I made the very difficult decision in October 2006 to stop watching television. Initially, I was bored and wondered what to do with the extra time. Eventually I engaged in other, more productive, habits that added meaning to my life and offered me more opportunities to grow as an individual.

I stopped watching television because I really believed that Flava Flav and Brigitte Nielsen were in love on their reality show, STRANGE LOVE. I knew more about their lives and the lives and habits of other celebrities than I knew about my own life. I even scheduled my daily activities around the schedules of my favorite shows and would spend even more time talking about various episodes with anyone who would engage me. How sad!

A habit is any action or behavior we have performed so frequently that it becomes almost involuntary. If we consider some habits to be undesirable then we call them “bad” and try to figure out ways to change. When you can acknowledge that a habit isn’t good for you, that lets you know that you are making a conscious choice every time you do it – thus making it no longer involuntary.

However, for me it was more difficult to acknowledge my habit as bad. I loved watching television and I didn’t want to stop. But once I labeled it as, ‘bad’, it was my responsibility to then make a choice.

We all have habits that don’t serve us and prevent us from reaching our goals. Yes, change is difficult.

The simple acknowledgment of a bad habit may be just enough to help you begin to make slow, positive changes in your life. There is real value in acknowledging which of our habits are holding us back.

What habit, big or small, do you need to change? What small action can you take today, right now, to improve your life?

“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.” Confucius