Tip Talk Thursdays: The Science of Habits

We all aspire to create changes within our lives. We make plans to workout, eat better, engage in small acts of self-care, want to get better rest, read more, whatever it may be. We have goals. But a big part of these goals is commitment, which anyone could tell you- it's not easy!

Commitment requires us to really make a conscious effort, but the good news is eventually it can become a habit.

Habits.

Say it with me people-

H-A-B-I-T-S

For whatever reason, this word can elicit a lot of intimidation, but the wonderful thing is is that we are all capable of creating habits. Think of all the habits you have already crated without really maybe remembering how:

• Your routine before you go to work
• How you clean your house
• How you wash your hair
• How you do laundry
• How you put your kids to bed or if you have fur babies how you feed them

These may seem like mundane tasks that we just do automatically now but at one point it was not an automatic process. So how did we get there?

1. Small specific actions: small specific actions are more likely to become habitual. Telling yourself you are going to workout is too vague and hard to create into a habit. Saying "I'm going to walk" is a bit more specific but still is vague. Make it measurable: I'm going to go for a 30 minute walk when I come home from work 3 days a week. If we achieve more than 3 days- horray! You're a rockstar and an overachiever. We will be more likely to want to continue achieving this goal because it felt good to accomplish it.
2. Make the action easy: Making your goal easier will make it more likely to be followed through. For example having your running shoes and change of clothes right by your front door when you come home is a visual reminder of our goal and made it easier to change into rather than taking the extra minute to rummage through our closet. While a minute may not seem like much, I have talked myself out of something for much less because of the "inconvenience", which was really just me making excuses. 
3. Habits that have an auditory or visual cue are easier to maintain and create: Think about why our phones are so habitual. When we see it light up or ring, it grabs our attention and we are more likely to grab it. 

So how can we create a habit?

• Identify the routine: what is the behaviour we want to change? What is the cue that signals this behaviour? And what is the reward for this behaviour? 
• Experiment with rewards: rewards help satisfy cravings
• Isolate the cues: understand the behaviour better. What is the location? What is the time? What was your emotional state? Who else is around? What action happened before the urge? If we answers these question we may begin to see a pattern. For example maybe its a specific time of day that you engage in this behaviour or that there is no one around!
• Have a plan: Our brain follows the loop that when I see a CUE, I will do the ROUTINE, to get the REWARD. So knowing this, make a plan around this! Everyday at 4:30 I will run around the block and when I get home I will eat a piece of chocolate. 

The video below helps summarize habits and breaking habits in just under 5 minutes!

Habits Video

So now we challenge you to go out and start making healthy habits!

YWC

Source

https://www.psychologytoday.com/

How Habits Work