I literally felt embarrassed in front of my mother the other day.
{{First_name}} yesterday she asked me to put eye drops in my Nana’s eyes. 👀
2 bottles of eye drops.
My mom said to use the 1# bottle because she'd already done the 2nd.
“1st bottle? okay”...I said.
But then...
...I grabbed the 2nd bottle.
Freaking crazy, Wasn’t I?
The look on my mom's face could have cured my nana's eyes right there. 😂
She goes, "r u retard?”
And I'm standing there thinking…
“Why did I do the exact opposite?”
“I'm I really going crazy?”
Slowly I realized something.
Every single day when I put eye drops in my nana’s eyes…
I always start with the second bottle.
So whenever I’m told to put eye drops in my nan’s eyes, my brain goes:
“Okay… where’s the second bottle?”
And my hand reaches for it automatically.
Which made me realize something terrifying:
Your brain automatically repeats the habits you practice the most.
You finish dinner →now you want something sweet.
You open the phone → end up opening Instagram.
You sit on the couch → end up watching TV.
You didn't decide to do those things.
Your brain just... did them.
The funny thing is…
Your brain doesn't care if your habits are good or bad.
It just gets better at whatever you repeat.
Which means if you keep repeating bad habits…
Congratulations.
You’re basically training for them.
There are even much worse habits than you think.
They are habits that feel productive… but don’t actually move you forward.
Let me give you an example.
You’ve been speaking since you were 2 or 3 years old.
Thousands of conversations.
Yet most people still struggle to clearly say what they mean.
Why?
Because they keep repeating the same speaking habits again and again.
No improvement.
So how do you change it?
Simple.
Step 1 — Catch it.
Pause for a second before the habit starts.
Awareness is the first step.
But getting aware alone isn't going to move a needle.
You'll notice yourself about to do the thing…
…and you'll still feel the urge to do it anyway.
The habit doesn't lose its gravity just because you can see it.
If you catch yourself scrolling you will feel tempted to scroll again.
Even when you know you shouldn't scroll.
Step 2 — Replace it.
Choosing a different action in that moment until the new behavior becomes automatic.
That’s how you rewire your habit.
Because your brain will always try to do things which you always did.
The only question is…
Which one do you want to keep doing?
Zaid.