Habits are a combination of cue, action and reward. Broadening your awareness of the cues and the rewards – what sets your habit going and what you are getting out of it, enables you to hijack this loop and develop it into one that is healthier.
Who should read this?
Anyone who wants to stop a bad habit, like smoking or endless instagram scrolling (follow me here if you’re doing that anyway!), or trying to pick up a new healthy habit or routine.
Quote I found helpful:
“Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
Habits are unconscious actions that feel natural and hard to change. The Power of Habit presents a structured way of looking at our habits and a practical framework for hijacking this to stop doing the things you don’t want to do and start doing the things you do. The systematic approach to habits gives us a three-step model of Cue, Action and Reward to base our attempts to change on. Building an awareness of what initiates your habits and what you get from doing them gives us something to work on when looking to change them.
I use this framework often with clients who are looking to stop smoking or drinking. Working with them we identify the cues, often social, stress or time-related, and the reward for the action, often relaxation or “dutch courage”, but also sometimes simply something to do with their hands during the anxious moment. Once these are identified, the plan becomes to either eliminate or minimise the cues, or substitute the action for another healthier option which still satisfies the reward. For example, carrying a pen gives them a way to focus or use up some of the nervous energy and something to do with their hands other than smoking or lifting the glass to their mouth.
Hijacking this loop can also enable the creation of new habits by selecting and strengthening the Cue, Action, Reward links. If you are looking to start a new exercise routine, pick up a new skill or train your set-piece routine or tactics in sport. This can give a framework to work from and set reasonable, practical goals to get there.
The main takeaway from this book is that habits are unconscious routines that are inevitable. We can either take control of them or allow them to control us. Also, once these habits are ingrained they can’t be erased, only overwritten.
Find The Power of Habit on Amazon and read it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments. Contact us here for professional help changing your habits or working on your psychology.