Building/Breaking Habits – Part 2

A=Authentic G=Goals (#coateisaGOAT)

This week we are continuing our discussion of habits.  I hope last week you made your list of habits that you like and see as useful; it’s good to reflect on our current reality.  Celebrate all the wins (no matter how insignificant they may seem)! As far as our useless habits are concerned, we are going to get to those.  Your homework from last week was to pick a habit that you want to work on for the month of April.  Do you know what the habit is that you want to build/break?  If you follow or are my friend on Facebook, you may have seen me post the image below: 

This is the habit I am currently interested in building for myself.  The reasoning behind this habit is that I know I need to add movement into my daily routine.  And, let’s just say, my plate is really full (I mean on the verge of overflowing!) right now; just like yours and everyone else’s on this awesome planet.  The idea of making my mind wake up at 5:00 to go exercise does not motivate me…AT ALL.  In order to set myself up for success, I am starting small.  I just have to wake up and get out of the bed at 5:00.  The exercise can be added later after I decide that I LOVE waking up with the roosters and the early birds.  

First let’s define habit.  Habit: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary.)  Now let’s really look at the science behind how you build/break a habit, as learned from Dr. A’s Habits of Health by Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson.    To begin, look at the habit loop and break down a habit into three pieces.  1. You have the cue – the stimulus that will activate you to develop this new habit.  2. Next is the action or routine we want to establish.  3. Finally comes the best part: the reward or benefit to help reinforce our new routine/action.   

Using my example of waking up at 5:00 AM: 

• Cue = Alarm going off at 5:00. 
• Routine = I get up as soon as the alarm goes off, no snooze! 
• Reward = I have time to enjoy drinking my coffee, visit with Richie and not have to rush to get to school on time, which equals a more peaceful morning. 

Try to create the Cue-Routine-Reward habit loop for your habit too.   

If you are breaking a habit the same pieces apply.  For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, for example, let’s say that your cue to smoke is break time at work. Every day at break time you find yourself joining in with a social crowd of smokers. This triggers your routine, which is to smoke two cigarettes outside while you chat with colleagues. Your reward: social time with your friends, along with the rush that you get from nicotine.  If you are committed to quitting smoking, you’ll need to replace your cue, routine, and reward with a new system. Consider making a plan to spend your break time socializing in a different way. For example, you might ask a nonsmoking friend, who supports your decision to quit, to join you at break time to take a brisk walk. 

Now comes the tracking piece of the habit.  In my last blog post about habits, I mentioned Jen Sincero’s book You Are A Badass.  Well Jen also has a great website, and you can use this link to access the calendar below.  This is her Badass Habits Calendar that you can use to track your new habit for the month of April along with me. 

Now remember, it’s progress not perfection!  Give yourself some grace in this process.  If you slip up, start again.  Nothing worth doing is without a bit of struggle.  You can do this!  We can do this!  See you next week.