Automate the Good, Replace the Bad
In college, my soccer teammates enjoyed a good number of laughs over some of my particular behaviors. I always kept my planner close by and was precisely scheduled. I felt surprised the day I learned that it’s not a common practice to schedule in your planner the time of day you will shower. We all have recurring behaviors like how we get dressed, talk to our kids, and what we eat for lunch. So, what can we do to ensure that these recurring behaviors produce the life we want?
Habit Formation
First, these recurrent, automatic behaviors that occur in response to a contextual cue are called habits. Habits are a powerful and delicate part of our lifestyle. Overtime, the accumulation of our habits has an exponential effect on our lives.
The process occurs in a three-part sequence:
1. Cue. Something in our environment: a sight, sound, feeling, or smell. Cues motivate a response or behavior because they have been associated with a reward.
2. Routine. A regular behavior or pattern of thinking following a cue. Examples include the way we exercise, fall asleep, drive to work, or reach for our phones with a moment of down time.
3. Reward. Our routine is reinforced with something we like. It could be a pleasant experience or relief from a negative feeling.
Habits in Action
Habits can produce positive or negative outcomes in our lives. While habits like smoking produce negative long-term effects on our health, there are short-term rewards that reinforce the habit.
For example, people who are habitual exercisers often follow a habit sequence such as:
• Cue: Alarm clock rings.
• Routine: Put on exercise clothes, go outside for walk/run.
• Reward: The feel-good response during or after exercise, a sense of accomplishment, stress relief, improved mood, increase energy, etc.
The same habit cycle applies for negative habits, like over eating when not feeling hungry:
• Cue: Feeling bored or stressed at work.
• Routine: Go to the break room to eat a snack.
• Reward: Interruption from boredom, brief release from stress, provides stimulation, socialization with co-workers.
Many of our habits in life take place outside of our conscious awareness. This does not mean we are unconscious while we are behaving, but rather habits can be behaviors that are done without effortful control and contemplation. A simple example is brushing your teeth. Most adults brush their teeth without consciously deliberating. Teeth brushing is an automatic part of their morning and evening routine, that is reinforced with the reward of a minty fresh mouth.
The Good News
We can build the lives we want when we automatize positive habits and replace negative habits. The first step is gaining awareness. Break down your behaviors as in the following example:
The cycle of my habit of scheduling when to shower:
• Cue: Seeing my planner on my desk.
• Routine: Scheduling my day.
• Reward: 1) A sense of accomplishment. I thoroughly enjoy crossing things off my list. 2) A sense of control. Having a written plan gives me a perception (or illusion 🙂 ) of control in the chaos.
Apply It
What behaviors do you do on a regular basis? Take the first step in habit formation and become aware of the cue and reward of your habits. Awareness of our habits and a knowledge of how to make new habits is a powerful tool in lifestyle design.
Next, stay tuned for my upcoming article on replacing negative with positive habits!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
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Reference:
Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit. The Random House Publishing Co.
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