![]() To break a bad habit, flip the laws of behavior change on their head, like our furry friend here! How To Break A Bad Habit: The Step-By-Step PlanĪlright, enough theory, let’s get down to work and send those bad habits screaming for the hills so that they can’t haunt you anymore. If the reward doesn’t satisfy the craving, we won’t repeat the behavior, and a habit won’t form.Ĭheck out the table below for additional examples of the four habit loop steps: When performing the habit does satisfy the craving we experience, the habit loop comes full circle, making us more likely to perform that habit again. For it to be an effective habit, the reward must satisfy the initial craving.įor example, drinking coffee must satisfy my craving of feeling more awake and alert, or else I wouldn’t continue to do it. The reward is the whole reason that we perform a habit. In our example, this would be me putting the coffee mug to my lips, and actually drinking the coffee. This is the part of the loop where we actually perform the habit itself. The third part of the habit loop is the response. If you are struggling to identify the true cause of your craving, check out the 5 whys technique. Instead, the true craving is a want/need to wake up, feel more alert, and be ready for the day. And while they might like the taste of coffee, that’s usually not the craving, or motivating force behind wanting to drink the coffee. In our coffee example, you might think at first that people crave the taste of coffee. It is important to really dig deep and discover the true craving that causes us to perform our bad habits. Without a craving, we wouldn’t take action and the habit loop wouldn’t continue. It is the reason that motivates you to actually do the habit. The craving is the want or need to perform the habit. The CravingĪfter the cue, comes the craving. This kicks off the habit of rolling out of bed, going downstairs, and turning the coffee maker on. For me, the cue to drink coffee is my alarm clock going off in the morning. It could be a thought, a feeling, an event or something more physical that you see, hear, etc.įor example, let’s say, hypothetically, that the habit I want to quit is drinking coffee. The cue is essentially a reminder or trigger for the brain to start a habit. Click To TweetĪlright, good to go? Let’s go through the four steps of the habit loop which describes how habits are formed. ![]() But if you want to exorcise your bad habits, grab yourself a copy of #AtomicHabits, aaaand maybe a few cloves of garlic for good measure. If you want to exorcise a demon, you need a copy of the Holy Bible. However, the version habit loop that I have depicted here, was modified from its original version by James Clear, author of the book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. The habit loop was first conceived by Charles Duhigg, author of the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. So let’s take a few moments to understand how habits work. In order to banish our bad habits, we must first be able to think like a bad habit. So my goal for today’s Halloween-themed post is to teach you how to be your own exorcist and rid yourself forever of those bad habits that have been haunting you.įollow the four steps laid out here, and your bad habits will be running for the hills, screaming all the way. We may want to quit these bad habits, but like the demon inside a possessed person – they can be really hard to shake! All because we are letting these bad habits rule our life.įor example, these bad habits could be: being sedentary, smoking, eating lots of processed foods high in fat and sugar, spending more money than we make, etc. And by carrying out these bad habits, we end up doing things that harm us in the long run. The demon inside of them is controlling their actions.Ī bad habit can be similar – we go through the motions without really realizing what we are doing. People that are possessed do things that are harmful to themselves (or others) without realizing it. Having bad habits is a little like being possessed. What Do Bad Habits & Being Possessed Have in Common?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |