Many of us would like to include some healthy or otherwise beneficial habits in our lives. Eat healthier, practice more sports, lose weight, read more, acquire knowledge, learn a language, etc. The list is endless.
However, most of us find it difficult to create new habits so that they really become part of our routine. We might abandoned them soon. Or we cannot even find the moment to start.
Why habits are important
Our life consists of a whole series of habits. Throughout the day we carry out different routines, more or less healthy, more or less beneficial. We automate certain behaviours and actions.
Our brain is a complex organ that consumes a lot of energy. That is why it seeks to automate the maximum number of possible actions. The question is whether we use this fact in our favor.
Why we have a hard time acquiring new habits
We know that acquiring a certain habit would be good for our health, for our well-being, for our personal or professional development. Even so, it is usually easier to continue with the routines that we already have. Better the devil you know than the one you do not, right?
When we have trouble familiarising ourselves with a habit, it is usually due to not paying enough attention to the four components of a habit. They are cue, craving, response, and reward.
How we can create new habits
To acquire a new habit and not quit, it is important to first understand these four components. They feed back in a circle. First, a cue encourages us to carry out a certain action. We feel the desire and craving to carry it out. Then we respond with action. Afterwards we receive a reward for the action. The reward can in turn be a new cue and motivation to carry out the habit.
If we take advantage of these four components, it will be easier for us to create new habits. So, let us see how to do it.
Reduce resistance
When we start something new we can feel some resistance. Perhaps we feel lazy. We may feel insecure or even afraid. That is why it is convenient to reduce the discomfort or friction that we feel.
Nature and humans function according to the law of least effort. However, when we start a new habit, sometimes we complicate things for ourselves. That is why it is convenient to make the habit so easy that you will carry it out even when you do not feel like it.
Reduce friction
Let us take the example of wanting to practice more sport. To reduce friction, it helps to choose an activity that you enjoy. Then choose a gym that is between your home and your work. If it is out of your usual way you will need more self-motivation to go to the gym. But if it lies on your route, it will be easier.
You can also leave the sportswear ready the day before or in the morning. Depending on your case, it may be a matter of leaving the bag with the clothes at the door of your home so that you can take it to work in the morning. Or leave your clothes on display at home so you see them when you return home. Thus it serves as a cue to change clothes and go out to exercise.
Let us put some other examples. Do you want to read more and watch less television? Leave the book in plain sight and hide the television remote. Do you want to learn to play an instrument? Then leave it well in sight. Do you want to eat healthier? First, avoid buying unhealthy food. Then place healthy foods in plain sight. It can also be useful to prepare healthy dishes for several days. Since you already have them prepared, these dishes will be the easiest option to eat the following days.
Apply the two-minute rule
As I said, when we want to acquire a new habit, sometimes we are too ambitious. So, on days when we feel less motivated, we falter in our good intentions.
So when you start a new habit, apply the two-minute rule. In other words, reduce your new habit so that it does not take more than two minutes. Do you want to get into the habit of running? Start by running just two minutes each day. Do you want to learn a new language? Spend two minutes each day learning new words or phrases.
Limit yourself the first few days to two minutes of the new activity. There will come a time that it seems so easy that you want to increase the duration. Two minutes may seem like a very short time, but it is about making your new habit as easy as possible. This reduces resistance even on days when you do not feel motivated.
Take advantage of your environment
Our environment greatly influences how easy or difficult it is for us to acquire a good habit or abandon a bad one. If we grow up in an athletic family, it will seem normal to practice sports. If our parents used to come home, drop onto the couch and turn on the TV to relax, it is another habit we will consider normal.
Therefore, if you want to acquire a habit that does not seem to be “normal” in your usual environment, change your environment or look for one where it is. Encourage your family or friends to participate. Or hang out with people who consider that habit normal.
On the other hand, as I mentioned in the section on reducing resistance, prepare your environment to facilitate your habit. Leave the things you need for your habits in sight: sportswear, instrument, book, course etc. Depending on the habit, maybe you can create a space dedicated to it. Your space to meditate, do yoga, paint, read or whatever. That will give you a visual cue to take action.
