What Are Habits?
Habits are behaviors we perform daily and with little thought process to do so. It’s almost as if some of our daily habits are done automatically. We often classify habits as either being good or bad. There are also everyday habits that allow us to carry out essential activities, most of us have, that are simply our routines.
Everyone has habits. From what time we go to sleep or wake up in the morning, to what time we eat our meals or even tie our shoes - these are all actions we perform daily without even thinking about them. Good habits are categorized as behaviors that benefit our lives. Eating right, getting enough sleep, being financially responsible, and staying active daily are some habits that are generally considered good. Conversely, bad habits are behaviors that don’t enrich our lives or no longer work for us. Some examples of bad habits are, fingernail biting, the overindulgence of food or alcohol and drug use. These are learned behaviors that don’t benefit our lives. Then, there are daily routines that become habits too. Like the coffee you always buy from the same coffee shop on the way to work, or what time your body wakes up naturally every day or even the way you put your clothes on in the morning.
There are several reasons why we use habits and why they are important. We use habits to make our lives easier. For instance, think about the simple task of brushing your teeth. You don’t have to concentrate on how to brush your teeth every day; you just do it out of habit.
When we do things out of habit, our brains are allowed a break. Performing these tasks allows the brain to allocate more energy to focus on complex tasks and decisions. So, habits are actually important for brain function.
Habits are hard to break, whether they’re daily tasks or good or bad. Similarly, new habits are hard to form. Doing so requires a conscious effort. Lots of times, people end up going back to their old habits, even after trying hard to form new ones. This is why losing weight or breaking addiction is so hard. Changing your habits, changes the way your brain works, it’s no simple task.
Habits can be anything we do daily, from the mundane tasks to the decisions we make every day that affect your life. Habits can be considered good or bad, but we know that they are an important part of how our brains work. We can choose our habits in order to live a healthier lifestyle.
Habits Aren’t Inherently Good Or Bad
Habits are behaviors that are done every day that require little thinking or concentration. Habits include all sorts of activities. They can range from getting dressed or sleeping habits to what we eat and to smoking or substance addiction. Most people would classify their habits into two categories, good and bad. But, our habits aren't necessarily inherently good or bad. What actually categorizes good and bad habits has more to do with how these behaviors affect our lives and our goals we’ve set for ourselves. Most behaviors can be considered good or bad, depending on two factors. These factors are frequency of the behavior and how the behavior affects us.
Frequency of the behavior refers to how often that habit is carried out. So, take exercise, for example. Being in the habit of exercising daily is considered a good habit because of its many health benefits, like sleeping better, increased positive mood and maintaining a healthy weight. But, even exercise can become a bad habit if the frequency of the task is overdone. In some cases people exercise too much, several times a day, putting strain on the bodies or becoming overly focused on how their body looks.
The other factor in classifying what is considered a good or bad habit is how the habit affects us and the goals we’ve set for ourselves. Good habits enrich our lives and further us to our goals. Smoking cigarettes is considered a bad habit because smoking doesn’t enrich life; rather it negatively affects our health. The way we spend the money we make is another example. Spending money is necessary to live in our society. Many people have a goal of buying a home, so a common goal is to save money for a down payment. When the habit of spending starts to negatively affect our goals, it becomes classified as a bad habit.
Most people go through life with both good and bad habits. Those habits may change, depending on where you’re at in your life. Although habits are hard to change, they can be done. The point should be to have the good habits outweigh the bad. By making conscious decisions about which habits you would like to live with, you will ultimately enrich your life. Set goals for yourself. You can achieve your goals by putting your good habits to use.
Figuring Out What Habits Are Working For You And Which Ones Aren’t
The definition of a habit is a behavior that is repeated daily and that is done with little to no thinking involved. We all have habits. Classification of our habits ranges from good, healthy habits to bad habits that can be dangerous and hinder our lives. Most people would agree that good habits are the ones we strive for. But, how can we identify which habits we have and if they are working to further us or working against us? And how can we turn our not-so-good habits into great ones that will help us attain our goals?
One way to identify which habits you have is to audit your behaviors. If you take a few minutes per day for a week to jot down your activities, then you will be able to distinguish which habits you have. Once you understand the behaviors that you tend to repeat every day, you will be able to judge which habits are desirable for you and which may not be.
Desirable habits are those that positively impact your life and help you reach your personal goals. This may take some time and self-reflection. Think about what you want to achieve. An easy way to help organize your thoughts is to make a list of goals or what you want to change about yourself. Once you’ve done so, you can classify your habits into ones that will help you get to your goal or hinder you from doing so. For instance, many people would like to improve their overall health by losing a few pounds. If that is the goal you aim for, after auditing your habits, take a good look at how you can make some changes to your everyday life to help you get there. Maybe you notice that every day at 4:00 you get hungry and end up stopping on the way home from work at a drive-thru for fries and a drink. You can change that habit by planning ahead and packing a granola bar or some fruit to eat on the way home to tide you over instead. Or you may decide that if you wake up an hour earlier, you can go on a walk before work to burn some calories.
