Over the past few years, I've become very interested in human behavior. Partly for my own improvement. Partly to become a better teacher. Mostly out of curiosity.
I've become especially interested in the behaviors that are so automatic, we don't realize we're doing them.
We call these habits. And they're what make or break us.
I've come to think of habits like computer programs. When you click the icon on your screen, the program runs.
It doesn't stop to question you. It doesn't think about it. It just runs.
Click. Run.
This morning, I saw an article someone shared on Facebook. It read something like...
Justin Bieber dies in fatal car crash this morning speeding at 100 mph.
(With a dramatic picture of ol' Justin and the words Rest in Peace at the bottom.)
My auto-inclination was, "Holy !@#$, Justin Bieber died!! I need to tell someone!"
As I read it, my thumb was already headed to the "share" button on my phone.
But then I thought, "Wait a second. Let's fact check this, or I'm going to look like an idiot later."
So I did a quick Google search (not that the rest of the internet is any more authoritative). And the first page that popped up said, "Justin Bieber car crash hoax."
So yeah, the whole thing was made up. And whoever created that page is raking in a fortune in ads from all the clicks.
While the whole 60-second affair was silly, it made me think about how automatic my behavior was. And how automatic our other behaviors can be.
Something about the post set something off in my brain that said, "I need to share this with someone!"
In the end, it was another reminder of how automatic habits can be.
And why it's so important to cultivate the right ones for the person you want to become.