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.
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!
Your habits are called upon when your behavior becomes automatic and the decision-making process is not required. Your brain will convert a series of actions in to what is known as a routine. These routines are happening all the time without you being aware of them. For example, how to make your bed, how to bathe yourself, how to get dressed, how to pack your bag, how to feed yourself and how to get to the bus stop to get to school or work are not actions you need to re-learn each day. You just do them on autopilot don't you? So what makes these routines develop?
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.
Unfortunately, habits aren't always helpful. Why? Well, your brain doesn't know the difference between good and bad habits. All it knows is the habit loop. It doesn't know whether your loops make you fit or whether they make you fat. It doesn't know whether the loop makes you smart or whether it makes you dumb. To the brain it's just a sequence that it responds to.
But that's not all. Habits actually supersede your "common sense". So even if you know the habit is bad for you (such as smoking, cursing or not doing work you need to complete) the habit loop will override your desire to "do the right thing" and will just keep responding to the cue. Don't believe me? A smoker knows that smoking is killing them (and yes they are usually addicted to nicotine) but there are many ways to get the hit of nicotine they are craving. It's actually the habit they have formed that they now can't control - because habits override everything.
The good news is that now that you understand habit loops and how habits emerge you can use that information to your advantage! If you can identify your routines and loops you can also easily identify the solution. You see, the golden rule of habits is that by changing only the routine (thereby leaving the cue and reward the same) you can forever transform the habit.
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.
In this case we have used a simple example of eating an apple instead of a cookie. This is obviously simplifying the habit. But the process is the same. The loop is always the same. There is a cue, a routine and a reward. Focus on changing your routine and you will transform your habit. It truly is that simple - and that difficult!
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!
Your habits are called upon when your behavior becomes automatic and the decision-making process is not required. Your brain will convert a series of actions in to what is known as a routine. These routines are happening all the time without you being aware of them. For example, how to make your bed, how to bathe yourself, how to get dressed, how to pack your bag, how to feed yourself and how to get to the bus stop to get to school or work are not actions you need to re-learn each day. You just do them on autopilot don't you? So what makes these routines develop?
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.
Unfortunately, habits aren't always helpful. Why? Well, your brain doesn't know the difference between good and bad habits. All it knows is the habit loop. It doesn't know whether your loops make you fit or whether they make you fat. It doesn't know whether the loop makes you smart or whether it makes you dumb. To the brain it's just a sequence that it responds to.
But that's not all. Habits actually supersede your "common sense". So even if you know the habit is bad for you (such as smoking, cursing or not doing work you need to complete) the habit loop will override your desire to "do the right thing" and will just keep responding to the cue. Don't believe me? A smoker knows that smoking is killing them (and yes they are usually addicted to nicotine) but there are many ways to get the hit of nicotine they are craving. It's actually the habit they have formed that they now can't control - because habits override everything.
The good news is that now that you understand habit loops and how habits emerge you can use that information to your advantage! If you can identify your routines and loops you can also easily identify the solution. You see, the golden rule of habits is that by changing only the routine (thereby leaving the cue and reward the same) you can forever transform the habit.
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.
In this case we have used a simple example of eating an apple instead of a cookie. This is obviously simplifying the habit. But the process is the same. The loop is always the same. There is a cue, a routine and a reward. Focus on changing your routine and you will transform your habit. It truly is that simple - and that difficult!
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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