Don’t Break a Habit – Remodel It – Part 1

According to the latest research the best way to “break” a bad habit is not to try to stop doing the behavior completely, but instead change the behavior to something healthier or more productive.

I just finished reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.  The book goes into detail about how habits are formed, operate and can be changed.  It also discusses how businesses can change habits of their customers and employees.

A Habit is a 3-step process

Here’s what the research shows:  a habit is a process, not just the behavior itself.

1)     A cue (feeling, sight, smell, sound) that sets the habit in motion

2)    The routine – the habitual behavior

3)    The reward – the benefit you get from the behavior, this is what maintains the habit

The key to changing a habit is identifying the reward.  What is that behavior doing for you?  Is it relieving stress, satisfying hunger, easing boredom?  Once you understand what the behavior is doing for you, you can begin to replace the behavior with something healthier or more productive.

An example from my own life:  Ages ago I was a binge eater and I was starting to get into the purging behavior that often goes with it.  I hated that I was doing this so I was greatly motivated to change the behavior, which does help.  But I started to notice that I would spend the day thinking about what I was going to eat that evening, not about what I was going to do that evening.  After a lot of introspection I realized that I was eating out of boredom, so I made a point of keeping myself busy every evening.  Gradually the binging behavior subsided.  It still does occasionally return when I am really bored, but because I am now aware of the behavior and what caused it I can often redirect my behavior to something more productive.

More detail is coming in part 2 of this topic about how to identify the cues and rewards that are driving your habit.

Today’s Action Item:  What habit do you want to change?  Start thinking about what cue triggers that habit and what reward you get from it.  Be ready to start experimenting with it after you read Part 2 tomorrow.