Did you know that your habits can actually ruin your entire life if you don't control and direct them correctly? Did you know that your habits are actually more influential over your entire personality and behavior than anything else? Well, they are! And that's why you need to understand your own habits and start using them to your advantage.
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.
A habit is an action or behavior you engage in that has taken place without conscious thought - it's automatic behavior. Your brain constantly creates these automatic behaviors so that it doesn't have to make decisions about each action constantly. This is known as creating "routines". Examples of routines are things like driving a car, riding a bike, using a knife and fork, running, jumping, eating a banana, brushing your hair, doing your makeup, and so on and so forth (this list is literally endless). You don't have to learn how to do these things every day - they just happen on auto pilot (we hope!)
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 problem with habit loops is that habits don't always help you. In fact they regularly make things harder for you! You see, your brain understands the cue, the routine and the reward, but it doesn't know whether the habit you are creating is good or bad for you. To the brain it's merely a cue, a routine and a reward - and the response is always automatic.
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.
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!
In order to change a habit you must address the craving you have by inserting a new behavior. All else must remain constant. In practice, changing habit loops work like this: you have a cue (I'm hungry), then you have a routine (eat a cookie), and then you have a reward (I'm full). But remember, when changing the loop, the cue and reward always stays constant but the routine changes. So, you simply change the routine. Cue (I'm hungry), routine (eat an apple - not a cookie), and gain your reward (I'm full).
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.
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.
A habit is an action or behavior you engage in that has taken place without conscious thought - it's automatic behavior. Your brain constantly creates these automatic behaviors so that it doesn't have to make decisions about each action constantly. This is known as creating "routines". Examples of routines are things like driving a car, riding a bike, using a knife and fork, running, jumping, eating a banana, brushing your hair, doing your makeup, and so on and so forth (this list is literally endless). You don't have to learn how to do these things every day - they just happen on auto pilot (we hope!)
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 problem with habit loops is that habits don't always help you. In fact they regularly make things harder for you! You see, your brain understands the cue, the routine and the reward, but it doesn't know whether the habit you are creating is good or bad for you. To the brain it's merely a cue, a routine and a reward - and the response is always automatic.
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.
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!
In order to change a habit you must address the craving you have by inserting a new behavior. All else must remain constant. In practice, changing habit loops work like this: you have a cue (I'm hungry), then you have a routine (eat a cookie), and then you have a reward (I'm full). But remember, when changing the loop, the cue and reward always stays constant but the routine changes. So, you simply change the routine. Cue (I'm hungry), routine (eat an apple - not a cookie), and gain your reward (I'm full).
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.
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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