Do you know that the most powerful driver of your actions and behaviors is your habits? Do you also know that if you don't make the effort to understand your habits and work out how to use them to your advantage you will never be able to achieve the success you want? That may sound harsh, but it's also true.
Did you know that your daily actions and behaviors are actually a series of habits you have formed rather than a series of conscious decisions you are making? Even though each small habit means relatively little on its own - over time - the food we eat, how often we exercise, how we interact with our family and friends, whether we save or spend our money, how often and for long we spend studying, how we organize our thoughts, and how our entire lives are arranged are totally a product of our habits. Our habits therefore have enormous impacts on our health, our relationships, our productivity, our financial well-being, and our overall happiness. In fact, our habits impact everything we do.
Your habits are called upon when your behavior becomes automatic and the decision-making process is not required. Your brain will convert a series of actions in to what is known as a routine. These routines are happening all the time without you being aware of them. For example, how to make your bed, how to bathe yourself, how to get dressed, how to pack your bag, how to feed yourself and how to get to the bus stop to get to school or work are not actions you need to re-learn each day. You just do them on autopilot don't you? So what makes these routines develop?
There are three elements required to create a routine that creates a habit. They are: cue (such as "I'm hungry"), routine (such as "I'll eat a cookie") and reward ("I'm full and content"). When anyone passes through this sequence enough times (cue, routine and reward) they will create a habit. This sequence is called the habit loop.
Unfortunately, habits aren't always helpful. Why? Well, your brain doesn't know the difference between good and bad habits. All it knows is the habit loop. It doesn't know whether your loops make you fit or whether they make you fat. It doesn't know whether the loop makes you smart or whether it makes you dumb. To the brain it's just a sequence that it responds to.
But unfortunately the bad news doesn't end there. Habits are actually powerful enough to overrule everything - including your common sense and your conscious thought. So, if you have a smoking addiction and want to quit but "can't" stop, it's because your habits are overriding your desire to quit. The cue keeps coming up (in this case it could be "I am stressed out or I need a cigarette or I need a nicotine hit") and a routine and reward must always follow the cue. The habit loop must be closed or the cue will get stronger and stronger.
But it's all not all bad news! There is some good news coming. Let's discuss how anyone can get control of their habits loops and start creating some really positive automatic behaviors. In order to transform a habit you must follow the "golden rule". The golden rule of habits tells us that all you need to do is change your habits and change your life is to change your routine. The cue and the reward will remain the same but the routine must change.
So, the answer to habit transformation simply lies in altering the routine. You still have the cue (in this case, "I feel hungry") and the reward ("I'm satisfied") but the routine must change. In this case the routine must no longer be "I will eat a cookie", but instead it needs to be something healthier such as "I will eat an apple" or "I will drink a big glass of water and then see if I still feel hungry". And that's really all there is too it! Do you think that's something you can master?
In this case we have used a simple example of eating an apple instead of a cookie. This is obviously simplifying the habit. But the process is the same. The loop is always the same. There is a cue, a routine and a reward. Focus on changing your routine and you will transform your habit. It truly is that simple - and that difficult!
Now that you understand habits and how to transform them it is up to you to do something about yours. If you want more time, change your routines. If you want better results, change your routines. If you want to get fit, change your routines. If you want more money, change your routines. You have now been shown that you have total control over your actions and it's up to you to get to work on those habits that aren't helping you. Don't forget that your habits will undoubtedly determine your success. So what are you going to do about it? Good luck!
Did you know that your daily actions and behaviors are actually a series of habits you have formed rather than a series of conscious decisions you are making? Even though each small habit means relatively little on its own - over time - the food we eat, how often we exercise, how we interact with our family and friends, whether we save or spend our money, how often and for long we spend studying, how we organize our thoughts, and how our entire lives are arranged are totally a product of our habits. Our habits therefore have enormous impacts on our health, our relationships, our productivity, our financial well-being, and our overall happiness. In fact, our habits impact everything we do.
Your habits are called upon when your behavior becomes automatic and the decision-making process is not required. Your brain will convert a series of actions in to what is known as a routine. These routines are happening all the time without you being aware of them. For example, how to make your bed, how to bathe yourself, how to get dressed, how to pack your bag, how to feed yourself and how to get to the bus stop to get to school or work are not actions you need to re-learn each day. You just do them on autopilot don't you? So what makes these routines develop?
There are three elements required to create a routine that creates a habit. They are: cue (such as "I'm hungry"), routine (such as "I'll eat a cookie") and reward ("I'm full and content"). When anyone passes through this sequence enough times (cue, routine and reward) they will create a habit. This sequence is called the habit loop.
Unfortunately, habits aren't always helpful. Why? Well, your brain doesn't know the difference between good and bad habits. All it knows is the habit loop. It doesn't know whether your loops make you fit or whether they make you fat. It doesn't know whether the loop makes you smart or whether it makes you dumb. To the brain it's just a sequence that it responds to.
But unfortunately the bad news doesn't end there. Habits are actually powerful enough to overrule everything - including your common sense and your conscious thought. So, if you have a smoking addiction and want to quit but "can't" stop, it's because your habits are overriding your desire to quit. The cue keeps coming up (in this case it could be "I am stressed out or I need a cigarette or I need a nicotine hit") and a routine and reward must always follow the cue. The habit loop must be closed or the cue will get stronger and stronger.
But it's all not all bad news! There is some good news coming. Let's discuss how anyone can get control of their habits loops and start creating some really positive automatic behaviors. In order to transform a habit you must follow the "golden rule". The golden rule of habits tells us that all you need to do is change your habits and change your life is to change your routine. The cue and the reward will remain the same but the routine must change.
So, the answer to habit transformation simply lies in altering the routine. You still have the cue (in this case, "I feel hungry") and the reward ("I'm satisfied") but the routine must change. In this case the routine must no longer be "I will eat a cookie", but instead it needs to be something healthier such as "I will eat an apple" or "I will drink a big glass of water and then see if I still feel hungry". And that's really all there is too it! Do you think that's something you can master?
In this case we have used a simple example of eating an apple instead of a cookie. This is obviously simplifying the habit. But the process is the same. The loop is always the same. There is a cue, a routine and a reward. Focus on changing your routine and you will transform your habit. It truly is that simple - and that difficult!
Now that you understand habits and how to transform them it is up to you to do something about yours. If you want more time, change your routines. If you want better results, change your routines. If you want to get fit, change your routines. If you want more money, change your routines. You have now been shown that you have total control over your actions and it's up to you to get to work on those habits that aren't helping you. Don't forget that your habits will undoubtedly determine your success. So what are you going to do about it? Good luck!
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