Week 20: Habits!!

Dear reader,

"Habit, a settled or or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up."

We all have different habits, some are good habits and some are bad habits. Habits are often linked to addictions such as; smoking, drinking, gambling, pornography or over eating. These are some of the bad habits that you can have. But habits can be good to, just as being on time, exercise regularly, cleaning up after yourself or just even listening.

For myself I have been looking for the past two months towards my own habits. I have been asking myself the following questions, which habits would I be better with not having in my life? Or which habits would make me a better or more productive person? I have been experimenting on my own 'lifestyle" habits and see where I can change for the good or the productive. I have also just finished reading the book, The power of Habit, why we do what we do and how to change, by Charles Duhigg.

Today I am going to show you what I have learned about habits and how I have made my system to change my habits and keep up with them.

The power of Habit:

There is no formula for changing habits, if you thought it would be a quick fix then you are wrong. In the book Charles talks about the frame work for how habits work. For every person habits are different and they are related to different types of cravings a person has. That is why addiction is often related to habits. Some habits are possible to change quicker then others. Let's say if you have been smoking for 20 years then giving up smoking is a harder habit then to make your bed every morning when you wake up. This is part of what Charles calls the framework.

The framework consist of of four pieces also know as the habit loop. As an example I am going to use making you bed every morning. The first thing to know is to identify the routine, it is the same thing you do every time. So you wake up get out of bed and then? Get breakfast, take a shower or have a cup of coffee? By making your bed the first thing in the morning you are creating a routine.

The second step is experiment with the rewards. The rewards satisfy the cravings that we have. For people with addictions to smoking, drinking, drugs or sex the cravings are very powerful and the rewards equal the same feeling. For our example of making our bed the craving and the reward are not so powerful. The craving is to have a neat bed and the reward is that you have a neat bed once you go to sleep.

Step three is isolate the cue. The cue is also the habit trigger it is the moment when the craving starts to kick in. The habitual cue fit in to one of five categories, location, time, emotional state, other people and immediately preceding action. One of these five different categories define what is triggering your habit. If you want to know why you are having a specific habit at a specific time or location you can ask your self questions with regards to the categories. For our example, the craving can kick in once you get out of bed and you know you can accomplish your first task of the day.

Step four is have a plan. Once you figured out the habit loop it is time to make a plan. If you want to change a habit or develop a habit you need to make sure you know all the three steps above. Let's say you don't want to drink the moment you come home, you change clothes and go out for a walk instead. Now you are changing the habit and the routine. You will get a different reward for your cue. So for making your bed, it is the first thing you do once you get out of bed and you will feel the reward of accomplishment.

How I use and change habits: 

During this time with the coronavirus lockdown I thought it is a good idea to look at some of my habits and how I can use habits to achieve my goals or to make new goals. I am always trying to challenge myself and to look for the most efficient ways to get the desired goals. I have been practicing and experimenting with different ways to change my habits and to keep track of habits. There is a 'golden rule' that is takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to create a lifestyle. I use this rule of thump for my habits.

One of my whiteboards is dedicated to Changing Habits. I have stated five different habits that I would like to achieve in 90 days. Each night before I go to sleep I change the amount of days I have successfully sticked to my habits. Every time that I break one of the habits that habit goes back to day 0 and I need to start over until I get to day 90. On this way I am able to achieve 20 habits each year if I stick to the 90 days rule. (I have left of the habits I am working on, because I am going to use this for an upcoming blog and some of the other habits are personal, but you can fill in what ever you want.)

A funny thing has happened during this experiment. I was developing new habits and routines without even noticing is. I would do the dished every night after dinner while waiting for my tea. I would fold my cloths and put them on my board and not leave them on my floor. Now I am even doing pushups every day. Habit have become very powerful for me. I feel good to be able use them and to divine my way of living.

Thank you for reading and see you next week.

Franklin, Moments2Success.