#2664 habits

I have a bit of a crush on a man called Shankar Vedantam. Shankar is a journalist and the host of a podcast called Hidden Brain. Now, until just a minute ago, I hadn’t actually seen Shankar’s face because I only hear him on the radio and he is dang smart and that’s where my crush comes from. 

The other day, I was going down the road in my car and Hidden Brain came on. MT was in the car with me, so he was talking (of course LOL) over the top of Shankar, but I still managed to get the gist of the subject of the podcast, which was about habits. Shankar was talking to a woman called Wendy who wrote a book about habits and what I could hear was interesting and I wanted to know more about it. But then, a few days passed, and I forgot to go back to listen to the podcast and find out what Wendy’s book was called.

On Tuesday, I was going through my emails, I there was an email from Amazon telling me about cheap books that were available that day only. One of the books was called Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes that Stick by Wendy Wood. This HAD to be the book and the Wendy that Shankar was talking about! I bought the book (just $2.99 for my Kindle!) and then I listened to the podcast and started reading the book. 

You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript by clicking here.  

Like many people do, especially at the beginning of the new year, I think of things I would like to accomplish during the next 365 days. Some of my goals would actually be a result of habits that I form. I’ve often thought that if only I had the will-power or the consistency to do “things”, I would be successful at achieving my goals. Just a few pages into Wendy’s book makes me think that it is not mere willpower, but persistence and the forming of good habits that makes one successful. 

I knew a woman in WW who lost 100 pounds. I overheard a person say to her, “I wish I had your willpower.” The 100-lb loser said, “No, you wish you had my persistence.” I’ve always thought about that. What does it take to make a person so persistent? There have been times in my life when I felt I was persistent and had developed some good habits around eating and being active, etc., but things happen and I fall back into my old, not-so-great habits. I am excited to read about Wendy’s research and see what can be applied to my own life. 

Actually, I’ve already started to form a couple of new habits. One is that, first thing in the morning, when I feed the dogs, I pour myself a glass of water and I drink it while the dogs eat. My friendly co-worker Robyn suggested the water drinking, and I piggy-backed it onto feeding the dogs so that I would always remember to do it. It’s a good start to the day. Another new habit is that after I take the dogs for a walk after work, I immediately come upstairs to do my shoulder exercises. I have to do them, and by tying them to walking the dogs, it is becoming more automatic, like the glass of water. 

The book says that habits are just natural, like brushing your teeth every morning. It’s not something you even think about. You don’t have to talk yourself into it. That’s a habit. I want to make more good habits and figure out how to break up some habits I don’t like as much, such as plucking a candy from the dish at work just because I walk by the dish, or automatically reaching for a Diet Coke at lunchtime just because I always have a Diet Coke at lunchtime. It seems like the first step in breaking a habit is noticing you are doing it and then stopping yourself from the impulse of it. 

It’s kind of of “no shit” thing, and also kind of fascinating.  Maybe I’ll write more about it as I read through the book.

Thanks, Shankar!