What is a habit and why are they important?
A habit is repeated behavior done without thinking about it. Our habits can be both helpful and harmful to us. When we build habits, we are creating the actions and behaviors that help to define who we are. For instance, if we want to be an active person, this requires you to perform active behaviors (such as walking, hiking, biking, yoga, etc). If we want to be a creative person, this requires you to engage in creative behaviors like writing or painting. Our habits are important because they help us to align with our path, however, they can also de-rail us. This is why it’s important to create habits that help us to become the best version of ourselves.
How do we create habits?
We perform our habits when there is a cue to do them. This may look like:
Waking up and brushing your teeth (cue: waking up)
Leaving work and driving to the gym (cue: getting in the car after work)
Nail biting when feeling anxious (cue: feeling anxious)
The habits we build can be seen in our neural circuitry. When we perform repeated behaviors this strengthens the connections in our brains used to perform these behaviors. This is why “practice makes perfect.” Taking the time to practice our behaviors or actions helps to form the circuitry in our brains to make them feel easy. Our brains like efficiency, so, the actions that we do often the brain is going to make automatic so it frees up energy for non-automatic actions. We don’t have to think about breathing, our autonomic nervous system takes care of that for us. Our brains want to turn our behaviors and actions into habits, this is why it’s important our habits are helping us become the best version of ourselves.
How to create a habit
Habit formation has been researched for years. There are essentially 3 phases:
1) Initiation phase: Selecting the context for the new behavior
The where & when of the habit
2) Learning phase: Repeating the behavior in the selected context
When automaticity is developed, performing the habit over and over
3) Stability phase: The formed habit is strengthened so it's repeated automatically
For example: have you gotten in your car on the weekend and drove to work or school by accident? This is because you have formed the habit of driving to that destination
Creating habits to become your best self
Consider the person you want to become. Answer the following questions to help you work towards creating habits for becoming your best self:
What habits do I need to form to become my best self?
What habits do I have that aren't serving me?
What habits can I modify to help myself become my best self?
It can be difficult to try and create new habits. Try using these tips to help you:
1) Build on habits you already have:
If you want to exercise more, add more to the time you already spend exercising
2) Define what success of the habit looks like:
What would you define as successfully creating the habit?
3) Choose rewards in line with your habit:
If you want to exercise more, reward yourself with a healthy smoothie instead of ice cream after a workout
It may take some time to form new habits, but remember to keep your goals in mind. New habits also don’t have to be drastic. For example, if you want to be a more active person, it can look like creating a habit of stretching for 5 minutes when you wake up in the morning. You must remember to meet yourself where you’re at.
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Sources:
Gardner, B., Lally, P., & Wardle, J. (2012, December). Making health habitual: The psychology of “habit-formation” and general practice. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505409/#:~:text=Habit%2Dformation%20advice%20is%20ultimately,consistently%20in%20the%20same%20context
Gardner, B., Rebar, A. L., & Lally, P. (2022, February 22). Full article: How does habit form? guidelines for tracking real-world habit formation. Taylor & Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311908.2022.2041277
Lally, P., & Gardner, B. (2011, October 11). Promoting habit formation. Taylor & Franics Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2011.603640
O’Hara, J. K., Ade, K. K., Sukharnikova, T., Van Hooser, S. D., Palmeri, M. L., Yin, H. H., & Calakos, N. (2016, January 21). Pathway-specific striatal substrates for habitual behavior. Neuron. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627315011344
You offer some good advice which I will try and follow.