I finished reading The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.

Throughout it, Duhigg discusses ingrained habits like eating too many cookies to lifelong habits of willpower and belief. Then he goes into targeted merchandising and addiction.

How does that apply to a hipster who buys nothing from large supermarkets or chains. Especially one who never frequents large chains?

But then again, you ask me. I have a habit of novelty. Trying something new thrills me to no end. I wonder if this is the reason that I like living in the city. It reflects value, self-importance, and reputation. I hang on to my identities of being a know-it-all and wiser-than-thou persona. And if I have a good experience, I will gladly tell you about it.

But I rarely go to the same restaurant or shop twice in the last 6 months (with the exception of the 23rd/Mission Market which supplies me with an onion here, two jalapeños there, four tomatoes tomorrow). I am a value seeker, yet I go for months without going to Foods Co., my budget grocery store of choice. If you find me there, it’s most likely that I am hosting a party where I don’t care if the results are superbly organic. I buy online where it is the cheapest. Sometimes I buy on Amazon, but sometimes I have someone else buy it for me. Maybe on ebay or craigslist. I don’t cook the same things as I used to four years ago because lunch is available at work. Brands? I don’t even understand what that is beyond the big electronic manufacturers. I only know milk brands, but if it has the word organic, I am intrigued. I buy when the shop is convenient. Clothes? I have sworn to only buy abroad, because I don’t want to wear anything that anyone is wearing here.

I watch people who struggle with eating too much, not working out enough, addictions.

But those are habits. My goal of being different—that I’ll go lengths out of my way to do it. How is that for a habit?