Jackalyn Rainosek: Habits And Behavioral Patterns

A habit is generally defined as "a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up." And an Internet search of habits and their usefulness brings in a slew of hits, with suggestive titles like, How to Build Good Habits, The Seven Most Sought After Good Habits and How to Achieve Them, The Power of Good Habits, Five Scientific Ways to Build Habits that Stick, The 20 Good Habits You Need to Start in your Twenties, 3 Surprisingly Simple Things You Can Do to Build Better Habits, and How to Form a Good Habit in Nine Easy Steps (with pictures).

One of these search results opines that habits can be useful, and that without at least some of them it would be impossible to run an ordinary life. Many of the things we do each and every day are so routine that we do them almost unthinkingly – by habit. And this has the benefit of freeing up the mind so that we can focus on those things that really matter.

And yet there is a darker side to habits. Habits can form the basis of behavioral patterns that become obstacles to what you really want, and because they have become so ingrained – so habitual – we may not even realize what we're doing. "Are your daily habits creating the life you want, or keeping you trapped in the life you have?" asks Jackalyn Rainosek. It is not a rhetorical question. In a habitual patterns assessment and a workshop entitled "Habits: Friend or Foe?" she offers to help clients learn the skills they need to break out of the patterns that are counter-productive, in order to create lasting and powerful changes.

Jackalyn Rainosek is the co-owner of DTP-Leadership. She has addressed habitual patterns of behavior and seen the negative impact they have on people's lives, and the lives of those around them. She uses a unique approach called Centergy to help clients identify and change habitual behaviors, and facilitates teleconference workshops on the topic. Centergy™ is a model of consulting and personal development developed by Jackalyn in 1991.

The Author writes articles for relationships, behaviors and business field. He has also contributed to Wikipedia, Squidoo and Hubpages. His articles have been published in print as well as online magazines.