To Break Unhealthy Habits, Stop Obsessing Over Willpower

“As behavioral scientists, we’ve learned that people often repeat everyday behaviors out of habit. If you regularly drink coffee, you likely do so automatically as part of your habitual routine – not just out of tiredness. But habit just doesn’t feel like a good explanation – it’s unsatisfying to say that we do something just because it’s what we’re used to doing. Instead, we concoct more compelling explanations, like saying we drink coffee to ease our morning fog.

This reluctance means that we fail to recognize many habits, even as they permeate our daily lives.

Changing habits begins with the environments that support them. Research shows that leveraging the cues that trigger habits in the first place can be incredibly effective. For example, reducing the visibility of cigarette packs in stores has curbed cigarette purchases.

Effectively changing behavior starts with recognizing that a great deal of behavior is habitual. Habits keep us repeating unwanted behaviors but also desirable ones, even if just enjoying a good-tasting morning brew.”

Read full article at The Conversation

✨Discussion: People frequently repeat routine behaviors out of habit. We are reluctant to admit our habits, even though they infiltrate every aspect of our everyday life. According to research, it can be very effective to use the cues that first set off routines. The surroundings that encourage behaviors are the first that need to be addressed.

Habits are formed in specific environments that provide a cue, or trigger, for the behavior. So, changing your routine or hiding a cue/trigger can be an effective way to change an unhealthy habit.

For instance, I have a habit of drinking too much coffee. So, to change this, I can hide the coffee maker that serves as a cue to make me want to drink it.

✨Reflection: What’s one bad habit that you wish you could easily change?

#Habits #Willpower #Routines #Behavior #BadHabits #Unhealthy