4 SIMPLE WAYS TO BREAK BAD HABITS
The reality is habits are hard to change, change is not easy. A good habit leads us in our journey of growth & development.
While a bad habit starts cobwebbs then over time it develops into a ball & chain around your ankle. Bare in mind that the longer you participate in a bad habit, the harder it will be to let go.
Sports psychologist and author Tony Scwartz who wrote the book Be Excellent at Anything says that 95% of people who lose weight regain it back and a significant percentage gain more than they originally lost.
That's 95% ya'll! Another statistic shows that only 1-7 patients even after a heart attack make any significant enduring changes with diet and exercise. Why? Habits.
In the Book The Power of Habit Charles Duhigg mentions one of the key takeaways is to recognizing the triggers as the core component of self control. Cues and triggers for taming habits require paying attention to the cues and triggers. Bad habits unlike responding to new temptations, are impulsively controlled. Impulse requires no thinking it operates on auto pilot. With the same token it can be our ally when we develop a good habit as well. Because we also want to be on auto pilot and usually are when a good habit is strong.
So what can we do?
We can start by implementing these 4 strategies.
1. AWARENESS
Write down all your cues that trigger the behavior you are trying to change. Thus taking notes by hand with a pad and pencil forces the brain to engage in some heavy lifting resulting in fostering retention. As oppose to typing which is a kind of a shallow way to transcribe in addition, it fails to promote a meaningful understanding or application of the data.
2. MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS
Don't break the chain! As the great Peter Drucker says "What doesn't get measured doesn't get managed" Peter is right on point.
With personal metrics you are able visually see your progress. I suggest a physical tangible planner, calender or if you're on a budget a piece of graph paper. Set your own rules you don't have to practice the new habit everyday. You set the rules. Example; If you have lived a sedentary lifestyle getting into the habit of exercising 45 minutes 5 days a week and being consistent right of the bat is a moonshot. However, if you say "I'm gonna exercise 5 minutes 4 days a week" that's a more doable approach. Then as weeks go by it can be incresed to 15, 20, and 30 minutes. Because in the beginning it's not about performance it's about consistentcy thus developing the habit.
One cardinal rule that I follow on developing a new habit is never miss 2 days in a row. I can miss one and when I do it becomes the number 1 priority the following day.
3. CHOOSE A KEYSTONE HABIT FIRST.
A keystone habit is a habit that has the power to start a chain reaction. In other words some habits contribute on a wider scale than others. For example let's use the example of exercise again (I use this example because everyone can relate) even if it's only twice a week unrelated patterns start to change, often unknowingly. Typically people who exercise start eating better, make better decisions at the supermarket, and become more productive at work. They also have a tendency to drink less, smoke less if at all and as a matter of fact bitch less.(you might want to let your significant other know) So for many exercise is a keystone habit that triggers a widespread of positive change.
4. THE #1 HABIT CHANGING ORGANIZATION and what we can learn from it.
This might come to a surprise I know it did for me. The #1 habit changing organization in the world is AA Alcoholic Anonymous. Now I'm not promoting AA or abstinence what I am promoting is their strategies that can be implemented in a wide variety of bad habits.
Now, I know AA doesn't work for everyone, success rates are hard to measure because of the participants anonymity. But millions & millions credit the program for changing and saving their lives. Dozens upon dozens different treatment programs such as narcotic anonymous, sex anonymous, over eating anonymous, smoking, video game; you name the addiction and there's a treatment center that has incorporated some or all of AA strategies.
A. They identify the cues that trigger
That's mainly what happens in meetings and when talking to sponsors.
B. The drinking ROUTINE CHANGED by going to meetings or talking to sponsors.
The point isn't meetings or sponsors it's the changing of routines.
C. AA has a 90 meetings in 90 days challenge. Modify it to a 21 day new habit challenge. Remember make the rules that set you up to win.
I just scratched the surface Charles Duhigg who wrote The Power of Habit goes into much more detail & provides in depth analysis with compelling examples.
