Most of the times that I mention that some behaviour is something I do “naturally”, what I really mean is “habitually”.

As in, much of our behaviour is learnt, but we’ve got so good at learning it that it’s become second nature and we assume it was always innate in us.

Why is this relevant?

When we label a behaviour as “natural” we can easily fall into a fixed mindset fallacy—assuming that the behaviour is impossible or near-impossible to change because it’s a core part of us.

Whereas that reframe to “habitual” opens up a simple, direct avenue to optimising behaviours we think are suboptimal. We just have to return to what we used to do and say and think before we were taught to do and say and think otherwise. It also serves as a reminder of how easily we’re influenced and trained to think what the people around us would like us to think—and it’s that awareness that’s a huge step toward overcoming our suggestibility and living more intentionally.