We all have some poor habits, whether it's: Eating junk. Having one too many lemonades on a school night. Playing that game on our phone at times when we shouldn't. It can become an unpleasant cycle of Cue, Craving, Response and Reward.
But.... did you know that we can use these stages to our advantage?
Habits aren’t just a part of your life – an annoying tendency that you can’t seem to shake. Or a surprising trait that you developed out of nowhere.
Habits are developed – often accidentally, but we can also create habits.
Creating a habit is very much like learning a new skill. We keep practicing until it becomes natural, or until we reach our desired level of competence.
With a new skill, perhaps you just want to be able to perform the activity successfully in one take? Or maybe you want to be able to do it naturally, with barely any awareness that it’s happening.
Developing a habit is similar. The activity in question may be a skill or activity that you've already learned, but just want to do it on a daily or weekly basis.
Let’s say that you want to “get into the habit” of meditating after lunch, before you get back
to your desk for the afternoon, or before you head to your next lecture.
You’re fed up of the afternoon slump that you always fall into after 3pm. Lunch has settled and you’re clock watching, waiting for the minutes to tick down.
So you decide to act.
A great way to remedy this problem is meditation. Focusing on your breath, calming your mind, being connected with the universe. Many find this activity revitalises their mind, body and energy.
Our usual lunchtime routine may be eating our lunch, staring out the window for a few minutes and then spending the last 10 minutes playing a game on our phone.
But today….. we’re going to spend that final 10 minutes alone with our thoughts.
Today, we set an alarm on our phone for 13.20pm.
We feel the vibration, or hear the ping. We’d been away with our thoughts, but we’re drawn out of them at the word “MEDITATION” appearing on the screen.
The thing about meditation is you can do it from anywhere. But a quiet room is ideal. If you’re at home, settling into a comfortable chair is fine.
Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply, and exhale.
Focus on
your breath. Be in the moment. (nb: for our guide to meditation, check out our article here)
Follow this routine every day and it will become a habit.
How?
Because you’ll train your mind, brain and body to register this as part of your routine. Set a reminder every day for the same time and, soon, you won’t even need the reminder.
You might even start doing that activity for longer, or doing it multiple times a day.
But the important part is that it becomes a habit.
There are many other habits you can create:
Getting up earlier – which can create extra time in your morning routine, or allow you to leave the house early to avoid traffic.
Going for a jog.
Eating extra fruit or vegetables.
Reading.
Creating habits which benefit your lifestyle can put you on a path for success.
Getting up earlier to catch an earlier train, or avoid the rush hour traffic, may allow you to reach your desk earlier and reach your targets quicker.
If you’re a student, you might want to reach campus an hour earlier than normal to finish an assignment before your lectures start.
Doing something every day, at the same time, will create a habit. Sure, it will require discipline but that’s when you ask yourself questions such as:
“How much do I want this?”
“WHY do I want to create this habit?”
“How will this benefit me in the longer term?”
If all of the answers result in contributing to your goals, then there’s your motivation.
However, it’s a process and this is likely to mean that results won’t be instant. It may take a few weeks to notice a significant difference. In fact, a good thing to do is to keep a diary or journal of your progress.
Take a note of how you feel each day, before and after the activity. Notice what you hear, what you smell, how you’re feeling now, how you feel for the rest of the day – notice how these results change over time.
There’s your progress.
If you’ve created a habit which has been tailored for your specific goals, you’re in for an exciting future.
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