Fixing Bad Habits: The Faster, the Easier — Hexagram Gen (Decrease) Fourth Yin Line: Procrastination Costs More Than Correction

The Line Text of the Six in the Fourth Place of the Decrease Hexagram is short: "损其疾，使遄有喜，无咎" (Reduce your flaw, let it be cured quickly, there will be good fortune, no blame).

"Ji" (flaw/illness) refers to both physical ailments and personal shortcomings. "Chuan" means swiftness.

Put together: Cut back on your bad habits, fix them fast, and you’ll meet with good fortune and no fault.

The keyword of this line is that "chuan" — swiftness.

It’s not "reducing the flaw" that’s hard; it’s being swift about it that’s the challenge.

The worst thing about bad habits isn’t that you can’t break them — it’s putting them off.

Procrastination, short temper, speaking without thinking, failing to keep promises, running from conflict — you’ve known about these flaws of yours for ages.

You even know when you picked them up, what situations trigger them, and what kind of trouble they’ve gotten you into.

But you’re still dragging your feet.

Why the delay?

Because the cost of changing hits you right away, while the payoff only shows up later.

If you hold back from snapping at someone today, the discomfort is today’s problem. As for "your relationships will get better later"? That’s months away, and your brain doesn’t buy into that delayed reward.

So people are naturally wired to put things off.

But the Decrease Hexagram says: No, it has to be swift — "chuan".

Why must it be fast?

Because bad habits reinforce themselves.

The first time you procrastinate, you’re just half an hour late. The second time, you’re half a day late. By the tenth time, you don’t even think being late is a problem anymore.

Every repetition strengthens that neural pathway. Eventually, it becomes your default setting — you don’t even stop to ask "should I be doing this?"

At that point, you’re not the one with the habit — the habit is the one running you.

The Xiang Commentary says: "损其疾，亦可喜也" (Reducing one’s flaw is also a cause for joy).

It doesn’t say "it’s joyful once you’ve fixed it" — it says the very act of "reducing the flaw" is already worth celebrating.

What that means: The moment you start changing, the good fortune is already there.

You don’t have to wait until you’ve fully succeeded to feel that joy. The second you decide to stop dragging your feet, the whole nature of the situation shifts.

The position of this line is also worth noting.

The Six in the Fourth Place is the bottom line of the upper trigram, meaning it has already entered the "upper" position (the Decrease Hexagram follows the principle of diminishing the lower to benefit the upper).

At this stage, it’s easy to think: I’ve put in so much already — isn’t it my turn to reap the rewards?

But the answer from the Six in the Fourth Place is: It’s not time to cash in yet. First, clean up all the flaws you’re carrying.

Because if you climb higher while still hauling bad habits with you, the higher you go, the harder you’ll fall.

How exactly do you be "swift" about this?

It doesn’t mean fixing every single flaw all at once — that’s impossible.

It means pick one, just one, and the next time it shows up, stop it right there on the spot.

For example, if you always interrupt people: The next time you feel the urge to cut in, pause for two seconds and let the other person finish.

Or if you always put off things you promised to do: The next time you make a commitment, write down the deadline right then and there, and follow through on time.

Or if you always run from conflict: The next time you feel the urge to bolt, just say "I need to think this over, I’ll get back to you tomorrow" — and then actually follow up tomorrow.

You don’t have to fix it perfectly. You just have to do it differently this time than last time.

One different turn leads to a second. Once there’s a second time, that old rigid path starts to loosen up.

One last harsh truth.

Most people don’t fail to change their habits because they can’t — they never actually start.

They just beat themselves up after every slip-up, then go right back to the same old pattern.

Self-blame feels comfortable — it makes you think you’ve "dealt with" the problem, even though nothing has actually changed.

True "reducing your flaw" means leaving no room for self-reproach. Either change it right now, or admit you don’t want to change it.

When it comes to fixing bad habits, the faster you act, the less effort it takes. Because every day you delay, those roots grow deeper.