The Telltale Signs of Unwanted Habits
The Telltale Signs of Unwanted Habits
Soul Letter #73
Hello👋 folks, Shubham here.
I am back with another edition of Soul Letter 🗞
As human beings, we indulge in both good and bad habits.
In this newsletter, I will help you identify the unhealthy ones which you could avoid.
Smoking cigarettes or watching NETFLIX may be acceptable within limits however with increasing frequency they turn into an addiction.
To abstain from such scenarios, I will share a few key pointers against which anyone can evaluate their habits.
Let’s begin.
Low Hanging Fruits
The majority of the bad habits are low-hanging fruits which means they are easy to accomplish.
Which are more tempting prospects?
Getting wasted at a pub or hitting a gym
Watching Netflix vs working on a side hustle
Pizza+Coke combo against a green vegetable meal
Shouting in anger vs controlling your temperament
There’s a reason most people choose the former instead of the latter.
A simple way to judge an unhealthy behavior is by knowing that it’s often the easy way out.
You hardly need any skills to achieve them.
Zero Tangible Benefits
Smoking provides temporary relief in return for a plethora of chronic diseases, a poor ROI as per my calculations.
That’s a key highlight of bad habits; they rarely provide any real gains.
On the contrary, they gently ruin your health, routine, relationships, and other aspects of life.
They provide short-term gratifications but there’s always a latent cost lurking in the background.
Be mindful enough to visualize the bigger picture.
Can You Brag About it?
This is my favorite point.
The easiest way to judge whether a habit is good or bad is, “Can you brag about it?”
Imagine you smoked three cartons of cigarettes in a day or had one TB stack of porn (which a friend of mine does).
Will you publically boast about it?
I hope your answer is NO or else you need some counseling my friend.
Instead, if you read a book or publish an article, you won’t stop singing about it.
Answering this elementary question will leave you with a better perspective.
Post-Activity Guilt
We all have been there.
One more episode
One more sweet
One more cigarette
One more drink
One more blah blah blah
The list goes on.
These activities usually end with an uneasy feeling of iniquity. We chide ourselves for falling short time and again.
No matter how unwillingly you push through a tough workout, you never regret it.
But an unhealthy habit leaves you high and dry.
My personal hack is to make a note entry explaining why I feel guilty.
And the next time whenever a similar temptation arises, I can rationalize with myself while looking at the notes.
Deep Down You Know
The good old cliche.
Most of the time we already know the possible repercussions of our actions yet turn a blind eye to the red flags.
You intuitively know your partner’s misconduct is inappropriate but still stick by them.
With time as it gets unbearable, you cut the strings which you knew would ensue.
We cling to undesired behaviors sensing the doomed outcomes, either being ignorant or maybe hopeful that things will change for the good.
This illusion is eventually broken when the final nail hits the coffin.
In the end, we are left bemoaning our gullibility.
Final Words
I believe anything in moderation is acceptable given you are not doing anything immoral.
An occasional smoke or beer is justifiable however if it’s a daily highlight of your routine then I would worry a bit.
In case you are habitual to activities that tick the above points then you might have to reevaluate them.
Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.
-Warren Buffett
A man is a sum of his habits. The right ones can be stepping stones to success while the wrong ones chain you in unwanted shackles.
Over the long run habits have a compounding effect so if you are heading in the right direction well and go but if you are on the wrong path embrace yourself for the plausible crisis.
Hope you enjoyed this edition.
Signing off for today :) Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️