Breaking the habit

5.24.11

There's a saying: "bad habits are hard to break."

Boy, isn't that the truth! We all have a habit or two stashed away in our "closet" - habits that leave us wondering why we can't break them. Gossiping, complaining, smoking, nail biting - you name it we have all done one or two!

This morning was a perfect example of one of my bad habits rearing its ugly head: I was having a rough time trying to get a job completed. No matter what I tried, I seemed to fail. I got frustrated, and I took it out on a co-worker not deserving of my attitude. It hit me immediately how unfair my behavior was. Who knows what that person may have been dealing with. It's safe to say - she may have her own struggles and frustrations to deal with. And then I went and just dumped on my own. I've been on the receiving end a time or two - so I know how rotten it feels - but it's just a hard habit to break.

Another bad - and so frustrating! - habit? Participating in the ol' rumor mill! Every company has one, but sometimes ours seems in over-drive. My mother always said - gossip is like the flu: quick to get around and hard to get rid of.

It's so tempting to get sucked in though, when things are going wrong or getting stressful. But the smart person will follow the adage "you will get paid whether you are marching or fighting" ... doesn't it make more sense to just keep marching??

Bottom line - the appropriate response when a bad habit becomes tempting is to simply breathe ... count to 10 ... skip the frustration and just move on. Focus on the big picture of life - family, friends, and work - not the little things that can drive you crazy. Remind yourself that we all have bad habits, we all act poorly at times, we all say unkind things at times. The point is to be cognizant and to continually challenge yourself to evolve and improve. Every act starts with one action, one person one effort.

As told by Charles Noble: "First we make our habits, then our habits make us".