Have you ever wondered why some habits seem impossible to break, while others form without you even noticing?
Our daily routines are driven by powerful forces in the brain that shape the way we live and make decisions. Whether it's biting our nails, procrastinating, or craving that post-work drink, these habits can either support or sabotage your goals.
In this post you'll discover why we have habits, how they become hardwired into our minds, and most importantly, how you can take control and change the ones that aren’t serving you. If you're ready to break free from bad habits and build new healthier ones, keep reading!
What are habits and why do we have them?
Habits are essential patterns of behaviour that have evolved over time through either necessity or choice and have become a part of our physiological make up. These routines are regulated by a part of the brain called the basal ganglia and become ‘hard wired’ into our ‘subconscious’ mind over a period of time. The reason why this happens is because, contrary to popular opinion, our brain has a limited ability to focus on many things at once, which is why it creates habits to automate tasks.
For example, consider the vast number of detailed activities we carry out in the morning before going to work or school, even just making breakfast... there are thousands of small actions that happen without you thinking about them - they are managed in our subconscious.
Or, remember when you were learning to drive? At first, it took a lot of concentration to coordinate all of the activities. Now consider how many times you’ve gone from A to B routinely and not remembered the journey. In fact, you are way more likely to remember the journey if something ‘novel’ happens en-route because a different part of your brain is initially engaged – the hippocampus.
The science bit…
This process of creating habits or ‘hard wiring’ is a consequence of something called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to how our brain connects different areas to become more efficient. It helps us manage routine tasks without needing much conscious effort.
Can you imagine if you had to actively think about all of the activities you have to take in a day? Take walking for example, ‘I must now put my left leg in front of my right, stay balanced, observe all of those walking towards me, make adjustments, now to put my right leg in front of my left, observe and make adjustments …’ It seems ridiculous but all of this is taking place in our subconscious!
In fact, our brains use up about 25% of our body’s energy! That’s why we can feel tired after a mentally challenging day, even if we didn’t do any physical work. I’m sure most of us can recollect when we have been exhausted after a busy day even just sitting at our desk in the office. There is a physiological reason – the calories consumed by our brains!
So, this is essentially the positive part of habit forming, the development of our brain to help us that do not require the executive intervention of our pre-frontal cortex.
Good habits vs. bad habits
Habits help us save energy by allowing our brain to cope with the routine activities by automating tasks. This is the positive side of habit formation.
As Daniel Kahneman describes, our brain has two systems:
System 1: Handles automation of things, helping us make quick decisions and fulfil activities (unconscious mind)
System 2: Handles conscious thought and complex decision-making (conscious mind)
This is really fascinating! System 1 essentially helps us get through everyday tasks without much effort. But the downside is that it can also lead to bad habits. These habits form just like good ones, and the brain doesn’t differentiate between them. Whether it’s going to the gym or biting our nails, the brain creates a habit based on a cue, a routine, and a reward.
When we do something for the first time, it is not a habit, a habit is something that evolves over time until the neural pathways in the brain develop and becomes our ‘normal’ behaviour. The more regularly you carry out the habit, the more ‘permanent’ it becomes.
If you want to go deeper on this then here’s a bit more of the science…
The ‘heuristics’ that are evident in system 1 thinking are essentially functions that have become embedded over time through the way we live our life and consequently include biases (we are all biased in some respect).
So if you spend lots of time in a certain environment this will shape your ‘norm’. It’s not necessarily right or wrong, it is just your perception of the world. This can include things like going to the pub after work every Thursday to drink beer (or whatever your poison) and socialise with friends. This is habitual, and if done in moderation i.e. have half a pint, unwind, socialise, not spend much nor go home drunk, then this is not necessarily a bad habit.
But, if this evolves to going to the pub every night, drinking lots and getting drunk, it can have a detrimental effect on your health, finances and relationships, and can turn into a bad habit! Again, this is down to your perception of what behaviour is acceptable in respect of ‘global’ or ‘local’ societal expectations.
So, what about bad habits?
