Love on Your Habits

There is nothing better-designed to reinforce a habit than telling it to stop. The habit cries out 'oh no, you need me to save you from that accident that happened ten years ago. And you need me more than ever.'

Threatening a habit is no way to get rid of it.

Forget about getting rid of it. You might need it again someday. Instead, think about just getting it to stand down a smidge. It doesn't always have to guard.

A little admiration and appreciation for all its brave hard work might not be amiss. Sympathizing with how earnestly it has worked these ten long years, you might suggest it deserves a break.

There should be a benign word for 'manipulation.' And if there were, I would suggest you manipulate your stale habits—fawn on them, praise them, reassure them of their importance, then give them a gold watch and have them just sit down for a few minutes. Semi-retirement.

This is, in fact, a lot of Feldenkrais: love on your habits and watch the most outdated of them, paradoxically, melt away (for the most part).