We are, indeed, creatures of habit. We learn a way of doing something, and so long as it works well enough, we repeat it, again and again, until it is deeply seated. We can carry out much of life out of habit - getting up, getting dressed, eating, going to work, and on and on. Habits are very useful. They help us function, to get by, without having to figure everything out anew.
But we want habits to serve us, not define us. When a habit is "just the way we are," even if it isn't leading to the best results or is impacting us, or others, in a negative way, it's time to revisit and rethink how we want to be, and learn a new habit.
I once read what seemed to be wise advice, that the way to get rid of a habit that was no longer serving us, was not to put energy into stopping the habit, but rather to replace it with a better habit. The more deeply a habit is embedded, the more difficult it is to end. But we can bypass the resistance to change by simply focusing on the positive change of building a new habit. The old one may occasionally reappear, but if simply acknowledged without judgement, its power will diminish as the new habit takes hold.
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