a complete guide
Power of habits
Have you observed yourself, scrolling social media on your phone, skipping all necessary works,or skipping workouts? You are not alone. We all have different habits. Some are good and some are bad habits. Some habits will help you to grow and some will destroy you. But there is one good news ,that habits aren’t permanent. We can form new habits and leave bad habits. It just needs a good approach, a positive sense, honesty with yourself and most important consistency. If you are trying to change your habits or finding difficulties in leaving habits. Here you will get the necessary roadmap.
The habit loop
For changing habits it’s important to understand how habits actually work. According to CHARLES DUHIGG, author of the book ‘ the power of habit.’. Every habit operates in a cycle called a habit loop. His book talks about neuroscience and psychology. How habits are stored in our brain. And how we can reprogram them with awareness and intentional repetation.
1) Cue:
A trigger point which starts the behaviour. It is a signal that tells your brain to go into automatic behaviour. It is the cause of a particular behaviour. We will understand practically through example.
2) Routine:
The actual behaviour itself. It is the actual action taken against the trigger point. It’s a physical activity. Sometimes it can be a mental or emotional activity. It is the Central part of the loop which can be changeable. It’s an activity you perform when your trigger gets hit.
3) Reward :
It is the reward you get from the behaviour. It is the reward your brain gets when you perform certain activity. It’s the last part of habits loop. It is a feeling of satisfaction. Reward teaches our brain, that your behaviour is good and we get pleasure or satisfaction throughout the routine. It programs our brain in direction, where when we see something particular thing, automatically starts routine and gets reward from it.
Let’s understand the cue, routine and reward through some real life examples.
SOME REAL LIFE EXAMPLES
1.) If you used to eat chips when you watch TV . Watching TV is your cue and eating chips or snacks is your routine. The comfort you feel after eating chips is the reward.
2.) When you see a photo of a bodybuilder or watch content regarding fitness or gym, you start to workout more. Here watching a fitness content is the cue. Doing more workout is the Routine. The feeling of satisfied, motivated is the reward. Next time whenever you will see the bodybuilding or gym regarding content, you starts performing more workout.
3.) Another one familiar example is whenever you see a mobile and getting bored. You open social media and starts scrolling. Here boring and seeing mobile is the Cue. Scrolling social media is the Routine against cue. The feeling of comfort and freshness is the reward. I hope now you have understood the habit loop and how it works. Now understand the secret of changing habits
THE SECRET OF CHANGING HABITS: REPLACE, DON’T ERASE
Here most people don’t realise that, it’s nearly impossible to eliminate a habit. But we can replace it with better activity. For transforming habits, it’s necessary to replace the routine. Where cue and reward will remain the same but the routine will be changed. Try to replace a routine with a good activity which can give the same reward to the brain.
Let’s understand with snacks example. When we are alone and watching TV was the cue. The relief, comfort was the reward. Now we will change the routine and replace it with eating healthy food or fruits. Now the activity of eating chips or snacks will replace by eating healthy fruits. It will give the approximately similar reward to the brain. Over the time your brain will learn this new routine which provides similar reward
Now understand the step- by- step guide to replace bad habits.
STEP- BY- STEP GUIDE OF REPACING METHOD
1) Identifying the habit want to change Be specific . Choose a definite habit.
2) Identify the CueWhat are triggers, any particular location, time of the day, situation, emotion find out it.
3) understand the reward What do you get from that habit? Be honest with this. Try to understand the benefits you receive.
4) Choose a Replacement for routine Find a new behaviour, which can give you the same reward. If your routine is scrolling social media. Try to replace it with reading books, taking a quick walk, talking with friends etc. Choose a positive replacement.
5) Practice it consistently Habits may take some time to settle. So be consistent, repeat it until your brain learns it.
6) Be patient Changing is the process. Sometimes you will demotivate, and will not be able to see exact results. But be patient with yourself. It can take some time, because it’s a process.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Transformation of habit is a process, taken consciously against subconscious. All habits are subconsciously fit. It may take some time to change it. Small changes will lead to bigger changes. With this technique, you can easily change your habits. We used the book ‘ The power of habits’ as a reference and other researches also. The replacing method described in this blog is also from that book.
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So next time catch yourself, whenever you perform a bad habit. Pause it, understand the cue, routine & reward and change it.