Healthier Habits Made Simple – Noticing Your Habits
In order to form healthier behaviours and break unhealthy ones, we need to be able to become self-aware how behaviour works, habits, of course, are just learnt behaviours that we’ve become accustomed to doing overtime, and most of the time we don’t realise we’re actually doing them. Therefore, journaling by looking back over your day and writing down everything you did during that time is the best way to source what could be triggering you to behave a certain way that’s impacting your health.
To illustrate the point, I want you to think of a habit right now that you feel is not helping your health. It could be anything like sitting down for most of the day, buying unhealthy snacks to what you do at the weekend.
Ready? good, grab a pen and paper now and insert the habit
Now answer the following questions:
>What time does this usually happen? ________________________
>Where are you when this happens? ___________________________
>Who is there with you? _____________________________________
>What did you just do? ______________________________________
>What are you usually feeling? ______________________________
One of the above 5 is the CUE.
According to leading professor Charles Duhigg. The two most common cues are TIME and ENVIORNMENT, pay attention to these.
For example, if you wrote that eating too much cookies was the habit you want to change, and you are usually in the kitchen when you eat them, then the way the kitchen environment is designed is likely the cue.
The cookie jar may even be positioned at a place where you notice instantly when you step inside this location, like on the counter tops or next to the kettle.
This visual trigger leads to a physical trigger and a routine evolves. Every time you enter the kitchen, make a cup of tea (or both), you grab a cookie at the same time. The combined taste of sweetness, sugar and fat lights up the reward sensors in the brain the neurological loop get reinforced (this is worth it) once again....
