4.4 Habits
Once an individual has successfully implemented a new behaviour over an extended period, it becomes a habit. Habits are the automatic behaviours we perform routinely, often without conscious thought. Formed through repetition, they serve as shortcuts for the brain, conserving energy and simplifying decision-making. According to research cited by Robin Sharma, it takes around 66 days of consistent practice for a new behaviour to become automatic, highlighting the importance of patience and perseverance (Sharma, 2018).
While habits can stem from intentional efforts to change, such as adopting a healthier lifestyle, they often solidify once the maintenance phase of behaviour change is established. As James Clear emphasizes in Atomic Habits, small habits, when repeated consistently, can compound over time, leading to profound transformations in our lives (Clear, 2018). Sound familiar? See the positive feedback loop in Chapter 2 for a refresher.
The Habit Loop
Habits operate within a cycle called the Habit Loop, a concept popularized by Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit (Duhigg 2012). This loop consists of four key elements.
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Text Description
Cue: The trigger that initiates the habit. It can be external (e.g., seeing a candy jar) or internal (e.g., feeling stressed). Cues are signals that tell your brain it’s time to perform a certain behaviour, setting the Habit Loop into motion.
Routine: The behaviour itself or the action you take in response to the cue. For example, reaching for a snack when you see the candy jar or checking your phone when you hear a notification. The routine is the most visible part of the habit, and where intentional change occurs.
Reward: The benefit you gain from the behaviour. It reinforces the habit by signalling to your brain that the action was worth performing. Rewards can be physical (e.g., the taste of a sweet treat) or psychological (e.g., the satisfaction of a clean desk after tidying up).
Craving: The motivational force behind habits. They represent the desire for the reward, rather than the routine itself. For instance, you don’t just crave coffee; you crave the alertness it brings. Understanding cravings is critical for both creating and breaking habits, as they drive the cycle forward.
Creating New Habits
To establish a new habit, you need to create a clear habit loop. Let’s look at what that entails:
Step 1: Select a Cue
Identify a consistent trigger that prompts the habit. This could involve laying out running shoes by your bed as a cue to exercise in the morning.
Step 2: Perform the Routine
Perform the desired behaviour immediately after the cue. This could involve going for a 10-minute run once you see your shoes.
Step 3: Receive a Reward
Reinforce the habit with a positive outcome to make it stick. This could involve enjoying a delicious smoothie after the run.
Step 4: Rinse and Repeat
Over repeated loops, you begin craving the reward, which solidifies the habit. For instance, you start looking forward to your morning smoothie, motivating you to maintain the running routine.
Breaking Old or Bad Habits
Modifying bad habits requires disrupting the existing habit loop so the behaviour loses its automatic nature. Both Duhigg and Clear offer insights into how to do this effectively.
Identify the Habit Loop
As noted previously, habits operate in a cue-routine-reward loop. To change a habit, you must first understand its current components (cue, routine and reward) and why it persists (i.e., what craving it fulfills).
Steps to Identify the Habit Loop:
Step 1: Examine the routine
What follows the cue? This is typically the behaviour you are trying to replace, such as smoking, snacking, or scrolling through social media.
Step 2: Understand and experiment with rewards
What inherent benefit does the routine provide? Are you looking for relaxation, distraction, comfort, or something else?
Step 3: Recognize the cue
What triggers the routine? This could involve several sources, including but not limited to:
- Time of day – Certain behaviours may happen in the morning, afternoon, or late at night.
- Emotional state – Stress, boredom, or frustration can all act as triggers.
- People you are with – Specific friends or coworkers might influence certain habits.
- Action immediately preceding the cue – A prior activity (e.g., finishing a meal) could cue the routine.
- Location or environment – Physical surroundings (e.g., a living room with a TV) might set the stage for the routine to begin.
Example: If you habitually check your phone when feeling bored (i.e., you are craving entertainment), the cue is feeling bored, the routine is scrolling social media, and the reward is relief from boredom. Recognizing this pattern helps you consider ways to disrupt it.
Remove the Cue
By removing or avoiding the trigger, the habit’s routine is less likely to occur. This is not always feasible if the cue is linked to the time of day or one’s emotional state; factors beyond an individual’s control.
Strategies:
- Reduce exposure: If you want to stop snacking, keep junk food out of sight.
- Change the environment: If you check your phone too much, turn off notifications or place it in another room.
- Avoid habit triggers: If you smoke when drinking coffee, switch to tea to weaken the association.
Example: One study found that hospital employees drank 47% more water when water dispensers were moved closer to their desks (VanEpps et al., 2016).
Replace the Routine
Duhigg suggests that habits are rarely “broken.” Rather, the old routine is replaced with a new routine that satisfies the same craving (Duhigg, 2012). This approach is particularly helpful when certain cues are beyond one’s control.
Strategies:
- Find a healthier alternative: If stress triggers snacking, try deep breathing, meditation, or going for a short walk.
- Substitute a productive habit: When tempted to scroll social media, read a few pages of a book or write in a journal.
- Swap behaviours: Chew gum or use a stress ball instead of smoking or nail-biting.
Example: Many smokers successfully quit by chewing gum or using a stress-relief toy instead of reaching for a cigarette.
Reframe the Reward
In line with Clear’s “Make It Unattractive” principle, reframing the unwanted habit means focusing on its negative consequences rather than any perceived benefits (Clear, 2018).
Strategies:
- Change your mindset: Stop telling yourself, “smoking relaxes me,” and instead tell yourself, “smoking harms my lungs.”
- Use accountability: Tell a friend you’re quitting to reinforce the decision.
- Visualize long-term effects: Imagine the negative outcomes if you continue this habit for five more years.
Example: Research shows that visualizing negative outcomes (e.g., picturing yourself struggling to breathe if you keep smoking) can strengthen the motivation to quit (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981).
Make the Existing Habit More Difficult or Unsatisfying
If a habit is harder to carry out, you are less likely to follow through. Habits also tend to stick when they are inherently rewarding, so reducing satisfaction can help weaken them.
Strategies:
- Make it inconvenient: Log out of Netflix each time, so you must manually sign in again.
- Implement negative consequences: If you don’t go to the gym, you owe a friend $5.
- Track your failures: Seeing a streak of “bad” habit days can motivate you to break the cycle.
- Use a barrier: Don’t buy soda if you’re trying to drink less of it.
- Delay the habit: Promise yourself a 10-minute wait; the urge often fades.
Example: Studies show that placing a time delay on impulse purchases reduces spending by up to 50% (Loewenstein, 1996).
