes to wellness habits, some may not benefit each person the same way however.

Cultural Influences on Habits

Overall, it may seem as though everyone values the same habits and strives to have similar goals, there is a major factor that can affect habits, in whether they’re healthy or not and how so: that being culture. Whether that be work culture, surrounding culture, societal culture, different cultures place different values towards habits that are more meaningful. This has an effect on why individuals see some habits being healthy or not, as well as why they are influenced in creating specific healthy habits. The influence that the culture individuals surround themselves with shows them what is effective and meaningful in terms of habits. The more an individual sees a specific habit occurring and sees the positive effects, the more likely they will be to try to start that habit as well. Whether they see the same results depends on how motivated they are to keep that habit up and how committed they are to the habit.

Whether it be culture regarding the larger groups we associate ourselves with or culture regarding what we are taught, they both have influences on the habits we learn. They could seem good or bad from the outside but it is only oneself that knows that impact they have; so while a habit may seem different or “bad”, in sense, to one person, they could be very wrong and the habit could have just as good of an impact that they think it has bad. People grow up in different cultures and are taught different lively ideals and values that shape and curb them into creating new habits. The things, ideas, people and values we surround ourselves with mold what we think of as important, just as much as molding what our healthy habits look like.

The way that one culture views a specific habit, such as smoking, versus another can have a large impact on the habits that are formed as well. In growing up, with the ideal that one thing is healthy and another is not, there may be a realization that this was not totally true and there could be some twist into what is considered “healthy” about the given habit. Another way of looking at the impact of culture on forming healthy habits is the surrounding cultures that we aren’t a part of, but how they impact us from an outsider's perspective. In looking at the cultural impact this way, people may experience imposter syndrome as they are observing and taking in these cultural differences, and using those in the formation of new habits. However, since this may not be a culture they naturally associate with, it may feel off for them.

Sources

Barnett, Michaela. “Good Habits, Bad Habits: A Conversation with Wendy Wood.” Behavioral Scientist, Behavioral Scientist, 11 Dec. 2022, https://behavioralscientist.org/good-habits-bad-habits-a-conversation-with-wendy-wood/

Goode, Erica. “How Culture Molds Habits of Thought.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Aug. 2000, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/080800hth-behavior-culture.html?scp=7&sq=susan%252520andersen&st=cse.

Hicklin, Tianna. “Breaking Bad Habits.” Edited by Harrison Wein, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 8 Sept. 2017, https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2012/01/breaking-bad-habits.

Merriam-Webster. “Habit Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/habit.

Last updated: 2 Apr 2023

Miller, Dr. Carla. “Changing Your Habits for Better Health - NIDDK.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Nov. 2020, https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diet-nutrition/changing-habits-better-health#:~:text=Adopting%20new%2C%20healthier%20habits%20may,part%20of%20your%20daily%20routine.

Roman, Josh. “Good vs. Bad Habits.” Dr. Jud, 29 Nov. 2021, https://drjud.com/good-vs-bad-habits/#:~:text=Simply%20put%2C%20a%20bad%20habit,good%20habit%20has%20positive%20ones.

Spangehl, Stephen. “Habits, Good and Bad, Shape Organizational Culture.” Spangehl Higher Education Associates, Spangehl Higher Education Associates, 13 Oct. 2018, https://spangehlassociates.com/habits-shape-culture.