Life as Habits

My life is so habitual that I not only drive home the same way every day, but I fix my gaze in the same places. I look on the same side of the road, at the same parts of people’s houses. And it’s not just me. Using cell phone data, one study found that you can predict with something like a 95% accuracy where the average person will be to within 100(?) yards at any given moment. While the predictability of the average person is stunning in itself, what’s even more shocking is how predictable are even the most unpredictable people. I don’t remember the exact statistics, and I am not going to listen to the interview again to find out, but what matters is that it’s not just a general trend that people behave habitually; rather, it seems to be more accurately described as a fundamental law of nature. That’s not to say that the law can’t be overcome, or that no one does, only that nearly everyone is really, really habitual.

The fact that I am really, really habitual does not bother me much, especially when I consider the law of nature part – but what I find really eerie is that I do not notice how habitual I am without some serious consciously-directed attention. It’s things like stepping in the same exact place on the stairs, or, when I am trying to think of how to phrase something, turning my head to the right and rubbing my left eyebrow. I mean it would just be weird to turn my head to the left and rub my right eyebrow, but I don’t notice that unless I stop and consider it.

What does this mean, practically, for me or for you? While it may not matter much to notice our eyebrow-rubbing habits, it is important to remember that our lives are dominated by habits – habits we often fail to notice. Whatever your ideal self is, wherever you want your life to go, you better be nurturing the habits that will help you get there. It is obvious advice that has been repeated thousands of times, and we all nod and agree, but I submit we don’t realize just how much habits dominate our lives until we start paying close attention to myriad of tiny little ways unconscious responses shape who we are.