The Psychology and Science Behind Habits
Vincent Peale once said “change your thoughts and you change your world”. Another popular saying goes; “first you believe, then that belief transforms into thoughts, thoughts transform into words, words into action, which then transform into habits, and these change into values, which turns out to shape your destiny”.
The popular saying “you are what you eat” applies to our thoughts. Our habits form our values, and our value in turns shapes our destiny. Today, we are going to focus on the habit aspect.
A study has shown that over 40% of our daily decisions are not just decision, they are actually our habits:
How rich are you? Depends on habits
How social are you? Habits.
Are you in or out of shape? Outcome of habits.
Your personality and beliefs are a result of what you spend time thinking and doing daily. Habits are formed through thought patterns that create neural pathways and memories. These memories then become a foundation for the way you act when faced with a decision or choice.
Why Is It So Hard To Change Bad Habits?
Our brains are wired to prefer pleasure over pain. That is why the more you try to stop a bad habit, the more you engage in it because abstaining from a bad habit makes you feel bad and you will always strive to feel good.
To fix this, you need to change your thinking. First, you need to think in steps. Bigger steps will be harder to achieve and can discourage you from wanting to form better habits. That is why you need to break it down.
Hidden and conscious habits are the main two types of habits. Most of our bad habits are hidden. In a research carried out and presented in the book “The Power of Habits”, by Charles Duhigg , he showed that habits are made up of three parts:
- Cue
- Routine
- Reward.
- CUE: This is fundamentally a trigger which releases impulse into the brain, telling it when it’s time to carry out the routine. Cues can either be internal or external. An internal cue relies on your thoughts and emotional state, while an external cue depends on the physical environment and perceptual stimulus.
- ROUTINE: This refers to actions carried out when we are set off or cued up. An example of routine would be fidgeting with your hands or brushing your teeth, which the mind usually does automatically.
- REWARD: This is the physical, emotional or psychological response to routine, which makes you feel good. For every habit, there is a reward. The purpose of this reward is not only to motivate you but it is a way of telling our brains that it needs to turn off ‘autopilot’ once the habit is done. The process of stopping an old habit is a bit different from starting a new one, even though it maintains the three easy steps mentioned above.
Emily Balcetis, a social psychologist carried out a study which showed that there is an increase in systolic blood pressure due to excitement from anticipating an achievable goal no matter how hard it seems. However, if the goal is too big and intimidating, it dumps it into the ‘impossible’ drawer.
How To Change Your Unhealthy Habits
Now, what can you do about it?
First, you must create a plan of action. Split new habits into minute, achievable goals. Connect with the psychological and physiological abilities to make the change.
A good action plan should include the following steps:
- A 30-day challenge, centered on ONE habit.
- Write down your motivations, restrictions and the ways you plan to stop these habits on paper.
- Be committed to stopping these habits and do it publicly.
- Record your progress.
- Report daily progress publicly.
- Ensure support pillar in case you stumble.
- Reward even the little wins.
- When you falter, try again after finding out what went wrong and plan for it.
- Find out habits you need to stop and this means becoming aware of unconscious habits. You can make a list and take it one after the other.
- Do away with triggers. If alcohol is one, throw them out when you can. Try to avoid places or things that can trigger these habits: eateries, bars, etc. You don’t have to do away with it forever, it’s just for a while, at least until you are comfortable with your new habit. If people are your trigger, then act accordingly after deciding if they make you better or worse.
- Control your negative self-talk. Words can affect your behavior. When you realize you are saying things like “everyone hates me” or “I’m too chubby”. Redirect and replace it with positive self-talk, like ” yes I’m fat, but I’m a work in progress”. You will feel stuck if you keep judging yourself. Train your brain to be less judgmental.
- Habits cannot be changed easily so understand that it takes time. You need all the willpower and nerves available to change old habits.
Keep in mind this probably won’t be easy. You will need to stay motivated throughout this entire process.
Nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes once in a while. However, that does not mean you should give up when you make mistakes. Mistakes enlighten you.
It shows you things you need to change and avoid in order to keep on track. Understand what caused the mistake at first and get back at it.
The journey continues.