Why do we have them and what can we do about them? Our brains do not differentiate between good or bad habits – we simply carry out an activity and get a ‘reward’. The reward may be intrinsic or extrinsic – we may enjoy the reward but it is not necessarily good for us!
How do bad habits form?
Charles Duhigg breaks down habits into three parts:
1. Cue (trigger): Something that starts the habit
2. Routine (behaviour): The habit itself
3. Reward: How your brain remembers the behaviour
Take smoking as an example. The cue might be seeing your colleagues go for a cigarette break. And the routine is joining them to smoke. But the reward is the social interaction or break from work.
How do you stop a bad habit?
Duhigg suggests that you don’t jettison the habit completely, you just change it by retaining the ‘cue’ and the ‘reward’ but changing the behaviour.
So, take our smoking example, you see your colleagues leaving the office for a cigarette break and that is the cue for you to join them…but, try to understand what your motivation is for going? Is it that you want a cigarette, do you want a break from work, or do you just enjoy the social interaction?
Take it for a test run!
The next time you see your colleagues leave, go and talk to them but don’t have a cigarette. Maybe take a coffee instead, or even just suggest you go for a short walk to clear your mind and get some fresh air … see what works for you!
What about having a pact with your colleagues and take fewer (if any) cigarettes into work, so the ‘environment’ is supporting your desire to change your habit? Cravings and changes don’t happen overnight – you need to be kind to yourself but commit to the change. Your brain will start to undergo neuroplasticity and become wired not to expect a cigarette as a part of the routine. You’ll then get your reward for feeling healthier (through not smoking), enjoying the social interaction, or feeling fitter through taking a healthier option.
“To eliminate a bad habit, reduce exposure. Remove the cues that trigger it.” – James Clear
Commitment is key!
It is important to accept that changing habits is not easy, and that you need to commit to it for it to work. You are essentially changing the physiologic make up of your brain, which means that the longer you have been engaging in a habit, the harder it will be to break, and the longer the change will take to ‘stick’.
Think about riding a bike… you may have ridden a bike for years when you were a child, you jumped on and off and cycled without even thinking about it. But then you don’t ride a bike for years, until you jump on one years later in a quest to get fit, and after a few minor wobbles you are back on it, as though you have never been away.
This demonstrates the ‘permanency’ of the neural pathways that were developed when you were young and first leaned to ride. It happens through a process called myelination, and reinforces Duhigg’s assertion that it is better to change a habit than to stop it.
5 Simple Tips for Breaking Bad Habits
Taking what you’ve learned, here are 5 simple steps that you can use to remember why we have habits and how you can change them.
1. Identify Your Triggers:
Pay attention to what cues make you do a particular habit. Is it stress, boredom, or a certain environment? Knowing the trigger is the first step toward change.
2. Swap the Routine:
Keep the same cue and reward, but change the behaviour. For example, if your habit is snacking when stressed, try going for a walk instead or drinking a comforting warm drink. Instead of going to the pub, how about joining a group, or going on an outing?
3. Start Small:
Don’t try to change everything at once. Focus on breaking one habit at a time with small, manageable steps.
4. Create a Supportive Environment:
Remove temptations and surround yourself with people who support your goal. This makes it easier to stick to new habits.
5. Be Patient with Yourself:
Change takes time. Celebrate small victories and don’t get discouraged by setbacks. Consistency is key to rewiring your brain.
To summarise
You can do whatever you set your mind to! Why not set short term goals to help you manage the change to the habit. The change will evolve and the long-term goals will be realised and in time become more ‘permanent’.
To support you fulfilling your new goal and changing a bad habit, prepare everything you need the night before. If you want to switch going to the pub after work to going to the gym, take your bag in your car to work and go directly to the gym after work. You’ll socialise with a more diverse group of people who bring a different perspective to your life (or your pub pals might join the gym too), and you’ll start to look better, feel healthier, plus your relationships could benefit too!
It's an old adage but as Stephen Covey wisely said, "Begin with the end in mind." By focusing on your long-term goal, you’ll gradually build new habits that are healthier and more fulfilling.
