The Oxford English dictionary defines the word habit as follows:
- "a settled way of thinking"
- "something done frequently and almost without thinking"
- "something that is hard to give up"
I have two sons, one is two years and a bit and the other is about three weeks old (at the time of writing this article). Amongst other things, I've witnessed my oldest son learn to burp, smile, sit up, crawl, walk, run, speak, throw a ball, eat with a spoon and push a cart. My eldest is currently learning to brush his teeth on his own while my youngest son is currently learning to burp on his own. I am amazed at just how much of what we do (including our thinking) each day is as a direct result of learnt behaviour, i.e. they are our habits. Nearly everything we do today was learnt at some point in our past through repetition. At some point our repeated behaviour becomes unconscious to us. For those who drive cars, do you remember changing gears and using the clutch the last time you drove a car? How often do you think about how you walk and how often do you have to concentrate on putting one foot before the other while walking?
The challenge with habits is that some habits serve us while others impede us. As children, we tend to inherit many of our habits from our primary care givers, siblings and mates. Other habits (especially "thinking" habits) are formed in response to the way we are treated as children and as adults.
A coach could help you become aware of the unconscious habits that impede you. However, becoming aware is only the beginning. The next step is to unlearn the problematic habits and replace them with those that are more in alignment with the lives that we are striving to live.
The Oxford English dictionary defines the word habit as follows: 
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