Creating the Habit

Practice this week got me thinking about how exactly to start a new habit.  It’s really hard to change, especially if in order to change, you don’t just have to start new habits, you have to break old ones as well.  People love to say that change is easy, but the fact is it’s not.  Most of us have a really hard time changing, even if it is for the better.  I have always wondered why that is, and have come up with every reason from we are all just too stubborn to wondering if there’s a biological connection.  I read a story somewhere about how a guy discovered if he just kept his guitar outside of his closet, he was more likely to play it because the thought of “I’d have to do all the work just to get it out” didn’t occur to him anymore.  What struck me as odd is, walking to the closet and pulling out the guitar would have taken him maybe five seconds, so what makes it seem like so much work?  Doing yoga daily might take thirty minutes out of my day, and I say that’s too much, but really, what else would I be doing with that time?  I’m the least productive person with my free time anyways, so why do I always kid myself when it comes to creating a good habit?  What is so hard about simply getting started?  From everyone I have talked to about it, it seems like the common dilemma, and that no one has quite figured it out.