Mar 10
9
What are habits and how those will form, advantages and disadvantages
A habit is a tendency of a person to behave in the same way as he has behaved in past. It is repetition of an action in similar circumstances. It is learned through repetition. It is automatic, needing little effort or action, once it has been established well.
Formation
Every activity of a person results in development of connections of several nerve cells. These connections continue to function long periods. Repetitive actions lead to formation of strong connections of these neurons and development of habits.
Types
- Motor: Walking, standing, sitting and speaking.
- Intellectual: These are habits of thought and perception, e.g logical thinking, accurate observations and testing conclusions etc.
- Emotional: These are habits of feelings. E.g. emotional attitudes and sentiments
Effective habit formation:
A strong start should be made. It should be with initiative and determination. A strong need of developing habit should be felt constantly.
Efforts should be regular without any traipses. Practice should not be postponed because it impairs formation of a habit.
All factors which can help in the formation of a habit should be made use of.
A new habit should be practiced regularly.
Bad habits
Some habits are not desirable. E.g. carelessness, negligence, extravagance etc. such habits need to be broken and replaced by good habits.
The following measures help to achieve this goal.
A start should be made with a strong determination to break the bad habit.
One should be enthusiastic about it.
The bad habit should be given no scope for expression, so that it gets forgotten by disuse.
The new habit should be given good scope for expression.
The energy served by giving up the bad habit should be used for the good habit and any other useful activity.
Advantages
Good habits are essential for effective and smooth living. Such actions need little efforts and conscious thinking. Thus they make one’s movements makes simpler and more efficient, causing less strain and fatigue. Higher powers of intelligence and thinking are saved for better work. Good habits ensure a stable and secure background activity in everybody’s life, so that living is easier and more comfortable.
Disadvantages
Habits are so strong that they control one’s life when one becomes a slave of his habits, he losses power to adapt new situations. His sensibilities, resourcefulness and initiative become weak. A person may have such strong habits that if the habits are interfered with he feels very disturbed. This is quite evident in old people and patients with chronic disorders.