The reality is habits are hard to change, change is not easy. A good habit leads us in our journey of growth & development.
While a bad habit starts cobwebbs then over time it develops into a ball & chain around your ankle. Bare in mind that the longer you participate in a bad habit, the harder it will be to let go.
Sports psychologist and author Tony Scwartz who wrote the book Be Excellent at Anything says that 95% of people who lose weight regain it back and a significant percentage gain more than they originally lost.
That's 95% ya'll! Another statistic shows that only 1-7 patients even after a heart attack make any significant enduring changes with diet and exercise. Why? Habits.
In the Book The Power of Habit Charles Duhigg mentions one of the key takeaways is to recognizing the triggers as the core component of self control. Cues and triggers for taming habits require paying attention to the cues and triggers. Bad habits unlike responding to new temptations, are impulsively controlled. Impulse requires no thinking it operates on auto pilot. With the same token it can be our ally when we develop a good habit as well. Because we also want to be on auto pilot and usually are when a good habit is strong.
So what can we do?
We can start by implementing these 4 strategies.
1. AWARENESS
Write down all your cues that trigger the behavior you are trying to change. Thus taking notes by hand with a pad and pencil forces the brain to engage in some heavy lifting resulting in fostering retention. As oppose to typing which is a kind of a shallow way to transcribe in addition, it fails to promote a meaningful understanding or application of the data.
2. MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS
Don't break the chain! As the great Peter Drucker says "What doesn't get measured doesn't get managed" Peter is right on point.
With personal metrics you are able visually see your progress. I suggest a physical tangible planner, calender or if you're on a budget a piece of graph paper. Set your own rules you don't have to practice the new habit everyday. You set the rules. Example; If you have lived a sedentary lifestyle getting into the habit of exercising 45 minutes 5 days a week and being consistent right of the bat is a moonshot. However, if you say "I'm gonna exercise 5 minutes 4 days a week" that's a more doable approach. Then as weeks go by it can be incresed to 15, 20, and 30 minutes. Because in the beginning it's not about performance it's about consistentcy thus developing the habit.
One cardinal rule that I follow on developing a new habit is never miss 2 days in a row. I can miss one and when I do it becomes the number 1 priority the following day.
3. CHOOSE A KEYSTONE HABIT FIRST.
A keystone habit is a habit that has the power to start a chain reaction. In other words some habits contribute on a wider scale than others. For example let's use the example of exercise again (I use this example because everyone can relate) even if it's only twice a week unrelated patterns start to change, often unknowingly. Typically people who exercise start eating better, make better decisions at the supermarket, and become more productive at work. They also have a tendency to drink less, smoke less if at all and as a matter of fact bitch less.(you might want to let your significant other know) So for many exercise is a keystone habit that triggers a widespread of positive change.
4. THE #1 HABIT CHANGING ORGANIZATION and what we can learn from it.
This might come to a surprise I know it did for me. The #1 habit changing organization in the world is AA Alcoholic Anonymous. Now I'm not promoting AA or abstinence what I am promoting is their strategies that can be implemented in a wide variety of bad habits.
Now, I know AA doesn't work for everyone, success rates are hard to measure because of the participants anonymity. But millions & millions credit the program for changing and saving their lives. Dozens upon dozens different treatment programs such as narcotic anonymous, sex anonymous, over eating anonymous, smoking, video game; you name the addiction and there's a treatment center that has incorporated some or all of AA strategies.
A. They identify the cues that trigger
That's mainly what happens in meetings and when talking to sponsors.
B. The drinking ROUTINE CHANGED by going to meetings or talking to sponsors.
The point isn't meetings or sponsors it's the changing of routines.
C. AA has a 90 meetings in 90 days challenge. Modify it to a 21 day new habit challenge. Remember make the rules that set you up to win.
I just scratched the surface Charles Duhigg who wrote The Power of Habit goes into much more detail & provides in depth analysis with compelling examples.
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