How are habits created and how to change them?
Charles Duhigg wrote an incredibly interesting examination of The power of Habit. In his book, he explains why we do what we do and how to change, if needed.
How are Habits created ?
Your brain is constantly searching for ways to turn any routine into a habit and go into auto pilot, saving effort and stopping participation in decision making.
It has been scientifically proven that there exists a habit loop.
The loop consists of a cue, a routine and a reward.
The cue triggers your brain to go into habit implementation mode.
The routine is the behavior that runs automatically once the cue triggers its initiation, such as smoking a cigarette, or exercising.
The reward is the positive outcome that satisfies the brain, making it worth remembering the first two steps for the future.
An example is the smell of coffee in the morning. The routine is drinking your coffee. The reward is the coffee effect.
A habit can be good or a bad, obviously depending on its nature.
How to make a habit?
First, find a simple and obvious cue. Second, clearly define the reward.
But most importantly, it is the craving that makes cues and rewards work.
The craving empowers the habit loop.
How to change a habit?
Habits never really go away, however it is possible to replace one habit by another.
How is this done? by keeping the old cue with the same reward but insert a new routine.
It is easier to convince someone to adopt a new behavior if only there was something familiar at the beginning and end.
That’s the rule: If you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can change the routine and hence the habit. You just need to be aware of the habit, recognize the cue and reward, then you will be ready for the shift.
However, for a habit to change you should believe that it is possible.
You must find an alternative routing and the change would be more successful if you can find someone who shares you the same belief and work together to overcome it, such as a group or community or even just one person.
Bare in mind that without determination and belief the change would not be achievable.
So sketching a habit loop alone will not do it, identify the cue and reward, find an alternative behavior, believe it is feasible, commit to the new routine.
Why are good habits important?
When a habit is created, it starts working on auto pilot and runs automatically when the cue is triggered. When creating a good habit routine, you gain time efficiency and faster results while saving brain activity to other decisions making effort (who wouldn't want that?)
Some tasks are done at work automatically without our main focus, such as checking our emails, phone or performing certain routine tasks maybe. You will however notice that you put more attention when there is discrepancy or a new challenge to solve. Hence, you would benefit from a good habit when it is providing an efficient structured outcome, freeing up energy that can be used for other tasks.
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