It is possible to tolerate bad habits unconsciously. Famous psychologist Carl Jung said until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. Many people are unaware of how much their unconscious habits control their lives. Our brains suggest behaviors and habits we have repeatedly done in our lives. The brain is incapable of differentiating a bad behavior from a good one. It is a slave to the instructions we give it. Many have conditioned their brains to suggest bad habits. Living in isolation, financial illiteracy, waking up late, avoiding conflicts, and living in denial are bad habits many have collected along the way. In this article, I’ll go deeper into ways these 5 habits slow our progress.
Living in Isolation
Modern culture has conditioned us to prefer isolation to communing with others and our brain has tuned to this conditioning. The desire to get respect from our peers has forced a great number of us into isolation. We are either working day and night to rise on the corporate ladder, expand our businesses, and possess a great deal of wealth or hiding to avoid the embarrassment caused by poverty and lack.
Some habits like playing video games and false beliefs about humans have forced us into isolation. The effects of isolation do not respect social status. Its assignment is to rob life out of you. Humans are not designed to live in isolation. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Isolation can only get us basic needs. The rest needs, which are more satisfying according to the psychologist, demand interaction with other humans.
We are wired for interaction and connection. It is a proven way to boost creativity, overcome mental health issues, and unlock creativity.
Living in Denial
This habit creeps in when we tolerate a thought that denies reality. Many of us have made grave mistakes when we could have saved ourselves pain by accepting reality in the first place. Some are suffering in toxic marriages after ignoring red flags at the initial stages, some are years into their addictions because they deny they are addicted, and some are still in poverty because they think the government or relatives should help them. Every big mistake made started by denying minor signals at the beginning.
The habit of living in denial can be so grave that we can deny living in a mistake right now. The brain will suggest a specific response if we have associated it with comfort even if it’s a lie. The mind does not know the difference between a lie and truth, it knows comfort and discomfort. It loves the former and loathes the latter. Our brain would rather deny reality than accept it because accepting is uncomfortable.
Despite reality, many people have chosen to stay in toxic relationships, unhealthy working environments, and detrimental habits. They would rather enjoy the pain of the situation than the pain of facing reality.
Waking up Late
Waking up later than 7 am is an unhealthy habit. The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is their ability to control their stomach and sleep.
If you cannot control your sleeping patterns, you will fail to control other things. Sleep is one of the most powerful forces of nature and like any other power if unchecked it is destructive. When you wake up late, you let go of control over a great power you freely possess. Waking late means you slept late or you overslept-both are unhealthy.
Waking up late is a habit we develop to justify our powerlessness over sleep. Some justify powerlessness over sleeping by staying up late at night. We ignore that it is not the time spent awake that counts but our ability to control this powerful force of nature.
Everyone desires to control their sleep but few are ready to have the discussion. Waking up early in response to an important assignment or task is the best proof of our desire to have control over sleep.
Avoiding Conflicts
Avoiding conflicts is a dangerous habit because it affects you and everyone around you. We unconsciously believe that being nice to people is better than facing conflict. Our brain prefers the comfort of being nice to facing conflict, which is uncomfortable. It will suggest being nice even to people who disrespect us because we have conditioned it to avoid conflict.
We have allowed people to use us as door mats in the workplace, our partners taking us for granted and our friends taking our money without giving back. We allow all this disrespect because we avoid conflict. We can never get respect from people by being nice to them, especially after they have breached personal space. We will never get to know our creativity level if we fear sharing ideas that may stir conflict.
Avoiding conflicts robs us of the ability to have intimate connections with our friends. You can never get to know who you are when you have the habit of avoiding conflict every time it arises. We must embrace conflict because it is healthy and normal.
Financial Illiteracy
It is a subset of a lack of self-control. Our brain activates this habit once we get money. Having the highest paying job will not save you from poverty if you are financially illiterate. Financial illiteracy happens in people who earn regularly. They think having a salary at the end of the month guarantees financial safety.
A financially literate small-income earner can become wealthier than a high-income earner who is financially illiterate. A financially illiterate person will spend their money on unnecessary pleasures, luxuries, and extras. They rarely think about their future.
Financial literacy separates the wealthy from the rich. Rich people have to work for their money while wealthy people have money working for them. We can never become wealthy if we do not educate ourselves on finances. We must learn how to budget, save, and invest to attain financial freedom.
These habits can creep into our lives without our knowledge. You cannot say a person is financially illiterate, an over sleeper, one who loves isolation, or who avoids conflict by looking at them. The danger of these habits is in their ability to be invisible to the physical eye.
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