Mindfully identify your habits — Make a habit scorecard by listing your habits

The human brain is a prediction machine. It is continuously taking in your surroundings and the information it comes across.

When it sees something repeatedly, it sorts and highlights the relevant cues and files that information for future use.

You don’t need to be aware of a cue consciously, for a habit to begin. This is both good and bad. Good because additional processing effort is saved. Bad — because habits begin to govern us unconsciously.

For this reason, the process of behaviour change must begin with awareness. If a habit remains mindless, you can not hope to improve it.

If you travel on the Japanese subway — you will see the conductors pointing and calling out verbally — every job related action that they perform. This required-by-the-train-company mindfulness has reduced errors by 85% and accidents by 30%.

#doableAction To mindfully identify your habits — Make a habit scorecard by listing your habits and assigning them (= for neutral, + for desirable, — for undesirable).

The goal is simply to notice what is going on. Bring it into awareness. If you eat a chocolate bar every morning, acknowledge it, as if you were seeing someone else doing it. No more. No less.

Desirable and Undesirable scores depend on what you want to achieve.

The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them.

The complete book summary is here — Atomic Habits | James Clear | Book Summary. You can read it in 20 minutes.

Posted on 2020–03–09 09:00 in #doableActions