Hack your habits

For better or for worse, habits take the work out of decision-making. They rationalize behaviors to free you from the heavy mental burden of making a choice. Habits are "free" and require very little energy. And once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom - and the responsibility - to change them. This is how you can begin to rebuild your habits to create a happier, healthier you.

Welcome to the power of habits

Habit creates easy repetition of habit-related behaviors. It streamlines our lives so that the tasks we need or want to do repeatedly and in a certain order become easier and easier to do.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg presents a simple yet powerful dbulk format for habits called a "habit loop". It is a framework for understanding the structure of any habit. According to Duhigg, our habits are made up of three elements:

CUE >> Routine >> Reward

Cue = The trigger that tells your brain to go into auto mode and which habit to use.

Routine = the behavior - the habit - which can be physical, mental or emotional.

Reward = The good feeling that comes after the routine.

Habits are so powerful because they create neurological cravings – a craving in your brain. New habits are created by setting up a cue, a routine, and a reward, then cultivating an urge that drives the loop.

A signal and a reward, by themselves, are not enough to sustain a new habit. It's only when your brain starts expecting the reward - after a rush or a sense of accomplishment - that it will become automatic. Cue, in addition to triggering a routine, must also trigger a craving for the upcoming reward.

Hack your habits

To hack your habits, you need to insert a new routine into the Cue >> Routine >> Reward Habits loop that we identified earlier.

Step 1 - Learn Your Signal

Your first step is to identify your signal. Remember that a habit is a work-saving tool for your brain. The routine or behavior is often the easiest part to identify, while the signal is less obvious. The tricky part then is finding the cue that triggers the behavior. You may know that you have the habit/routine of eating a bowl of ice cream at night, but you may have no idea what the queue is.

You might turn on the TV to relax and the soothing coolness of ice cream starts to create the craving. Or maybe it signals a change in your day from time to time for responsibility and time for relaxation and fun, as sweets are often used on festive occasions. Look for patterns in your behavior and write them down (yes, write them down).

Whatever habit you are trying to change or develop, you need to know the cue that triggers the habit. This awareness comes from paying attention to the things you do (instead of making them thoughtless).

Step 2 - Change the routine

Do something different in the middle step - the routine. Instead of turning on the TV, you can briefly talk with your family members or friends about your all-time favorite TV shows. Or if you're alone, do something fun and physical for a few minutes before turning on the TV. Both can give you the same feeling of satisfaction, happiness and relaxation that you once felt with ice cream or wine.

Or maybe not.

In that case, try something else. Experiment on yourself. You know yourself better than anyone. There are countless ways to modify a behavior to achieve the same reward. Just keep experimenting until you understand.

What you actually do instead of eating ice cream is less important than keeping trying different things until you find an appropriate reward.

Steps in the real world

As identified in The Power of Habit, nearly all common signals fall into one of five categories:

Place

Weather

emotional state

The other people

Just before the action

These categories can help you begin to become aware of the circumstances surrounding various habits that you have already established. When you notice an urge or urge hitting you, notice these five things:

Where are you?

What time is it?

What is your emotional state?

Who else is nearby?

What action preceded the desire?

As with everything