Figuring out which habits work positively for you and which ones don’t is the first step in bettering your life. A few changes to your usual routine can make a difference and get you closer to your goals.
Deciding What Bad Habit You Want To Break First
Identifying your habits is the first step towards gaining healthier habits that work for you, not against you. Once you have your habits identified, you can analyze which habits you'd like to keep and which ones you may want to rid yourself of. Most everyone has some sort of habit they’d like to change. How do we know which negative behavior we want to change first?
Bad habits range in severity. If any of your behaviors are detrimental to your health, start with that first. In some cases, you may need the help of a counselor to do so, if you cannot on your own. Take quitting smoking for example, if you notice that every day after lunch you want to smoke a cigarette, try replacing that desire with something else. Instead of reaching for the cigarette, chew a piece of gum or call a family member that you know supports your decision to quit. Even if you cut down on a few a day, you are closer to your goal.
Next, you should choose to break habits that hold you back from happiness. A pretty common example of a habit that will affect your happiness is negative self-talk. Oftentimes, people do this without even realizing it. Making a conscious effort to remain positive will greatly improve overall mood and happiness. Affirmations are positive sentences that you can repeat to yourself several times a day. This helps keep positivity on track and ultimately helps you reach your goals.
It’s important to not change too many habits at once. Start by picking one habit you want to change that you believe is detrimental to you moving forward toward your goal. Try making a few changes to that one bad habit that you've picked. Let’s say your goal is to get healthier physically by starting to go for a walk every morning. Start small, like a short walk around the neighborhood instead of expecting to start with a five-mile walk. Set small goals that will eventually lead you to your ultimate goal.
Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. Everyone has habits they would like to change. The first step is to acknowledge the habits you want to change. Then, you will be able to move forward in achieving your goals.
The Basics Of Breaking Bad Habits
We know that everyone has habits. Some habits are considered “good” because they make a positive impact on your life. Other habits are considered “bad,” as the behavior doesn’t improve your life or get you closer to your goals. In many cases, bad habits can pose a negative effect on your life. Bad habits can hold us back from achieving what we really want. Changing your bad habits in an effort to enrich your life isn’t necessarily easy. As the old saying goes, “old habits die hard.” Although breaking a bad habit may be tough, it’s not impossible.
The first action to take in order to break a bad habit is habit recognition. You must realize the behaviors you repeat daily and decide whether they are helpful to you or if they create a barrier to your goals. Auditing your habits can be made easier by logging your behaviors for a week and then reflecting on which habits you want to change. Once you’ve identified a behavior that you would like to change, there are some strategies you can use to break your bad habit.
Let’s imagine that after logging your habits, you come to the conclusion that you feel that you drink too much coffee in the morning. You’ve decided you want to change that behavior. One strategy that may help you change your habit is to come up with a substitute for it. Many times, part of what drives our habits is physical. Like the physical feeling of holding a warm mug and drinking something soothing and hot in the morning. Try to mimic that physical sensation, but with something else. If you substitute your daily coffee with hot tea, for example, you can keep the physical feeling, while becoming healthier and achieving your goal of less coffee consumption.
Another strategy that can help you kick a bad habit is to get rid of as many triggers as possible. After identifying what your bad habit is, think about how you feel before that behavior- that’s the trigger. If the bad habit is biting your nails, for instance, you may feel stress or anxiety before you start the behavior. Stress would be the trigger. Find other ways to manage your feelings and behaviors when a specific trigger comes up.
Start small. Do not try to make a list of ten behaviors you want to change and try to change them all at once. That will set you up for failure. Instead, start by trying to slowly break one bad habit. Breaking your habit slowly will ensure a higher success rate. So, if you want to become more active, start with 15 minutes of activity, not by trying to run a 5k. Remember to forgive yourself and move forward if you revert to your bad habit. It’s never too late to try again.
Why It Takes So Long To Break Bad Habits
Humans are creatures of habit. And if you’ve ever tried to break a bad habit you’ve had, you know it’s not an easy task. Habits are behaviors that have been repeated so often that they become almost like second nature. We no longer have to think about doing them. This is great if the behavior is a desirable one, such as eating healthy regularly. But, when the behavior is perceived as negative, that habit should be changed in order to achieve a positive outcome. Easier said than done, because habits are so ingrained in us, they actually affect your brain.
Habits are formed when a certain cue or trigger occurs, which in turn, enacts a behavior and then the brain receives a reward. And this happens so repeatedly, that the person no longer has to think about the behavior, it seems to occur automatically. Habits are hard to break because to do so, you’ll need to retrain your brain. Retraining your brain is difficult, but it definitely can be done, it just takes some time. Some actions you can take to get started on breaking a bad habit are:
Changing your environment- If you’re able to change your surroundings, even slightly, you will reduce the number of triggers you experience. You can do that by taking a different route to work, going on a mini-vacation, or changing up your everyday routine. This will disrupt the habit that your brain is used to. With fewer triggers, less reaction to the trigger, and less reward to the brain from the behavior.
