Make no mistake about it. Bad habits are called “bad” for a reason. They kill our productivity and creativity. It slows us down. They hold us back from achieving our goals. And they’re detrimental to our health”
-John Rampton
How habits affects stress?
Stress can be caused by external factors or internal factors; our habits are internal factors that affects our stress. It can have a direct effect on our body or it can have an indirect effect on the body; sometimes a habit can be a combination of both direct and indirect negative effects which undermines our physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Habits: Good and Bad
A habit is an unconscious acquired behavior pattern, which is developed through frequent repetition. Habits affects our stress because it can undermine our emotional state and self-esteem, it can also compromise the body’s ability to function.
There are good habits and bad habits. Good habits are positive behavior routines that enhance your well-being such as: exercising, developing good time management skills, etc. Bad habits are negative behavior routines that decrease your well-being such as: poor nutrition, drinking, bullying, etc.
Negative habits can cause stress or make stress worse because of the negative effects it has on the body, mind and well-being. Also, stress can cause us to develop negative habits because we are looking for relief and/or an escape from the stressful situation.
Changing Bad Habits
To effectively manage stress, we need to look at our habits. We need to become aware of our habits, especially of negative habits. Then we need to ask, “did my habits contribute to the stress?”, “did the stress cause me to develop bad habits?” We must gain control of our habits. The good news is that you can change your bad habits by developing good habits. By developing good habits, we can live a longer and healthier life.
A change in bad habits leads to a change in life”
–Jenny Craig