creature of habit

Hi, my name is Mike Brown and I am a creature of habit. There, I've said it. After all, they say the first step to overcoming a problem is to admit that you have one. I've known this character trait about myself for quite some time, but have never realized how wide a scope my habits cover. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I have always simply rationalized it by claiming I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I have never been clinically diagnosed with OCD but claiming that it is responsible for faulty character traits is easier than owning up to and working to change them. Let me give some examples of my habitual nature as well as the effort I'm making to change it.

I'll begin with some common areas that I contest most people are habitual in:

Food

Let's face it, most people develop eating habits from their adolescent years. We all have our likes/dislikes. Many kids like to eat the same thing all the time. For example, I could have lived off hot dogs as a kid. Many people get accustomed to eating schedules. And when I bring up eating schedules, I'm not simply talking about the times of day we choose to eat (though most people do have breakfast, lunch and dinner around similar time frames). I'm talking about what we eat over the course of the week. For example, we almost always ate grilled cheese sandwiches on Sunday nights in my family. And we almost always had chicken cooked in some manner for Sunday lunch. In part, I blame the schools for this one. We all knew that pizza day (remember those small white boxed pizzas? I loved those) was Friday (or was it Thursday...regardless, it was a planned day of every week). It was in these formative years we were taught to get into a specific routine. Now, when Polly and I set up our shopping list we do it based on a similar system. Check it out:

• Monday - Soup & sandwiches
• Tuesday - Red meat night (a meal using beef, venison or some other red meat as the protein)
• Wednesday - Pizza night (usually frozen, but sometimes homemade...never delivery)
• Thursday - White meat night (a meal using chicken, turkey or some other white meat as the protein)
• Friday - Pasta night (a meal with pasta as the carbohydrate)
• Saturday - Leftovers
• Sunday - Leftovers

The actual meal itself varies, but the base is systematic. The habitualness of my daily eating up until and after dinner for Monday-Friday is even worse. Here's a glimpse:

• 6:45-7:00 - Breakfast: usually either eggs over toast or waffles with peanut butter with a half glass of orange juice
• 8:00 - Fiber One bar
• 9:00-9:30 - Banana
• 10:30-11:00 - String cheese
• 12:00 - Lunch: sandwich (either PB&J or turkey and cheese) and chips (usually pretzels)
• 1:30-2:00 - Yogurt
• 3:00-3:30 - Fruit (usually apple or orange or both)
• After dinner - Dessert: typically ice cream or cookies
• After dinner - Evening snack: popcorn and/or cottage cheese

The weekend allows for some variation to how often I eat, but very little variation to what I eat. The only exception to this is that I often eat a larger breakfast on Saturday and occasionally on Sunday. This usually includes either french toast or a full breakfast plate (eggs, bacon and home fries). This also means that our grocery list is typically similar as well.


And that's not even bringing up my habitual ways when I eat out. There are two aspects worth discussing relating to restaurants. Firstly, my being a creature of habit means that when I go out to eat, I typically go to the same restaurants. I don't step outside the box too often. I like Red Robin, Ruby Tuesdays, Fireflys and Chili's. It's not that I never go elsewhere, but I usually don't. Secondly, when I go to a restaurant I almost always buy the same thing. For example, it's a near guarantee that I'll be eating the Bleu Ribbon Burger at Red Robin. Occasionally, I order something else, but not often. I will spare you the details of my favorite meal at each of my favorite restaurants, but you get the point.

Cars

You can talk to many people who will swear to a specific make and/or model of a car. What's funny is that they're all different. One person legitimately swears to a Toyota while another legitimately swears to a Ford. This is an area that I was habitual in for quite some time. However, this is also an area where I broke a habit only to form a new one. I grew up around American cars. My dad swore by them. Here are the family cars I remember:

• AMC Matador (station wagon)
• Ford Aerostar
• Ford Thunderbird
• Chevy Nova (my sister's car)
• Chevy Corsica (my sister's car which she later sold to my dad which he later gave to me)
• Pontiac Grand Am (my sister's car which she later sold to my brother before it caught fire)
• Chevy (my brother's pickup)
• Lexus (my dad's only non-American car)
• Mercury Grand Marquis (my dad went back to American after a bad experience with the foreign Lexus)

So, when it came time for me to buy a car for the first time, what did I buy? American. I bought a Ford Taurus. There are two joking acronyms I've heard for Ford: Found On Roadside Dead and Fix Or Repair Daily. I found either to be accurate. This is when I broke the habit and vowed to never buy American again. Time will tell on that one, but for now, I drive a Subaru Legacy and my wife drives a Toyota Camry (her first two cars that died young were a Ford Escort and Saturn...American). I love my Subaru and intend to drive one for the rest of my life!

Miscellaneous

There are so many other areas of life that are common areas in which many people have habitual tendencies. People tend to stick with the same personal hygiene products and other such items. People tend to wear certain types of clothes or outfits on certain occasions. People tend to have routines when getting ready in the morning. People tend to give the same or similar gifts at any weddings or birthdays they attend. People are creatures of habit in many common areas of life.

The moment that may have altered my habitual nature:


I have been using Gillette shaving products since I started shaving. I've gone through the Mach 3, the Fusion and the Fusion Power. So, it occurred to me the other day that it's time for me to upgrade to the Proglide. However, we're in our budget crunch so I found myself contemplating downgrading in price instead. For this reason, I made a big switch and bought a cheaper Schick Quatro Titanium. I was very nervous to try a new razor. After my first shave, I was so mad...that I hadn't changed sooner. I love my new Quatro. I think it gives a better shave than any of my Gillette razors ever have. So, I was inspired. I thought about the High Endurance from Old Spice deodorant I've been using for years. Could there be something better? I bought Degree to try when I finish off my last couple sticks. I'll let you know how that goes. I felt so free to break the habit. Baby steps I guess. Maybe they will translate into me having a new attitude in the aforementioned common areas and maybe they can help me break my OCD tendencies in the following uncommon areas.

Uncommon/less common areas that show my habitual nature/OCD tendencies:

I think it may be easier for me to simply list some of my odd habits/compulsions:

• Equilibrium - I cannot turn around completely without turning myself back around the other way. It's like I'm on a string and winding around and I don't like the string to be twisted around itself. I recognized myself doing this when I was still in grade school. No matter how much I tell myself it doesn't matter, I will always turn myself back around. I was doing the "Hokey Pokey" with my nephew on Christmas Day. Every time I turned around, I turned back around to unwind myself.
• The Skin Squeeze - My siblings always made fun of me for this. My wife hates when I do it. I cannot control myself. I grab the skin on my neck under my fingernails. This is easier to demonstrate than explain in words. And it's impossible for me to try and explain why I do it...I have no clue why I ever started, but I've done it for so long.
• Facing the Same Way - Whether it's my clothes in my closet (which are arranged by type--sweaters, button ups, polos, etc.) or money in my wallet, I always need things facing the same direction.
• Everything Flush - I hate when drawers or doors are open and things are not flush with one another. A co-worker pointed out to me one day that I closed the drawers in the kitchen of our building's cafeteria while I was talking to her. I didn't even realize it.
• Same Order - I open programs on my computer in the same order every time. If something's out of order for any reason, I will close and reopen everything to fix it. My old boss used to intentionally change things when I wasn't looking as a joke. I never laughed. I always fixed the order.

Let's be honest here...I could list things all day. But I think you get the point. I am a creature of habit. And after reading my quick list of uncommon habits, I am re-convinced that I am OCD. I hope that changing my razor is a good sign of positive changes to come.