A habit constitutes a behavior that, after repeating it a considerable number of times, is internalized as a natural form of behavior. But, how do you make a healthy lifestyle habit, such as an eating habit? Currently, the 21-day technique is especially used as an ideal method for acquiring new habits.
If you want to know what a habit is according to psychology, in the following article we will reveal this information to you, solving questions such as What is a habit and how is it acquired? Finally, we will talk about the importance of acquiring healthy habits as a source of life.
What is a habit
A habit is a prolonged repetition behavior, which is internalized and assumed as a way of life. Habits, once acquired, are carried out automatically so they do not require the participation of certain higher mental processes such as attention, information processing, conscious intervention, etc. This characteristic of habits has a positive and a negative aspect.
This automation of behaviors allows you to invest personal resources in other matters without hardly attending to them. ritualized behaviors. On the contrary, in the case of negative behaviors acquired as habits, the inertia of the behavior and the lack of attention that occurs, among other aspects, make it difficult to replace this behavior with another more appropriate one.
How to acquire a habit
Like all learning in life, the acquisition of a habit constitutes, in its beginning, the learning of a new behavior. Therefore, it requires a process typical of any learning process. The different steps to acquire a habit are:
- Determine the behavior. It is about specifying the behavior we intend to achieve.
- Planning. It is necessary to carry out the programming and schedule that we will carry out to integrate the healthy habit, in this case. From the Health Sciences it is stated that a minimum of three weeks (21 days) are necessary to consolidate any habit.
- Practice the habit. A conscious, voluntary and programmed repetition must be carried out to allow the integration of the chosen habit.
How do you make a habit? You should know that to carry out this third stage, it is essential to surround yourself with motivational stimuli that encourage us to carry out the behavior as it has been planned for internalization. These elements can be both external and internal.
It is about making use of everything that strengthens us and encourages us to move forward with the proposed goal (music that we like, family or friends, positive habits that motivate us towards this new goal, concentration and relaxation techniques, etc.).
Likewise, it will be essential to arm ourselves with a whole series of strategies that allow us fight resistance that, due to previous habits and/or unconscious beliefs or mental schemes, will make it difficult for us to finally integrate the new habit to be acquired.
An example of resistance when making a habit is when a person intends to integrate healthy eating habits but certain insecurity problems lead to anxious gluttony behaviors that prevent them from carrying out the proposed habit.
The acquisition of healthy habits as a source of life
Our lives are full of habits that, in reality, are nothing more than the automation of behaviors learned in the past. We have acquired them throughout our family and school educational process or from other life experiences. Some have been consciously chosen and others, however, have been unconsciously assumed.
Among all these habits, there are some that are less advisable in terms of personal well-being and physical and mental health; and others that are more positive and promote the integral health of human beings and their optimal growth and development in all areas of their lives.
The ideal, to maintain a healthy life that allows us to stay in good physical, mental and emotional condition and nurturing positive relationships with the environment and nature, will be maintain healthy habits and get rid of habits that take away our health.
If we take into account, as we said before, that at the base of a person’s life project there are emotional deficiencies or the assumption of family, educational or social precepts on which certain life beliefs are based; he erasure of unhealthy habits or the acquisition of healthy habits will present more or less important resistance that must be taken into account when carrying out this work of personal improvement.
The acquisition of healthy lifestyle habits is essential as it brings together the basic elements to nourish and strengthen personal, community and family life. For this, you will find our post about useful. In these terms, the promotion of these habits and the elimination or reduction to minimum levels of harmful habits must become a fundamental tool for social change.
While the integration of these modes of conduct, truly inherent to the reality of the human being, presupposes personal care and care for others and, with it, better health, better coexistence and, finally, the social progress in peaceful contexts. We tell you more in .
The basic healthy habits that it is convenient to consider as new ways of life, if we want to change our lives, that of our community and, ultimately, the world are:
- Stay active through body care and regular, moderate exercise.
- Take care of your dietintegrating a healthy, balanced and toxic-free diet.
- Rest whatever our body needs to replenish vital strength and energy. The necessary hours of sleep will depend on personal characteristics.
- Nurture relationships cordial and positive social and family life. This refers to the social habits that will keep us united with others and, therefore, with the social network necessary to properly carry out our personal life project.
- Keep the peace and inner joy, primary sources of health, well-being and good life.
- Fight bad habits permanently (consumption of substances or toxic diet, sedentary lifestyle, anxious or depressive states, etc.) that hinder the functioning of these healthy lifestyles
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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