Habits Create Freedom
“Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it.” ~James Clear in his book Atomic Habits
Habits create freedom. This is also true about other types of boundaries. When we take a walk with our kids, the younger ones have two rules: 1) I always need to be able to see them, and 2) they can’t cross streets without me.
Because of those two rules, my kids are free to go as far ahead as they want. They are free to not be on a leash. They are free to not get hit by a car.
Without those two rules, my kids couldn’t be trusted. So they would never be allowed to leave my side.
Habits—good habits, that is—are the same way. They give you the freedom of loving your wife. The freedom of building wealth. The freedom of being as physically fit as you want to be.
This concept reminds me of dancing. Trying to dance without knowing any of the steps isn’t freedom. You’re just bopping around.
Trying to dance while being hyper-sensitive of the steps also isn’t freedom. You end up looking like a human typewriter.
Freedom is knowing the steps so well that you don’t even need to think about them. Only then are you free to really dance.
What do you think?
Joseph