CHANGE THE ROUTINE… CHANGE THE HABIT.

I’ve been having this conversation with a few people recently so here’s a post to help.

When we understand how habits work we can understand the process to change them.

We tend to try eliminate without understanding…

‘I need to stop snacking’

‘I need to stop drinking’

‘I need to stop sitting on the sofa in the evening’

But without understanding what makes us do this and why, we tend to make it harder for ourselves as we try to eliminate and with this we also lose the ‘reward’.

Now if we can understand what makes us do it, we can then break it down and understand what reward we are craving, to then change the routine to still get the same reward.

So in essence… We have the same cue & reward but we change the routine.

So following on from my post previously about putting in a ‘breaker’ this is the same scenario and I’ll explain it below.

Let’s use the same example.

I get stressed (cue)

I walk to the fridge & open it (routine)

Eat something (reward)

Remember the food isn’t the reward… It’s how it makes us feel.

Now even if it is short-lived…

Eating something makes me feel better, a quick hit momentarily makes me feel better.

Now following on from the post on the ‘breaker’, what if we can change the routine, but still get that same feeling?

I get stressed (cue)

I walk outside (breaker)

Fresh air/endorphins/mindfulness (Reward)

Our head is still getting the same reward, that moment where you feel better, you get the rush, the initial relaxation.

We are now changing a habit.

This done over time, still follows the same rules.

We are not avoiding or trying to ‘cut out’, yet you are replacing.

We are building a positive habit on top of a negative habit.

We can do this with all of our routines that we want to break…

Instead of trying to eliminate, break it down.

- What do I do in the evening…?

- What am I trying to achieve?

- How can I achieve this same feeling with something different?

In the evening after a hard day's work, I come in and sit on the sofa to relax.

Come through the living room door (cue)

Sit on the sofa, turn the telly on (routine)

‘Relax’ (reward)

New habit.

Come through the living room door (cue)

Pick up trainers & walk straight outside (Breaker/new routine)

Return, sit on the sofa, relax (reward)

The walking will create the reward and you still get to sit on the sofa afterwards.

However, in both scenarios, we are already using an existing habit to create a new one.

So we push out the old habit while using the same cues.

Have a look at your routines.

What do you want to improve?

What ‘reward’ do you currently get from yours?

What routine can you change to give the same reward?

Habit building in essence is simple, we just have to understand it and remain consistent as some habits have deep roots.

Click this link for a free call with me if you want some help finding the inner parts out.