Pleasure Habits

There are many types of habits.

There are time habits. For example, what time you wake up or go to sleep, taking a shower in the morning, watching TV before going to bed, etc.

There are relationship habits. For example, going to the bar with a particular friend, talking about sports with another friend, friday night movies with your significant other, etc.

There are commuting habits. For example, getting a cup of coffee on your way to work, reading the news or listening to a particular radio station, etc.

Then there are pleasure habits. Think of anything you do on a regular basis that gives you pleasure. That’s a pleasure habit.

Pleasure habits are the most potent type of habit. They are the hardest to break because these habits cause your brain to release a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that makes you feel momentarily good or happy.

The more you engage in pleasure habits, the more neuro-receptors your brain cells create in order to send and receive dopamine. Once created, these neuro-receptors begin to dictate your behavior, forcing you to engage in pleasure habits in order to feed the craving of those neuro-recptors.

These neuro-receptors are physical appendages that constantly call out for dopamine. And this is why pleasure habits are the hardest habits to break.

But, they can be broken.

Breaking a pleasure habit requires self-control, discipline and willpower. Initially, the neuro-receptors will fight you, but, depending on the nature of the pleasure habit, they tend to die off after a few weeks. And so too does their power to dictate your behavior.

Beware of pleasure habits. They are the most destructive type of bad habit. They can cause you to gain weight (eating sweets to get a dopamine rush), damage your health (drinking alcohol to get a dopamine rush) or cause you to waste time (viewing pictures or videos on the Internet to get a dopamine rush).

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