HABITS BY NATALIAN

The term habit is strictly applicable only to motor responses, but often applied more widely to habits of thought, perhaps more correctly termed attitudes.

Habits may be good or bad. Hard working, writing, reading, regular exercise, meditation, etc. are examples of good habits. Alcoholism, drug addiction, lethargy,procrastination, telling lies, dishonesty, stealing, deceiving others, escapism, etc. are examples of bad habits.

Types of Habits: 

Habits are divided into three types depending upon the nature of activities.

1. Motor habits: 

These habits refer to muscular activities of an individual. These are the habits related to our physical actions such as, standing, sitting, running, walking, doing exercise, maintaining particular postures of body, etc.

2. Intellectual habits: 

These are the habits related to psychological process requiring our intellectual abilities such as good observation, accurate perception, logical thinking, using of reasoning ability before taking decisions and testing conclusions, etc.

3. Habits of character: 

We express some of our characters in the form of habits. For example, helping others who are in need, trusting people, being honest, talking in a friendly way, time management, hard working, keeping our dress clean and tidy, etc. These habits will have essence of feelings and emotions; hence these are also called as emotional habits.

Measures for Effective Habit Formation: 

William James, the famous American psychologist has suggested the following measures for habit formation.