What is a habit and how you can set new ones?
“ A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.”
Over time your habits become the solutions to situations or problems that appear in your life. Eventually, over time your brain will formulate the same response for said scenario and your brain will no longer try to figure out how to respond to the scenario.
Habits become automatic, freeing up mental space to take on other tasks in your life. So in a way putting in the work to set habits that are in line with the systems you need will actually allow you to have some mental freedom.
For example: If you are always trying to figure out when to work out and what you need to buy at the grocery store you actually end up having less free time. Whereas if you set a daily habit of working out at 4 pm, and you always pick up the same staples at the grocery store you will actually have more time.
Let’s break it down into 4 parts, as they do in Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
Cue-noticing what the reward will be
Craving- think of this as the change of state it delivers. Like a smoker craving relief from the cigarette, not necessarily the cigarette itself.
Response- thought or action
Reward - the end goal of every habit
All four steps must be present in order for a habit, good or bad to stick, forming a neurological feedback loop.
Think of it this way, every behavior is an attempt to solve a problem.
If you want to change a behavior ask yourself these questions
How can I make it obvious?- maybe its reminders, a whiteboard, a daily planner
How can I make it attractive?- what/how will it pull you in
How can I make it easy?- If it is difficult to accomplish, chances are it will remain undone. Make it easy to accomplish
How can I make it satisfying?
Think about the habit you are trying to put into place, maybe you are good for a week but then you find yourself falling back out of “routine” Now answer those 4 questions from above and see what you come up with.
More on this topic next week. Stay tuned and be sure to follow me on Instagram and hop on the newsletter list so you don’t miss anything.
References:
Clear , James. Atomic Habits: an Easy &Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House LLC , 2018.