Get ready to be hit between the eyes. Your habits dictate your entire existence. Wham! Your habits determine whether you will be a success or a failure. Double wham! So, are you interested in finding out how to change your habits and start using them to become successful?
Are you aware of the fact that the actions and behaviors you engage in every day are merely a result of your established habits? You may believe that (for example) how you interact with your family and friends, how often you exercise, how much television you watch, what you eat every day, what activities you enjoy, and virtually everything you do are a result of a conscious decision you are making - but they're not! They are all a result of your habits. Consequently, it would be fair to say that your habits are dictating your life - for better or for worse!
Habits occur when we stop making "decisions" and our behavior become automatic. This happens when the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine. We have hundreds of these routines that we rely on every day. For example, how to brush your teeth, how to get dressed, how to use your cell phone, how to drive a car, how to make a sandwich (how to do absolutely anything!) You don't have to re-learn how to do these things each day - you just do them automatically! But how do the routines emerge?
There are three things that are required to form a habit. They are a cue (for example, "I feel hungry"), a routine (for example, "Time to eat a cookie") and a reward (for example, "I'm full and satisfied"). When you go through these three steps a number of times you will have created a habit loop for yourself.
The big problem with habits is that your brain has no idea which habits are helpful to you and which are harmful to you. Your brain only understands the command of the habit loop - cue, routine, and reward. If there is a cue the brain will seek to employ the routine to achieve the reward. But the habit loop could actually be making you fat. The habit loop could be making you dumb. The habit loop could be embarrassing you. But again, your brain doesn't know the difference - it's just a sequence after all.
But much worse than this, your habits actually override absolutely everything - including your "common sense". That's right; habits override common sense and will occur even if the habit is bad for you. In fact, even if it's killing you. Don't believe it? Just think of a smoker - they have formed a habit loop around smoking (cue - I need a nicotine hit, routine - I'll smoke a cigarette, reward - I no longer need a nicotine hit) and we all know that smoking kills you. Smokers know that smoking is killing them. But it doesn't matter. What matters most is that the habit is fulfilled. Pretty amazing isn't it?
So, how do we use our new knowledge of the habit loop to our advantage? How do we take control of our habit loops? How do we create new routines that overpower existing habits and become our new automatic behaviors? The answer is actually quite simple. The so called "golden rule" of habits is that if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Problem solved! Well, not quite!
But how does this work in practice? To change your habits you need to master the art of creating new behaviors. But what does that mean? Well, if we use the cookie example again it would look like this: there is a cue ("I'm so hungry!"), a routine ("I will eat an apple" (not a cookie)) and a reward ("I'm full and content"). As this example shows, the loop has changed but the cue and the reward have remained the same. The routine is the only thing that changes. Instead of eating a cookie to become full we have suggested eating an apple.
Obviously we have used a simple example in this case to demonstrate what is often a complex challenge - the challenge of habit transformation. But regardless of the example, the process of habit transformation is always the same. Each of your habits has a cue, a routine and a reward. It is up to you to alter the routine in order to create the best outcome for yourself.
To transform a habit you must first identify the habit and then consciously decide to change it. You must consciously accept the hard work of identifying the cues and the rewards that drives the habit's routines, and find alternatives for yourself. You must understand that you have control over your actions and be self-conscious enough to use that control to your advantage. You now know that you can transform your habits if you want to. Keep in mind that nothing will have a greater impact on you than good habits. Good luck!
Are you aware of the fact that the actions and behaviors you engage in every day are merely a result of your established habits? You may believe that (for example) how you interact with your family and friends, how often you exercise, how much television you watch, what you eat every day, what activities you enjoy, and virtually everything you do are a result of a conscious decision you are making - but they're not! They are all a result of your habits. Consequently, it would be fair to say that your habits are dictating your life - for better or for worse!
Habits occur when we stop making "decisions" and our behavior become automatic. This happens when the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine. We have hundreds of these routines that we rely on every day. For example, how to brush your teeth, how to get dressed, how to use your cell phone, how to drive a car, how to make a sandwich (how to do absolutely anything!) You don't have to re-learn how to do these things each day - you just do them automatically! But how do the routines emerge?
There are three things that are required to form a habit. They are a cue (for example, "I feel hungry"), a routine (for example, "Time to eat a cookie") and a reward (for example, "I'm full and satisfied"). When you go through these three steps a number of times you will have created a habit loop for yourself.
The big problem with habits is that your brain has no idea which habits are helpful to you and which are harmful to you. Your brain only understands the command of the habit loop - cue, routine, and reward. If there is a cue the brain will seek to employ the routine to achieve the reward. But the habit loop could actually be making you fat. The habit loop could be making you dumb. The habit loop could be embarrassing you. But again, your brain doesn't know the difference - it's just a sequence after all.
But much worse than this, your habits actually override absolutely everything - including your "common sense". That's right; habits override common sense and will occur even if the habit is bad for you. In fact, even if it's killing you. Don't believe it? Just think of a smoker - they have formed a habit loop around smoking (cue - I need a nicotine hit, routine - I'll smoke a cigarette, reward - I no longer need a nicotine hit) and we all know that smoking kills you. Smokers know that smoking is killing them. But it doesn't matter. What matters most is that the habit is fulfilled. Pretty amazing isn't it?
So, how do we use our new knowledge of the habit loop to our advantage? How do we take control of our habit loops? How do we create new routines that overpower existing habits and become our new automatic behaviors? The answer is actually quite simple. The so called "golden rule" of habits is that if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Problem solved! Well, not quite!
But how does this work in practice? To change your habits you need to master the art of creating new behaviors. But what does that mean? Well, if we use the cookie example again it would look like this: there is a cue ("I'm so hungry!"), a routine ("I will eat an apple" (not a cookie)) and a reward ("I'm full and content"). As this example shows, the loop has changed but the cue and the reward have remained the same. The routine is the only thing that changes. Instead of eating a cookie to become full we have suggested eating an apple.
Obviously we have used a simple example in this case to demonstrate what is often a complex challenge - the challenge of habit transformation. But regardless of the example, the process of habit transformation is always the same. Each of your habits has a cue, a routine and a reward. It is up to you to alter the routine in order to create the best outcome for yourself.
To transform a habit you must first identify the habit and then consciously decide to change it. You must consciously accept the hard work of identifying the cues and the rewards that drives the habit's routines, and find alternatives for yourself. You must understand that you have control over your actions and be self-conscious enough to use that control to your advantage. You now know that you can transform your habits if you want to. Keep in mind that nothing will have a greater impact on you than good habits. Good luck!
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