Bad habits like smoking, drinking, overeating, or procrastination are common struggles. If we know something is harmful, why can’t we just stop? Research, including insights from NIH-funded, reveals that breaking bad habits isn’t just about willpower but it’s also about understanding how our brains work and leveraging strategies to form better habits.
The Science Behind Habits
Habits are formed
through repetition of a thing that has a reward at the end. For example, Your
phone buzz a message and you check the message(reward). When you engage in
enjoyable activities—like eating junk food or smoking—your brain releases
dopamine, which strengthens the habit. Over time, these behaviours become
automatic. Which makes them harder to quit.
According to Dr.
Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “These routines
can become hardwired in our brains,” making it feel like we’re battling against
ourselves. However, as Dr. Roy Baumeister highlights, humans have the ability
to set long-term goals and exercise self-control, which can be improved over
time.
Key Challenges in Breaking Habits
1. Hardwired Behaviors
The original habit doesn’t disappear when you
adopt a new one. Both remain in your brain, competing for dominance. The first
to hit dopamine will win your control. (Mind Games)
2. Dopamine Cravings
Even when a behavior stops being enjoyable,
dopamine triggers cravings that reinforce the habit and that’s why some habits
like smoking are hard to quit.
3. Willpower Fatigue
Resisting temptation can drain your willpower,
making it harder to stand firm against future urges. Be smart instead of
resisting, take yourself in control.
Strategies to Quit Bad Habits
1. Make Good Habits Attractive and Simple
In the book Atomic
Habits (by James Clear) clearly portrays the way of making a good habit unique
and attractive and that can lead us to development of Good Habit and also
vice-versa. For example:
- Attractive: Find ways to associate pleasure with the new habit. If you’re quitting smoking, reward yourself with something you enjoy every time you resist the urge.
- Simple: Remove barriers. If you want to eat healthier, prepare your meals in advance to avoid relying on fast food.
2. Habit Stacking
Pair a new habit
with an existing one to create a seamless routine. For instance:
- After brushing your teeth (current habit), do 10 push-ups (new habit).
- Post-workout, follow up with a productive task like making a sales call.
This creates a
chain of positive behaviours that reinforce each other.
3. Visualize Success
The great way to
avoid temptation is to imagine the lifestyle you dreamt of and this is help you
to stand firm in making progress of breaking the bad Habit. Usually breaking a
bad habits takes only 21 days and after that you can easily get out of the
temptations.
5. Change the Environment
Our brains are
really great at copying stuffs from others. We need to surround ourselves with
the people we want to become and also we need to make the environment to our
favour. For example: If you go to bed, you would mostly fall asleep because
your brain knows this is the place to sleep.
Overcoming Setbacks
Dr. Russell Poldrack
explains that replacing bad habits with good ones is effective, but it doesn’t
erase the original behavior. Consistency and practice are key to suppressing
the old habit. Additionally, incorporating alternative behaviors like exercise
can help counteract urges.
Wish you all the
best in breaking the bad habits and Make sure to read “Atomic Habits” to know
how small change in your Habits can bring you Success and the Freedom you are
looking for.
Watch my Video on YouTube about "Things that I learnt from Atomic Habits Book": Watch Now
Post a Comment