According to recent studies, 45 percent of your life is beyond your control... not in a metaphorical way, but quite literally: much of your day is spent moving through the learned behavioral patterns we often call habits. Habits include everything from your daily exercise routine (or lack thereof) to how you put one foot in front of the other, and how you use a fork or spoon. These are things we do “mindlessly,” out of habit.
Charles Duhigg, a reporter for the New York Times, has been researching the scientific and social history of habits for his new book, The Power of Habit. In it, he discusses the unique ways that habits shape our lives, both neurologically and practically. He learned that habits are powerfully hardwired into your brain — and stored separately from your memories — making them rather easy to develop and very difficult to change. Essentially, habits clear up space for the brain to tackle harder task. According to Duhigg, “Habits are a cornerstone of higher cognition.”
Habits are formed in a three-step sequence: cue, routine, reward. The cue is the trigger that lets you know it’s time to do something. This could be a time of day, a geographic location, a person you see, a way that you feel. Once your brain gets the cue, it springs into action, and initiates the routine behavior. Afterward, you experience a reward, which could be very subtle, and not necessarily chemical. Your trips to the vending machine may be as much about spending five minutes away from your desk as they are about craving a particular snack food.
Understanding this sequence is the key to making new habits and changing old ones. For example, establishing an exercise routine starts by cueing yourself that running is going to take place. Lay out your running clothes the night before and leave your shoes right beside the bed, for example. Then, of course, go running! Once you get back — and Duhigg says right when you get back — give yourself a reward, even a piece of chocolate. This will tell your body that running is something that has immediate benefits, not just long term ones.
Likewise, changing a habit should follow the same the model. Duhigg stresses that setting out to “break” a habit is not the right idea; modification is more realistic. If you find yourself engaging in a bad habit, the key is finding a similar reward. Is an extra glass of wine after work merely an excuse for you to leave your work behind for the day? Then leave your laptop at the office. Is that cigarette a chance for you to escape a noisy or hectic environment? Then go for a walk. According to Duhigg, even the most powerful chemical addictions are shaped by habits. To change one, you have to change the other.
This New Year, what kind of habits are you trying to make or break? Have you had any success? Let us know in the comments!