Ask HN: Valuable habit you've stuck with? What was key to making it stick?

Post by alganet » Thu, May 01, 2025, 4:56 PM UTC

card_zero wrote: post #17

alganet wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, honestly. Is that even a habit? I used to eat watching stuff. Eventually I recognized it as a bad thing. In my case, it distracted me from the food and whatever I was watching. I ultimately dropped this practice and I enjoy my meals way better. You can see it as a destructive thing, right? Whether it applies to you or not, I wouldn't know. When I said all habits are self-destructive, I meant that they a…

This "auto mode" is not a pure and simple thing. What I'm describing might be a lifetime preference, rather than conditioned. But surely an element of the automatic has crept in. I probably reach unthinkingly for reading matter like I reach for a spoon, exhibiting what I think is called utilization behavior. Then again I don't think a person's conscious intent can ever be permanently shut out; I think any supposed co…

Post by andrei_says_ » Fri, May 02, 2025, 4:10 AM UTC

munksbeer wrote: post #18

Flossing my teeth. I can't remember where I read it, possibly on here, or reddit, but a post suggested a good way to get started. I set my goal to floss one tooth a day. And the trigger for it was always before I could brush my teeth I need to complete that one goal, and then give myself a big smile and raise my arms in triumph. And then I could brush my teeth. I did that for a few days and found that it was quite ea…