Habits - the Good kind

Yesterday, I came across a recent New York Times headline that peaked my interest. There it was, number 15 on the NYT's Most-Emailed articles top 25. Unboxed: Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? This topic hit somewhat home to me. As someone who has darn-near mastered the art of "I want to do this, but I'll start later", fostering new habits has been a goal for me for some time now. (I swear I've been doing my push-ups in the morning).

Written by Janet Rae-Dupree, the article dives immediately into it, citing research and studies that have "discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks." Long story short, thinking outside of our daily routine can stimulate creativity. How cool is that?

Rather than fight to suppress what we may deem "bad" habits, the article contends that creating new habits will result in the creation of new thought tracks in your brain which will oftentimes run parallel with the more procedural and subconscious routines that are ingrained in our psyche and ultimately bypass them.

Quoting M.J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book "This Year I Will...", the article states: “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system — that anyone can do anything. That’s a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters mediocrity. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”

Further, Ryan describes the positive effects that creating new habits has on our mental and physical health: "It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Continuously stretching ourselves will even help us lose weight, according to one study. Researchers who asked folks to do something different every day — listen to a new radio station, for instance — found that they lost and kept off weight. No one is sure why, but scientists speculate that getting out of routines makes us more aware in general."

While I have never taken one psychology class in my life, I have always found the human psyche vastly intriguing. This just furthers this opinion.

I recommend not only checking this article out, but also that you challenge yourself to do what it says. Identify that thing in your life you wish you did more, or at all. Truly dedicate yourself to following through with it. And best of all, enjoy it!

Comments welcome: Got a suggestion of a new habit or activity to adopt? Any personal reaction to the article? Let's hear it...