Posted on January 19, 2022

"Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life."

—Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

Thinking in terms of habits is not for everyone. There are people that don’t see the point of developing habits if they are better by doing what they want. Even though I don’t completely agree with that, I do find some truth in the statement.

Habits, for me, it’s a way of doing what I actually want to do. Day to day we are flooded with decisions: should I wake up early or sleep in; do I really want to exercise today or leave it for tomorrow; meditate or Netflix. When we are in the heat of the moment, more often than not, the answers are kind of obvious: sleep in, no exercise and Netflix. That’s where habits come into the picture. Instead of waiting to make those dozens of decisions each day, I like to take time one day, when I’m rested and mindful of what I really want my future self to be both proud and thankful for, and plan the things I ought to do the following days. After a while, those daily or weekly decisions will turn into habits that give shape to my everyday life.

Even though sometimes the laziness might be a bit strong, knowing that it’s the best for my present and future self, I’ll keep on going with my habits because I want to, and because I can.