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!
Habits occur when we stop making "decisions" and our behavior become automatic. This happens when the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine. We have hundreds of these routines that we rely on every day. For example, how to brush your teeth, how to get dressed, how to use your cell phone, how to drive a car, how to make a sandwich (how to do absolutely anything!) You don't have to re-learn how to do these things each day - you just do them automatically! But how do the routines emerge?
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.
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!
So, the answer to habit transformation simply lies in altering the routine. You still have the cue (in this case, "I feel hungry") and the reward ("I'm satisfied") but the routine must change. In this case the routine must no longer be "I will eat a cookie", but instead it needs to be something healthier such as "I will eat an apple" or "I will drink a big glass of water and then see if I still feel hungry". And that's really all there is too it! Do you think that's something you can master?
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!
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!
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!
Habits occur when we stop making "decisions" and our behavior become automatic. This happens when the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine. We have hundreds of these routines that we rely on every day. For example, how to brush your teeth, how to get dressed, how to use your cell phone, how to drive a car, how to make a sandwich (how to do absolutely anything!) You don't have to re-learn how to do these things each day - you just do them automatically! But how do the routines emerge?
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.
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!
So, the answer to habit transformation simply lies in altering the routine. You still have the cue (in this case, "I feel hungry") and the reward ("I'm satisfied") but the routine must change. In this case the routine must no longer be "I will eat a cookie", but instead it needs to be something healthier such as "I will eat an apple" or "I will drink a big glass of water and then see if I still feel hungry". And that's really all there is too it! Do you think that's something you can master?
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!
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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