An insight into art of habit formation

                                                    An insight into art of habit formation

     

Introduction

“Your habits will determine your future”- said Jack canfield.

When I started a habit of playing video games, this habit made me champion of game called “Pharmacy tycoon”. When one runs every day, this will make him or her a better marathon runner.

Good habits are helpful in making us an upgraded, better, smarter, and fitter version of ourselves. The core to become a content writer is the habit of reading and writing. Without reading you will not get great ideas and information and without writing you will not be able to organize your thoughts.

By reading this blogpost you will be able to know the mechanism behind habit formation so that you will be able to break undesirable habits. Thus in this way we create new healthy and better habits.

What are Habits?

Habits are routines or rituals that are unconsciously done or that have become almost automatic or second nature.

A habit is a practice that is repeated so regularly that it can be difficult to change.

This can be biting of your nails while you are worried, picking up a bottle of Coke when you come across a general store.

The habits we embrace is the result of the fact that we are wired/programmed to seek out pleasure. The habits are capable of delivering a hit of dopamine, our brain’s reward chemical.

When we once feel better after doing some action that action becomes habit that is we crave for more in order to feel good/ reward.

When your brain recognizes a relation between action and satisfaction, it documents that information in area of the brain which is called the basal ganglia. This is also the area of the brain which is responsible for emotions and memories, whereas conscious decisions are made in the prefrontal cortex.

This is the reason why habits are so hard to break. Habits have their origin from a brain region which is not in the domain of your conscious control, that is why you barely have awareness of what you’re doing.

Habits are the actions that are initiated by cues/stimulus, such as a time of day, an activity, or a location. They result in the feel-good reward that, through repetition, makes the connection between cue and reward firmly in the brain.

In the aftermath of a breakup, people can find themselves obsessively focusing on their ex-partners. Thus, you may spend more time and energy on trying to see your ex, compulsively check in on them online, and feel like you’re losing self-control. You might feel, in other words, like you’re addicted to your ex.

The reason for this behavior may lie deep within our brain’s circuitry. Addiction studies have found that drug cravings increased levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain  associated with reward — and the same thing happens when we think about or see an ex.

Why we should give importance to habits?

In today’s world, the constant hunt for the experiences which are helpful in making us feel good can land us in some less-than-helpful directions.

While forming habits we need to consider its long term benefits in terms of happiness, health, longevity, social relationships, or mental wellness rather than giving importance to short term benefits. And just for the reason that something is disagreeable to you, that doesn’t mean it’s threatening.

Thus we will be able to weigh the long term and short term benefits associated with our habits while choosing our habits. We will be able to break our connection with bad habits and make our connection with good habits as good habits will help us in long run.

The habit loop (Cue, Craving, Response, Reward) often occurs subconsciously and can result in not-so-good-for-us behavior. But we can also bring the concept of cue and reward into use to intentionally cultivate habits with desirable outcomes.

 

Here’s an example of how the habit loop leads to beneficial results:

You become hackneyed from your office work and crave a break from the hard mental work. You step out for a walk in the park, which aids in relieving yourself from the uncomfortable situation and gets you some exercise. Or maybe you begin to use audio like a podcast, book, or music for breaks.

Over the time, feeling hackneyed at work will cause you to go for walks or listen to something which relaxes your mind.

Treating obesity includes embracing good habits like eating beetroot chips, jowar chips, oats chips in addition to exercise.

Conclusion

If you want to make new healthy habits, then you need to pay attention to the feel good factor associated with that new healthy habit. Also note how unhealthy habits made you feel bad and the bad experiences associated with unhealthy habits. By this you will make a particular kind of habit a boon for your life.

References

1.      1. The Science of Habit. Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT — By Stacey McLachlan on December 22, 2021.

2. An Overview of Breakup Depression

               By Kendra Cherry  Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD