"Habit" by William James / Taylor Patterson final blogpost

 By; Taylor Patterson 

Section 009

   William James is a well known American philosopher and psychologist as well as the founder of pragmatism, and advocate for free will. James is the author of The Principles of Psychology published in 1980 and his hope when writing was to understand consciousness; However, habits themselves are mainly unconscious actions we take notice to.

Habit

     Every living thing is composed of habits. There are things in our lives we do everyday unconsciously due to repetitive action. As stated in Chapter 4 of William James' Principle of Psychology: chapter 4," the more automated and habitual actions we obtain the more time we have for freedom; he then goes on to say "there is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision".

    Habit begins first in thoughts that then radiate throughout our bodies in order to perform tasks that over time become more effective and efficient for our lives. We grow and learn from our habits trying to become a better version than before. just as some examples.... its easier to fit a pair of jeans after you have worn them for a while, as you grow up lacing up shoes becomes easier. its amazing to notice how habit is formed from development of the nervous system and has a lot more to do with our thoughts than the actions themselves. 

In the speech above, Author James Clear discusses four stages of habit formation; Noticing, Wanting, doing, liking. The key in developing/noticing an habit is to develop clarity and realistic achievements. Wanting has to be more than what's desired. I like how James said that our environment has a lot to do with our wants and thankfully "we don't just have to be victims of our environment but also architects".  Doing... he uses a gym analogy of the more reps you do the more likely to achieve your goal. so doing has to be active and repetitive. Liking has a lot more to do with liking the journey your goals put you on than the habit itself. You'll break a good habit if it takes you down an ugly path but it is more likely for you to keep good habits if you like the path it keeps you on.

Maxims

A quote from The Principles of Psychology states," Any sequence of mental action which has been frequently repeated tends to perpetuate itself; so that we find ourselves automatically prompted to think, feel, or do what we have been before, accustomed to think, feel, or do , under like circumstances without any consciously formed purpose, or anticipation of results."

Given by Professor Bain on his chapter on "The Moral Habits" that there are 3 Maxims on how to improve habit...

The first is the creation of a new habit or the leaving of a bad one. He professed to start strong and take initiative in creating a good environment to receive better outcomes...take actions towards new pathways or get rid of actions incompatible with new hope.

The second is to avoid temptation because it is much harder to get back up than to stay on the right pathway. 

The final, third maxim is to seize EVERY opportunity to act on habits that better your future. 

I think with all these maxims and knowing how our habits affect us is what James wanted us to capture. I believe he wanted us to see how we are products of our own habits and it is up to us how we use our habits to reflect the life we want to live. 

 Pictured is a quote from William James that captures how our habits impact our future.