Self-Analyze to Find Hidden Habits
What is a hidden habit? We don't think about some habits. We go through our days and do certain things again and again without thinking. The activities become so routine that we put no energy into improving them. I call these habits hidden habits.
Take a moment and think about travel. How far did you travel over the last 24 hours? Most people will start adding the miles between one destination to another. This is logical thinking and will give an approximate answer to the question of miles traveled.
Do you feel the Earth move? The constant speed of our Earth keeps us from feeling movement. We have traveled approximately 1,608,000 miles over the last 24 hours. Earth orbits around the sun. Amazingly, we do not feel our 67,000-mile-per-hour voyage. We are unaware of the movement-it is hidden from us.
Habits can also become hidden. It never changes, so we do not think about it. A mindset of continual improvement requires self-analysis of our habits.
Take the time to identify some of your habits, e.g., morning routine, evening routine, time on electronic devices, sleep, or snacking on unhealthy food. Do any of the habits provide an opportunity for improvement?
When I recently visited a college campus, I noticed college students walking to class and not looking where they were going. Most were staring at cell phones. The use of electronic devices can be visible anywhere. Although electronic device use may not be a problem for you, I will use it as an example.
Electronic devices have become an essential part of our lives. We use them for school, work, and play. We may not be able to change our electronic device use at work and school. We need to use technology to get things done. But our use of electronic devices as entertainment is a different story. Could your use of electronic devices be categorized as a hidden habit?
Self-analysis requires us to gather data and evidence. How much time do we use electronic devices throughout the week for mindless pleasure? After we have that information, we can decide whether electronic device use is a hidden habit. Does the habit need to be changed?
Dr. Peter Tse, a professor at Dartmouth College, researched the perception of time. Dr. Tse says, "The brain judges time by how much information it's processing. When something is novel, we pay attention to it."
If you have never repelled off the top of a building, a first-time repelling event will cause your brain to work in overdrive. Your brain will secure the memory of the first-time experience. In addition, based on Dr. Tse's research, the time that we spend preparing for jumping off the top floor of a high building will seem like a long time compared to scrolling through social media. I remember my military repelling training experience vividly. I wanted to make sure everything was correct.
When you are on social media and gaming platforms for pleasure, your brain is not functioning like the repelling experience. It is not a novelty activity. Time will slip away. In other words, a person on social media may need to measure how much time they are participating.
If the amount of time measured reveals a problem, you may be dealing with a hidden habit problem. Could your time be better spent? Asking this type of question is a part of self-analysis.
What will be the benefits of changing the hidden habit? By identifying the benefits, you will be motivated to change.
Now it is time to take action. What can you do differently to change the habit? Document what you will do.
A person might set a timer to measure the time spent on an electronic device. By doing this, they will have evidence of improvement. For example, decreasing time on an electronic device should provide time for some other activity with more value.
Next, we must identify check-in points to measure progress. When will we measure the results? The result might be more time with family members or friends. School-age youth may have more time to study or complete homework, resulting in better grades.
Finally, in addition to check-in dates, we should identify a date when we can celebrate the completion of our self-analysis and improvement activity. A new habit will be in place, along with improved results.
Changing and self-analysis can be challenging, but we must identify hidden habits. Find the problem first, identify change initiatives and how we will measure results, and schedule check-ins and date of completion. We can then start the process again.
Habits, unlike our Earth's orbit, can change. No one can stop our 67,000-mile-per-hour travel around the sun. Luckily, we can improve our habits through self-analysis.
Questions
What evidence can you cite to defend you have a hidden habit that needs to be improved?
What benefit will come from improving your hidden habit?
How can you avoid slipping back into a bad habit holding you back physically, mentally, or socially?
How will you measure success?
When will you check on progress? What is your completion date?
How would you justify ongoing self-analysis to find poor hidden habits?
Martial arts perspective:
Part of the martial arts learning process includes awareness of healthy habits. When you eat the right foods, energy improves. I have seen many martial artists exhausted because of eating habits. A martial artist needs to be aware of sugar and water intake. Eating too much sugar will lead to poor health. Good eating habits will improve energy and the ability to practice at high levels.
Through awareness and self-analysis, we learn ways to become more effective with our habits. The self-analysis process is a life skill in and out of the training facility.
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