wellbeing · 2025 · 1 min read
Habits: how to understand them
key points
- Habits are hard to break precisely because they run on autopilot, that is what a habit is.
- The trickiest ones are the habits you do not even realise are working against you.
- Understanding how habits form makes them far easier to reshape, so start there.
Why are habits so hard to break?
Because they are habits for a reason. Breaking a bad habit is hard enough on its own, but breaking a bad habit that you do not even realise is bad can be exponentially harder. You cannot change what you have not yet noticed.
So the first step is not willpower, it is awareness. Once you can see a habit clearly, and understand how it took hold, you are in a much better position to reshape it.
Good resources to master your habits
Two that I recommend to patients and would happily point a friend to:
- Breaking bad habits (LinkedIn Learning). A short course focused on spotting the habits you do not realise are holding you back.
- "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. A very practical book covering the most fundamental information about how habits form, so you can accomplish more by focusing on less.
Dr Ahmed Al-Obaidi · FRACGP
General information only, not personal medical advice. Talk to your own GP about what suits you.