What do your habits really say about you?

Do you find yourself answering calls and texts first thing in the morning? Do you feel that you race from task to task, and before you know it your day is gone? Though it may feel like you’re trapped on a hamster wheel that is beyond your control, studies show that it is actually your choice of habits that dictate how your life feels to you.

It was psychologist William James who first proposed, over 100 years ago, the idea that habits change the brain. James wrote of the “extraordinary degree of plasticity” in neural tissue and went so far as to suggest that human beings are “mere walking bundles of habits”.

If you want to feel relaxed, happy, and like you’re going with the flow in life, the answer lies in your brain. The neuroplasticity in the brain shows that you have a natural talent to change, reorganize and adapt. This is true not just in the brains of infants and children, but across your entire lifespan.

You are a dynamic creature with a brain that is capable of making huge shifts. Someone once mired in negative habits can become a triathlete! Someone with high levels of anxiety can reverse that tendency. With the right application of mindful habits to inform the brain we can take huge strides.

Why your habits matter

Whether it’s 7am texting and web surfing or 7am yoga and meditation is entirely up to you. While we all have limited time in our day, we have options in how to spend it, and small choices can make a big impact. Our habits are as important as our genes – if not more so – in how our brains grow and our minds evolve.

This means, of course, that we must choose habits wisely! That which we give our consistent attention and dedication will change us.

What habits, rituals and routines make the most positive impact? Is it the same for each of us? The answer has to do with our ancestors, who lived closer to the rhythm of the natural world.

The rhythm of a habit

Our brains evolved to respond to sensation and pattern, so what impacts them most profoundly is when we make choices that feel rhythmic and patterned, and when we find practices that impact the mind and the body together.

Think meditation, yoga, or daily exercise – these practices bring the mind and body back into flow with one another. These practices bring about a sense of balance, resilience and well-being because they bring us back home to our natural state of being: in our bodies, aware of our feelings in real time, and ready to act, not react.

Whether you’re a neuroscientist, a parent, or an accountant, we all crave the same sense of rhythm and dynamic presence in the body.

Like a rock being chiseled over time, we are all born full of potential. What we choose to practice, day in and day out, is what will become our inherent shape over time.

This is part of why habits like surfing social media or playing video games can increase anxiety in some people… they split the body and mind, leaving us feeling uncoordinated and out of the moment we’re in.

Like a rock being chiseled over time, we are all born full of potential. What we choose to practice, day in and day out, is what will become our inherent shape over time. When the habits we have chosen foster tools like resilience, patience, and calm, we will find ourselves with those tools accessible even in the most challenging moments. If we don't choose our habits wisely, reactionary thinking, fear and imbalance will dominate.

How to find the best habit for you

All of us have busy lives that in any given moment pull us in many directions. We can easily lose our opportunity to be conscious. But once that adaptable brain of yours gets used to prioritizing mindfulness, you’ll be amazed at how much you’re able to let go of, say no to, and open space for. You’ll start to naturally prioritize that which serves your highest good, and release the things that drag you down.

You may want to ask yourself, “Are my choices and habits reflections of who I want to be?” “Do I have a practice that helps me cultivate mindfulness?” The reality is that if you do not create time to drop in and listen to what your deeper wisdom is telling you, your habits will choose you, rather than the reverse. So put that pliable brain to good use!