Habits are unconscious patterns of behavior that are acquired by frequent repetition of a thought, action, or reaction, and that establish a disposition of the mind, character, or mannerism. When a behavior is practiced, day after day, you will naturally train yourself to form habits. As you regularly perform this habit, you become skilled at your behavior. It becomes easy and comfortable for you to take this action over and over again. Ultimately, you begin performing this action automatically. This action has now become your routine behavior. Habitual behaviors can be beneficial and liberating to you because of your ability to perform these tasks without having to consciously think about your every action. Habits can also be destructive. They can limit our effectiveness, stunt our growth, cut years off our lives, create bad dynamics in relationships, alienate loved ones, and basically corrode a good quality of life. Bad habits equate to playing Russian roulette: disaster is always imminent. II Peter 2:19 says, "For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Practice self-discipline. Ask God for help. Ask for the support of family and friends to help you create good habits to replace bad ones. Having accountability will make it more difficult to back out or compromise. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor." Focus on the end reward in reaching your goal, a new habit. Reward yourself after you have replaced a bad habit with a good habit.
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