Overview
Habits are defined as the small daily decisions we make and actions taken throughout our lives. These habits can account for almost half of our behavior on any given day. Practically every decision we make or act out has been from the habits we have chosen to follow. This is why your life looks the way it does, from habits. Habits can determine so many things that make up your personal existence. For example, your fitness level, happiness, success, mental/emotional health, etc. All results of your habits.
Oftentimes when you make certain decisions in life they repeat or become a routine, this is another way of classifying a habit. These patterns or cycles essentially are what make you who you are. If you binge tv shows on the weekends, you could be identified as a frequent viewer. This has built up over time and is now basically a weekend ritual for you. Most habits like these are fine as long as they aren’t getting in the way of your goals, responsibilities, health, or anything that starts to show detriments in your life. If you feel that something you do quite often might be a bad habit, just know it is entirely possible to change your habits and change your life.
More than anything else, getting rid of old habits and implementing new ones helps to improve your life with structure. With the structure that you provide for yourself, you are also becoming more reliable and responsible in making the right decisions. It’s a 2 for 1 deal that helps you improve your mental state and general outlook, not to mention all of the other benefits from your healthy habits. Some great things to start out with is to set up your calendar, making sure you have everything laid out for the week ahead, some even do monthly planners. Speaking of planners, journaling and writing about challenges or daily reflections is a great way to unload what you go through every day. Exercise is another one of the best changes you can begin implementing to not only see physical improvements but also your mental state. Anything that you pursue to be healthier, happier, more productive, responsible, etc. are what habits do, create a healthier and happier you!
Key Points
Here are 3 lessons to help you to break bad habits and form good ones:
- Every time we perform a habit, we execute a four-step pattern: cue, craving, response, reward.
- If we want to form new habits, we should make them obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
- You can use a habit tracker as a fun way to measure your progress and make sure you don’t fall off the wagon.
Simple 4 step process to form good habits:
- Cue. A piece of information that suggests there’s a reward to be found, like the smell of a cookie or a dark room waiting to light up.
- Craving. The motivation to change something to get the reward, like tasting the delicious cookie or being able to see.
- Response. Whatever thought or action you need to take to get to the reward.
- Reward. The satisfying feeling you get from the change, along with the lesson whether to do it again or not.