Habits are automatic behaviors you do without thinking, the same way every day. You probably don’t even notice you created them. Think about your morning routine, you probably do things in the same order and in the same way every morning e.g. brush your teeth, getting dressed, making coffee and putting your keys in the same pocket on your way out the door. About 40 percent of people’s daily activities are performed each day in almost the same situations, studies show. Habits have a recognizable pattern in your brain. As you repeat a behavior in the same context, it shifts to a different part of the brain – functioning largely outside of our awareness. Habits emerge through associative learning, when actions are repeated in the same context, we form associations between cues and response.
The Structure of Habits
- Cue/ Trigger
- Action
- Reward
Cues
Ivan Pavlov (a Nobel prize winner) was doing an experiment studying digestion in dogs and discovered something that surprized him. The dogs would salivate when the saw food, before they tasted it. He noticed that if a noise such as a doorbell or the experimenter’s footsteps were paired with the food, the dog would eventually start salivating just at the sound – this is called classical conditioning.
In short:
1st stimulus (food) = response (salivating)
Then, stimulus 1 (food) + stimulus 2 (doorbell) = response (salivating)
Then stimulus 2 (doorbell) = response (salivating)
What this means for creating and changing habits
- Small specific actions are more likely to become habitual
Instead of the goal of “workout more”, you’re much more likely to be successful if you make the goal more specific e.g. go for a 20 minute run first thing in the morning after you brush your teeth.
- Making the action easy to do increases the likelihood that it becomes a habit
Set yourself up for success and plan ahead, and prep your environment. Also try to limit any potential barriers to the action of the habit you’re trying to create.
E.g. prep everything you need for your run the night before. Have everything you need ready so you just need to get dressed and go – put your water bottle in the fridge the night before, make sure your phone is charged, your earphones are by the bed and you have a fun playlist ready to go!
- Actions that involve physical movement are easier to “condition” into a habit
If the habit you’re trying to create doesn’t necessarily require movement, try to find a way to add it in – e.g. if you’re trying to prioritize your day at the start of every work day, write it out on a white board or physically down on paper
- Habits that have auditory/ visual cues associated with them will be easier to create and maintain
e.g. Have your workout clothes set out ready to go where you’ll see them in the morning. OR have a set running playlist that you turn on while you’re getting dressed and ready to go
- The best way to change an existing habit is to create a new one to replace it
e.g. If you usually come home from work and sit right down on the couch, replace the habit of sitting on the couch with 15 minutes of yoga as soon as you get home.
6. Have a motivating reward!
The long term benefits of healthy habits like exercising, may not be as immediately gratifying as something like eating junk food, however after extended practice they will stimulate your brain in positive ways – yay endorphins!
If you need a little help getting started, try having a small piece of chocolate post-workout – as studies have shown this releases similar chemicals and neurotransmitters to those that will eventually be released by the workout itself!
Setting Realistic Expectations
- Make it so small you can’t fail
e.g. for the first week your goal could be just to put your workout clothes on.
- Apply the compound effect to your habits
e.g. Week 1 your goal is to just put your workout clothes on 3 times a week. Then for the 2nd week, just workout for 5 minutes 3 days a week. Then week 3 make it 10 minutes for 3 days a week, and keep building on it over time.
- Break big habits down into manageable pieces
Want to run a marathon? Start small with 1 mile, slowly work your way up to 5k, then 10k, then a half marathon and so on. Having small achievable goals you build on will help keep you motivated as you meet each goal!
- Never miss twice
It’s okay to mess up! Don’t worry if you miss one workout, your whole progress isn’t ruined, just get straight back on the horse! In a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, Phillippa Lally and her research team found that missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not ruin the whole habit formation process. This means forming new habits is not an all or nothing process, just get right back to it if you miss a day!
- Be patient and find a sustainable pace
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. If you want to create a long term habit, slow and steady is the way to go. According to Lally’s study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. Remember repetition is key, stick with it and you’ll get there!
Be Careful Who You Follow on Social Media!
The research, by Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences, found that study participants ate an extra fifth of a portion of fruit and vegetables themselves for every portion they thought their peers on social media ate. So, if you believe the people you follow are eating lots of fruit and vegetables, you are more likely to eat of them yourself!
But conversely, the Facebook users were found to consume an extra portion of unhealthy snack foods and sugary drinks for every three portions they believed their online social circles did. This means we eat around a third more junk food if we think our friends also indulge.
Therefore, be wary of who you follow on social media, do a review of accounts you follow and see if they are a good influence on the habits you want to create for yourself! I’m not saying you should delete all your unhealthy friends, maybe just hide them from your feed for a while!
The Good News – It gets easier!
Once it becomes a habit – it’ll be easier to stick to even when you’re tired and stressed
Across five experiments in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the researchers showed it’s harder to take control of our actions when we’re already stressed or tired, so we lean towards our habits. However, it turns out we’re just as likely to default to positive habits, such as eating a healthy breakfast or going to the gym, as we are to self-sabotage – it’s the underlying routine that matters!
What new habit would you like to start, or is there a bad one you need to break? Let me know in the comments! If you want some support with creating new habits, you can drop me an email on the Contact Me page and I’ll help you out!
References:
Society for Personality and Social Psychology. “How we form habits, change existing ones.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140808111931.htm>.
University of Southern California. “Healthy habits die hard: In times of stress, people lean on established routines — even healthy ones.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 May 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130527100620.htm>.
Aston University. “Social media users ‘copy’ friends’ eating habits.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 February 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200207074715.htm>.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-wise/201904/the-science-habits – Susan Weinschenk Ph.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/13/the-science-behind-adopting-new-habits-and-making-them-stick/#5455edda43c7 – Andrew Ferebee
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