The Fundamentals of Habits: What a Habit is & How To Make or Break a Habit
Let's delve into the topic of habits. How are habits created? What are the strategies for breaking or forming a habit? This article introduces the fundamentals of habit and offers guidance on how to transform yourself by implementing the insights shared here.
How Do Habits Form?
In simple terms, a habit involves a cycle of cues, actions, and rewards. First, there's a cue to do something, followed by the action of doing it, which leads to a reward of some kind. Because our brains enjoy the reward, we are more likely to respond to the cue the next time it arises. However, the reward has to be more desirable than our other options/wants to be repeated.
So, Suppose you have a habit of going to the gym at 4:30pm. In that case, the cue could be seeing "4:30pm" on the clock, the action would be working out, and the reward would be feeling the endorphins after the workout is finished. If you crave those endorphins enough, you will return and do it again.
How To Start A Habit
When starting a new habit, check where your priorities lie now. Are you excited about a change? Do you want this reward bad enough? The answer has to be yes to one or both of these questions to continue and create a successful habit.
When deciding that a new habit is the path you would like to go on, write out what the cue, a detailed action, and reward will most likely be.
It is essential to think about the details of your action because if you don't, the lack of thought behind your plan may discourage you from continuing.
It is equally important to pause and feel the reward of the action you just completed. If you do not reflect on the hard work you just did, future tripping and anxiety might kill the stamina to keep going.
Written out example: It is summertime, and you want to get into the habit of training for the fall soccer season.
Nail down a cue to get the ball rolling.
Right after work, you go to the soccer field
Put your thoughts into action
For one hour, you train with the list of workouts/conditions you have made for yourself and check them off once you have completed them.
Feel the benefits of the completed action
After you have trained, your muscles feel worked, and you know you are one day closer to being the best you can be for fall tryouts.
What nobody tells you about cues is that you have to build them yourself. Your subconscious will not build them for you; however, once you exercise the habit, it will put it on autopilot. More often than not, you have to use willpower to get the reward you want.
To do this, you can use Mel Robbin's 5 Second Rule, a technique for motivating yourself to start something. You count back from 5, and once you get to 1, you give yourself no choice but to get up and do what you need to do. It helps when you are not motivated and need a push.
How To Break A Habit
I find that breaking a habit is harder than making a new one; however, it can still be done swiftly! The secret to squashing a habit is to pinpoint the cue for that specific habit and then break that cue off from the action.
When becoming aware of the cue of a bad habit, you get a clear representation of where your habit impulse comes from and give yourself room to accurately brainstorm how to avoid the action that comes after it. With this said, take some time to think about what causes the need to do the habit you desperately want to stop. Do you practice the bad habit when you are bored? Hangry? Tired? Upset?
Once you find the cue, it is time to resist and replace the action that follows. This means you see the cue coming or simply acknowledge it and find something else to soothe the urge you feel like completing. Not only will you potentially configure a bad habit into a good one. The best part is that there will still be a reward. Whether it comes from the new replacement action or simply from the good feeling that you had the willpower to change. If you have difficulty with this, you can still refer to Mel Robbin's 5 Second Rule to correct yourself. The tool works for both getting yourself to do something and getting yourself to avoid something.
Written out example: You have the habit of coming home from work/school and plopping on the couch. You do not move for hours because you are tired.
Find out what the cue is
You feel so stressed from all the work you do, so once you enter your house/living space, that is the cue for "done with stress, time to lay down"
Resist and/or change the action
Instead of going straight to the couch, you do something else to aid your stress or sleepiness. That can be doing yoga, showering, cooking, or meditation, just to name a few.
Feel the new reward
Reflect on how good it feels to break a bad habit for the day, plus, start a new and better habit.
When it comes to breaking a habit, remember that there will be times when you will slip up, and that is okay. Course correct and keep going. Remember your "why" and persevere :)
How Long Does It Take To Make/Break A Habit?
The amount of time it takes to form or break a habit depends on how drastically the habit change is from your current routine. Collectively, research articles say it can take anywhere from 21-365 days. It will take less time the more motivated you are, and the less it deviates from your current routine. However, if a goal is drastically different and you find it very difficult to get motivated, do not let that stop you from creating the habit you want!
