Habitology — What People Must Know About Habits.
Hi everyone, it’s Jenny again and I’m so excited to bring on a new blog series named Habitology. This series cover Habits and Every Related Issues including the background knowledge, problems identification and methodology, which are based on my own experience and researches.
In this first blog of Habitology series, I will help you to get the most general view about habits, the things that you must know like the back of your hand in order to form, maintain and create your life style.
Now, let’s begin with a sobering quote of Aristotle and think “How much do you know about habit?”
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. — Aristotle
What is habit?
If you want to start forming a new habit, you need to understand clearly what it is. You may think that a habit is simply what you do every day. Not just that enough.
This is my story. My day starts at 6:30 am, go to work, after a tiring working day, still have to go to the dancing class, and go back home to eat dinner and relax. Sometimes I speak to myself “ Oh, I’m too tired to dance today”, but eventually, I still go for it. I’ve never missed any single class at all.
Well, the truth is when I say “I can’t wait to finish my dancing class so that I can go home, eat dinner and relax”, which seems like a complain, it assumes that “I will go to the dancing class and practice”. And dancing, it’s my habit.
It is true that many people do the thing called “habit” everyday, but we can not call a thing we do everyday a “habit”. Have you ever push yourself do a specific task daily or put it off till the end of the day to make it done? It’s not a habit, it’s responsibility and burden, although you do it everyday.
If you find yourself in specific situations, you find yourself automatically doing specific action. That’s the habit. — Psychology of Habits
When I finish working, the thought of going to the dancing class doesn’t come across my mind but the frequency and situation that make me take that action (going to the dancing class) automatically.
How habits work?
How long does it take to form a new habit? Have you ever had that question in your mind? Are you still finding the formula to change habit quickly?
Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. In fact, it has been built since 735 BC. Nearly 3000 years! But it only takes you 66 days do form a new habit. According to Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London
On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact.
And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. It took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. (Phillippa Lally)
Starting or changing to a new habit can not be fast and easy. But with much time and effort, habits can be formed or changed.
According to “The power of habits” by Charles Duhigg , habit consists of a simple, but powerful 3- step loop.
“First, there is a cue or a trigger, that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and let a behavior unfold. Then there’s the routine, which is the behavior itself.That’s what we think about when we think about habits. And finally, the reward is something that your brain likes that helps it remember the “habit loop” in the future.”
Draw your attention to the Reward. When you decide on forming a new habit, don’t resist to give yourself rewards. Duhigg writes:
Want to exercise more? Choose a cue, such as going to the gym as soon as you wake up, and a reward, such as a smoothie after each workout. Then think about that smoothie, or about the endorphin rush you’ll feel. Allow yourself to anticipate the reward. Eventually that craving will make it easier to push throughout the gym doors every day.
But it’s just not that easy. A cue with a reward is not enough for forming a habit that sticks. It’s only when our brain starts craving the rewards. And the key thing here is your belief.
“For a habit to stay changed, people must believe that change is possible. And most often, that belief only emerges with the help of a group,” — Duhigg
It is not God that matters, your belief does.
Lose weight? See who has succeeded in it. Talk to them for experience. Believe that you also can change. Lace up your shoes for running or jogging. Easier said than done, but with a lot of time and effort, nothing is impossible. Belief is the key to make the habit loop last permanently.
In addition, groups of people can create belief- the key thing that I’ve mentioned. If you consider to take up yoga, join the yoga clubs. The more you are surrounded with positive reinforcement, the easier it will be to make difficult changes.
And the biggest reward? It is you, the new you, the one you want to be. Take this a the motivation to form good, healthy habits.
Last words, when you decide you form or change to a new habit, get ready for it and prepare everything to keep that habit. Don’t just keep it for just 1 or 2 weeks, make it months, years or permanently.
Follow Nirow Blog for the next blog in Habitology series. Thanks for your reading.
If you are seeking for a tool to track your habits and goals, you can consider Nirow, it’s an automatic habit and goals tracker. Nirow can connect with the services you use daily such as Apple Health, Fitbit, RescueTime, Location to track your activities and conditions.
