Cultivating Success: The Role of Habits in Personal and Professional Growth
The fast-paced nature of the current era, with a significant emphasis on success and achievement, leads individuals to constantly aim to expand their capacity and skillset in order to reach the growing needs of today’s society. To stand out in the vast ocean of skilled professionals, versatility in your skillset is crucial, but above all, professionals seek to work with reliable, effective, and responsible individuals.
Maintaining these highly valued personal characteristics requires determination and a strong foundation of healthy habits which acts as the support system for the development of a fully functioning and successful individual.
The psychology behind habits
Within the field of psychology, habits are defined as actions that are triggered automatically in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance. For instance, the habitual action of reaching for a cup of coffee during a morning break at work or school is triggered by the contextual cue of the break itself. This automatic response has been reinforced over time through the consistent association between the break and the act of getting coffee.
It has been extensively shown that the mere repetition of a simple action in a consistent context leads, through associative learning, to the action being activated upon subsequent exposure to those contextual cues (that is, habitually).
As we are creatures of habit, we cannot escape the formation of habits, however, we can intercept that process and realistically evaluate which are the habits that define our lifestyle, and which of those are truly beneficial and foster personal development for ourselves, but also for everyone surrounding us.
Change motivation
When an individual feels content and accomplished with their life, they try to maintain that state, and potentially even transfer that knowledge to their environment. It so happens that the people who are unsatisfied with aspects of their lives are the ones who consciously seek self-reflection, which ultimately leads them to change the tendencies that are diverting them from their true goals, and ultimately self-realization.
However, the key to change is self-awareness; only a self-aware person can consciously decide to change their habits and create new productive, beneficial ones.
Yet, it does not seem logical that in order to change and grow for the better, you need to experience dissatisfaction with your life, so how does one improve oneself constantly without needing to repair unhealthy habits?
One of many ways is fostering curiosity and the passion for continuous learning, which can be done by nurturing habits that motivate you to see every situation as an opportunity for new knowledge, ideas, and experiences.
Above all, the strongest motivator for the development of healthy habits is the presence of purpose.
If you have a clear vision of what your values are and what you want to achieve through them, you are highly motivated to seek change and growth, as a means to fulfill your true potential.
True personal growth doesn’t always have to stem from the need to fix something that’s broken; it can also arise from a desire to learn, evolve, and achieve higher values.
By: Zoi Pavlovska, Psychologist, Intern at M6 Educational Centre