Reward yourself for good behaviors- As I said before, your brain is rewarded after a trigger induces a behavior. So, when you successfully avoid the behavior you want to break, reward yourself instead. Eventually, the brain will be retrained away from the habit you desire to break.
Get support- Surround yourself with like-minded people. If you are constantly with people who have the same bad habit like the one you want to break, it's most definitely going to be harder to quit. Even reaching out to a family member or friend by phone or text will help get your mind off of your habit and help remind you of your goals.
Be realistic- Don’t set yourself up for failure by expecting too much change, all at once. Start small and work up to your desired goal. Know that breaking a habit takes time, don’t expect instant change.
If you hope to break a bad habit and are serious about getting results, follow these steps. You will be on your way to positive change.
Simple Hacks To Catch Yourself In A Bad Habit
Nearly everyone has a habit that they would like to kick. Whether it’s drinking less caffeine, to stop biting fingernails, stop overeating or exercising more, the list goes on and on. One of the reasons we have bad habits is because the behavior often feels good or serves a purpose. So, the goal of breaking a bad habit is to retrain the brain into not using the behavior as a reward. First, you’ll need to identify the bad habit you want to break and why. Once you start on the path of trying to break your bad habit there are a few simple hacks that can be used to help you along the way.
Reminders are another little hack you can use. Reminders can be used in several ways. You can set an alarm on your phone that rings once or several times a day to help you keep focus. You can enlist the support of a friend or family member to help remind you of your goal. You can use handwritten reminders, such as post-it notes around the house. Some people prefer more discrete reminders, like putting a little mark on their hand, for example, and whenever they see it, they remember the goal they want to achieve.
There are some physical hacks that can be used to break a habit as well. Techniques like tapping have been used with success. Tapping is the practice of tapping your fingertips on specific meridian points on your body. It’s generally used as a therapy technique to help with anxiety, fear, and achieving one’s goals. You can use tapping to help you break a bad habit. One way to do so is, when you feel the urge or the trigger to perform the unwanted behavior, you score your urge on a scale from 1-10. Then, then you start tapping. After you tap for 30 seconds, you score your urge again. In many cases, the urge score has decreased significantly. You can repeat this process until your urge has decreased enough that you are able to move on in that moment without performing the undesired behavior.
Another physical hack used to catch yourself in a bad habit and curb it, is the rubber band method. You can put a semi-loose rubber band around your wrist. When you get the urge to act on a bad habit, you pull the rubber band slightly and let it snap back on your wrist. This technique is not designed to hurt. Its purpose is to remind and distract away from unwanted behavior.
Breaking habits is not necessarily simple. But, these hacks will help you stay on course along the way, once you decide on your goal of breaking a specific bad habit.
Identifying Triggers For Bad Habits And Avoiding Them
A trigger is defined as an event that kicks off the automatic urge to complete a habit. People might think of triggers as major life events. However, that’s not necessarily the case as it relates to habits. A trigger can be something so small, you don’t even recognize it. But, as small as they can be, identifying the triggers is an important part of changing your habits. Habits are said to form in what’s known as a habit loop. A habit loop is a neurological loop that consists of three parts; a trigger, a behavior, and a reward. If breaking a bad habit is your goal, you must first identify the triggers and ultimately try to avoid or negate them.
In order to identify what triggers your bad habits, you need to make a habit log. Write down all of your activities for a week including time of day and where you are during the activities. After completing the log for a week, you will need to analyze your habits. Next, decide what bad habit you’d like to change. Now that you understand what habits you have and what habits you want to change, you can begin to identify what triggers the habit.
Identifying the triggers requires a bit of self-reflection. Let’s imagine the habit you’d like to change is nail-biting. Think about where you were when you logged the times you bite your nails. Is there a commonality? A location could be the trigger, such as driving in the car. Also, think about how you were feeling directly before the behavior. For example, were you stressed because you were thinking about work? Most likely, you will be able to find commonalities that led you to the behavior- these are the triggers.
Now that you’ve identified the triggers, you’ll need to decide how to deal with them. Depending on the circumstances, you can either stop the trigger or you can change the behavior that the trigger induced. For instance, say the bad habit you want to break is the overuse of checking your phone. You realize you tend to check your phone a lot at night before bedtime. You could get rid of your phone, but that doesn’t seem reasonable. Substituting the behavior with something else or changing up your bedtime routine makes more sense, in this case. Changing up your routine might be something like leaving your phone in the kitchen instead of the bedside table overnight. Or you can buy a new book you’re interested in and decide to read instead of check emails and social media.
It’s said that triggers are the key to existing habits and in forming new ones. If breaking a bad habit is your goal, identifying the triggers is the first step.
