How can you change your habits more effectively and be happier?
Think of the last time you took up an exercise plan or that time you decided to quit a bad habit - how did it work out for you?
Many of us have experienced obstacles in fostering good habits and getting rid of bad ones. However, none of us should stop ever trying. But how can we do it better? According to research, nearly 40% of our daily activities are habitual. So, instead of leaving this big portion of life to autopilot mode and standard habits, we can actually do better and program the content of repetitive behaviours to work for us, coach ourselves in a better way. Here in this brief piece, we would like to share some ideas on how to change habits more effectively and be happier.
What is a habit?
Firstly, let’s understand what a habit is. In psychology, a habit refers to a process where actions are triggered automatically in response to mental context that are learned through prior experiences. A habit comes in the form of automatic actions in order to spend minimum mental resources for doing tasks. It is an efficient way to repeat actions.
Many habits are created to find an easier access to pleasure, which is natural to all of us. However, too much focus on instant rewards and immediate “pleasure” may steer us away from our bigger goals an overall happiness. In psychology, coaching and training, we believe that we are capable of going beyond instincts with our cognitive thinking and a mind. Our greatest advantage as humans is to become more aware of our behaviours, actions and therefore choose to design and work on our own habits.
How can we create better habits?
In the 1990s, researchers at MIT discovered a neurological loop that explains the foundations of every habit. They called it the “habit loop”, and in a nutshell, it has three parts: Routine, Reward and Cue.
How does it work? James Clear puts it in very easy and practical ways, tips on creating new and better habits. In his book “Atomic Habits” he introduces four laws along with detailed steps to make habit change effective. We use it in our coaching and training approaches at FELIZ Consulting. Here, we chose some of these steps from his book, which also correspond perfectly to the “habit loop”, and it may get you out of old habits and help you create new and better ones.
Cue
Behaviours are often triggered by cues. We can start by keeping track of our current habits and cues that trigger them. Once we are aware of them, we can make the cues of good habit more obvious so that we are constantly reminded to do them. For example, if you want to do yoga in the morning, place a yoga matt right beside your bed so you can see it when waking up. Vice versa for bad habits, hide any cues that could potentially evoke desire on bad habits, such as getting rid of all packs of cigarettes and lighters if you want to quit smoking or cookies on the table if you want to eat more healthily. We are constantly affected by our environment and triggered by cues. Therefore, we should start by re-designing the cues in our environment to facilitate habit change.
Routine
How do you make a habit part of your routine? One effective way is to make the desired habit more convenient to act upon. Our brains are programmed to do easy tasks and avoid difficult ones, and while new habits are supposed to change us, we can still design them to fit our lifestyle and thus create less friction during the change. For example, if you want more exercise in your daily routine but you are working from home, then you may choose exercises that work in a home environment instead of going to the gym. Alternatively, if you want to wake up earlier and enjoy sunrise every day, buy curtains that open easily and move your bed closer to the window. In that way, a simple pull of curtain would get the morning light in and help wake you up. You will find it much easier to form your routine if your habits are made easier to follow.
Reward
To increase motivation for any new habit, we can increase the reward associated with it by pairing up your new habit with an existing habit that you enjoy. For example, if you want to do 20 push-ups in the morning, you can say “I want to do my push-ups before I drink my favourite cup of coffee or before checking my phone”. Alternatively, you can also pair up a reward for a new habit, like treating yourself a good breakfast the next day if you go to bed early tonight. Design your reward/habit system so that you feel more motivated to sustain your new habit. Moreover, it is important that your rewards correspond to your identity, so they can be sustainable.
Goals, identity and habits
In coaching we tend to focus a lot on goals, and at FELIZ Consulting we use different tools to help our clients find more purpose, wellbeing, balance and achieve their desired goals. Looking at identity is also crucial, as it links with our approach on habits formation and goal achievement.
Many people might think the key to forming any habit is to simply chase after clear goals. Setting goals are indeed valid motivations and guidelines, but to sustain a habit in the long run and to achieve a desired goal, we must think and reflect upon our identity.
Forming and developing identities that resonate with your ideal self are very powerful, as we will naturally want to sustain the habits that help shape the best version (s) of ourselves. Let’s say you want to read more research papers but it is difficult to find theme and motivation to do it, so instead of forcing yourself into a new habit what could you do? One way is to reflect and try to commit to your desire in becoming a researcher. If you are truly keen on forming this identity as a researcher, you will naturally grow the motivation to act on it.
We believe that reflecting on identity is a powerful approach to our personal growth and development, along with goals setting tools, which together can help us create better and more sustainable habits towards a happier and more purposeful life.
This can be a self-initiated process. You have the tools to get started! You may also decide to get the support from an experienced coach or trainer. Having someone to support you along the way, share new tools and help you move forward, can be extremely helpful.
At FELIZ Consulting, we offer customised 1:1 coaching sessions, as well as tailored training programs on this topic, as well as enhancing self-awareness, mindfulness, goal setting and more.
To learn more about it, please contact us at [email protected]
Written by Howard Chim
References: Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: Tiny changes, remarkable results: An easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. London: Random House Business Books.
Gardner, B. and Rebar, A., 2019. Habit Formation and Behavior Change. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology,.
Neal, D., Wood, W., Labrecque, J. and Lally, P., 2012. How do habits guide behavior? Perceived and actual triggers of habits in daily life. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(2), pp.492-498.