This is a simplistic overview of what habits are and how to create ones that you want.
What is a Habit?
A habit is a behavior that has become automatic over time.
Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit” says there are three components to a habit:
1. cue
2. routine
3. reward
The cue sets the behavior into motion. It acts as a trigger. the cue can be a time of day, a location, an emotion, another behavior etc.
The routine is the behavior itself.
The reward is a physical treat or sense of accomplishment etc Rewards can trigger neurological cravings.1 In other words, when a reward is pleasurable enough, we want to repeat that behavior. The anticipation of the rewards is ultimately what creates the habit.
Listen to Charles Talk About Habits
Watch Charles explain how habits work in the video below:
Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.
If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.
How to Start a New Habit
Did you hear Charles share how Starbucks trained their front-line staff to respond to angry customers in a more customer-friendly way? We can apply the same concept when we want to adopt (or change) a habit. Here’s how…
Find a habit you already do in your life every day. Attach or anchor your new habit to it. In other words, use your every day habit as the cue to start the new behavior you want.
For example., let’s say you want to read for 15 minutes every morning.
What habits do you already have in the morning, that would lead naturally to reading?
You brush your teeth. Have a shower. Brush your hair. Get dressed. Drink some tea or coffee.
That last one! Could you use sitting down to drink your tea or coffee as a cue to read?
What’s the reward in this case? Your enjoyment of reading.
How Can You Help Make This New Habit Stick?
You may have noticed some habits are easier to adopt that others! Here are two tips that will help.
1. Start small
If a habit is hard to do or takes too much time, chances are you won’t do it. Instead of reading a book a day, choose to read one page or for 10 minutes.
2. Make it simple to do
If you want to read, put the book where you sit down to drink your coffee or tea.
3. Remind yourself.
At the beginning you may need to remind yourself to do your new habit. Set a reminder on your phone. Write a note and put it where you’ll see it.
Sources:
1. “The Power of Habits” by Charles Duhigg. (p. 47 & 51)