The Power of Habits

I was listening to CBC radio where they discussed an extreme case of habits. An FBI agent had been practicing disarming an individual with a gun. It was the same procedure every time:

• Stay calm

• Analyze the situation

• Approach the suspect in a non-threatening manner

• Look the person in the eye

• Quick movement, point the gun away from yourself

• Twist the gun out of the hand of the person with the gun

Every single time the FBI agent would hand the gun back to the partner and they would practice this over and over until it became a habit.

One day, said FBI agent encounters a person with a gun on the street. The FBI does everything like the training; analyzing, staying calm, removing the gun and then…gave the gun back to the suspect.

How could this happen?

It was the habit that was formed in training, perform the manoeuver and hand the gun back to the partner to do it again. In the real world situation, based on the habit that was formed over time, the same happened again. The gun was handed back.

What can we learn from this? Building habits can be a powerful influence in our lives. It can be both positive and negative. If you have a bowl of ice cream with every dinner, before you know it, it has become a habit. No meal will feel complete unless you have the ice cream.

So I guess what I’m challenging you to do it is to look at your habits, identify the negative ones and define what positive one you’d like to implement.

Remove the negative ones from your life. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

For the positive ones, schedule them every day into your calendar until they become a habit.

 

Best of luck!