Be explicit with your new habit
“I want to practice more sports” is fine, but not too specific. To make it a habit, turn it into a specific intention. I am going to do [habit] at [time] in [place]. Thus, specific intentions could be: I am going to practice Pilates for one hour at 7 pm in the gym. I will meditate for 10 minutes at 7:30 in the living room. I will go to Spanish class on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm at school X.
It is convenient that you write the intention down or you schedule it on your agenda. Just as it is more difficult to forget an appointment with the dentist if you have it on your agenda, seeing your intention written down will also help you carry out your habit.
Take advantage of existing habits
Another way to make your journey towards a new habit easier is to join it with good habits you already have. Review your day and think about all the actions you already carry out. It may even be a good idea to write them down. Then consider when your new habit may best fit. To be effective you should choose other habits that you carry out on a daily basis.
Then, just like in the previous point, create an intention: After [current habit] I am going to do [new habit].
Let us see some specific examples: After showering and dressing I will meditate for 15 minutes. After lunch I will go for a half-hour walk. After work I will go to the gym. When I get home, after changing my clothes, I will study Spanish for 15 minutes.
This trick also works great by matching something you want to do with something you should do. For example: I am going to study half an hour, before playing a video game. I am going to meet my friends after going to the gym. While I watch the series that I like I am going to ride on the static bike.
Reward yourself
Promising ourselves a reward is another effective method of reducing resistance to a new habit. The funny thing is that the first time we experience a reward, dopamine, one of the hormones of happiness, is released. But the following times the dopamine is already released with the stimulus or cue of the action that led us to the reward the first time. This means rewards are powerful motivators.
So think about how you can reward yourself after carrying out your new habit.
The trick I told you about combining something you like to do with something you must do also takes advantage of this mechanism of releasing dopamines due to the anticipation of the reward.
You can also use the trick of not breaking the chain. This is about marking an X on a calendar every day you carry out the habit. This is just as satisfying as crossing out tasks from a list. It will motivate you not to want to break the chain.
Create a system of good habits
Having good habits is having a good system that helps us carry them out with little effort. A system consists of a series of actions that occur one after another in an interlacing way.
A system to eat healthier could be the following. Make a shopping list of healthy food. That way you know what to buy when you go to the supermarket. The temptation will be less to stroll through the aisles of the supermarket and take whatever you feel like. Then you can relocate the food in the fridge, on the counter and in the cupboards so that the healthiest food is what is most in sight.
Do you want to eat more fruit? How about leaving a bowl of fruit in plain sight on the counter? Do you tend to snack between meals? Prepare a few carrot sticks or a bowl of nuts (not roasted and without salt). Do you tend to have little time or motivation to cook after work? One day you have more time and motivation, prepare the food for several days. In this way, the following days you will only have to heat up the meals.
Applied to doing more sports it could be something like this: Leave sportswear ready and in sight. Set a time when you do not usually fail due to unforeseen events. To do this create an intention as we have seen before.
Have patience and perseverance
It is often said that acquiring a habit takes around two months. But it all depends on the frequency with which we carry it out. In other words, introducing a habit into our routine is more a matter of the number of repetitions. The more we repeat the habit, the more we will get used to it. The more repetitions, the less motivation will we need because with the slightest cue we will already want to carry out our habit.
Also note that the results are not immediate. Little progress is made until the point where we suddenly notice a major breakthrough. In other words, the progress curve is not linear but exponential.
Still, do not underestimate the importance of small improvements. Improving 1% each day means 37% improvement over a year. Not inconsiderable at all, is it? Earlier I told you about the two-minute rule to reduce resistance towards implementing a new habit. Although it may seem like a short time to create a habit, it will also help you with that 1% improvement.
Finally I suggest that you do not fail twice in a row. If you forget your new habit once, get back to it right away. Did you forget to meditate yesterday? Well do not fail today. Did you not eat as healthy today as you intended? Think about what you are going to eat tomorrow and perhaps even prepare something already in order to stick to your good intention the next day.
Are you having trouble creating new habits?
How well do you acquire new habits? Do you find it difficult to start? Or do you have a harder time not to abandon? Which of the recommendations do you think will be most useful to you?
