WHY DO BAD HABITS FEEL SO GOOD?
Why do we like things that are bad for us? We all know what a bad habit is. Smoking, eating unhealthy
foods and being lazy are just some of the behaviors we ought to avoid in order to increase our overall
well-being. Yet a recent study by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that
avoidable behaviors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and drinking alcohol or some of the
underlying causes of nearly half of the deaths in the United States. Tobacco accounted for eighteen
point one percent (18.1%) of total deaths. Inactivity and bad eating sixteen point six percent (16.6%) and
alcohol consumption three point five percent (3.5%). If we know bad habits are so detrimental to our
health. Why do we continue to do them?
We all indulge in behaviors that we know aren’t good for us and the main reason we resort to these
behaviors is because bad habits give us the comfort we need. When it comes to making decisions, your
brain can’t differentiate good from bad. It only knows comfortable and uncomfortable. Every action you
take has a purpose behind it. Even if you’re not consciously aware of what that purpose is. The most
common hidden purpose is comfort. Our brains are wired to be reward based and our reward is the
feeling of comfort that in turn triggers a release of dopamine called ‘the feel-good hormone'. When you
bite into a chocolate chip cookie, you get a hit of dopamine. When you get a like on Instagram, you get a
hit of dopamine. The hit of pleasure causes us to crave more and so we associate this good feeling with
the bad habit. This explains why we continue to indulge in bad habits and find it so difficult to stop. It
feels comfortable and we essentially get to exist in our safe zone, in other words, you get attracted to
the reward despite knowing it’s bad for you. Smoking that cigarette on your work breaks causes your
brain to associate that habit with freedom and relaxation. Drinking alcohol may be associated with
relieving some tension after a hard week. The thought of exercising and making some kind of effort is
overridden in the brain by the easier thought of sitting on the couch and binge watching your favorite
show. So you can see how easily the habit is connected with the reward. We all so tend to rationalize
our bac behaviors if society as a whole finds it acceptable. If a vast amount of people are doing the same
thing, then it must be fine for us to do it too. It’s not difficult to find socially acceptable bad habits.
Snacking, skipping exercises, getting blackout drunk and even chain-smoking are things that lots of
people do. This causes an inward rationalization when it comes to unhealthy habits. In instance, just one
more won’t hurt or I’ll do better next week. Therefore, these in the moment justifications only provide a
brief escape from stress. It’s important to remember that bad habits only give temporary comfort.
Alcoholic beverage can only numb you to stress and after a buzz wears off, the stressful reality returns.
Ironically, the long-term solution to break bad habits is in fact, discomfort. Discomforts are the only way
that helps you grow by stepping into the unknown. This is why so many people have breakdowns before
breakthrough moments. The more discomfort you experience, the greater the long-term benefit will be.
The simplest analogy is exercise. The more you push yourself during a workout, the more sweat burn
fatigue exhaustion you feel, the more strength endurance and longevity you gain. However, most people
don’t change. Until not changing is the less comfortable option. Powerful transformation happens when
you truly get out of your comfort zone. Familiar discomfort is a form of comfort. This is why people are
addicted to toxic relationships. Comfort is nothing more than an illusion. There’s no such thing as real
comfort. There’s only the idea of what safe. This one is a big one to swallow but there’s really no such
thing as comfort. Which is why comfortable things don’t last. Why the most well-adjusted people are
most comfortable in discomfort? Comfortable is just an idea you choose what you want to base yours
on. Discomfort is your friend.
“Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel
discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in
that”. -David Goggins
