Is it important to adopt new habits and leave old ones behind? The truth is that no one needs to change old customs, but it is necessary to adopt new ones to guarantee a long life full of good things.
According to an American study carried out by Duke University, more than 40% of the daily actions carried out by people were not considered real attitudes, but habits acquired throughout their days and lives.
With this in mind, no matter how harmless the habits may seem, this practice can influence negative behaviors, such as, for example, reducing productivity in relation to work tasks and, in some cases, impacting health and well-being .
Changing behavior in the face of what has already been experienced can be, in many cases, a great challenge for some people. With this in mind, we will explain what a habit actually is, what steps you need to take to change them and some easy tips for your daily life.
After all, what does “habit” mean?
In general, a habit can be characterized as a behavior, whether in the way of being, doing, feeling or in relation to customs acquired throughout your life. From a behavior, the person starts to choose which steps to follow and, consequently, that action becomes something of theirs.
For example: when you’re learning to ride a bike, it takes a lot of dedication, training and concentration. Once you learn it, this practice becomes automatic. With this, we can say that a habit is a behavior acquired through repeated actions.
Therefore, it is important to remember that not every habit can be negative for your life, but you need to identify them to understand which ones are really useful and which ones may be harming your health and well-being.
How to change a habit?
According to author Charles Duhigg’s book, “The Power of Habit”, this behavior develops in each individual through a cycle, such as a cue, a reward and a routine.
With that in mind, to help you develop a change in habit, you need to follow some steps:
Identify the cue
As your day goes by, it is possible to identify some cues in relation to an action that may have become routine, such as, for example, feeling lazy and not training or failing to do things related to leisure.
Therefore, analyze this situation and write down what always helps you to do the same thing frequently, such as time, place, feelings or even people you consider important.
Identify what the reward is
Normally, the habit is linked to some desire or something that can satisfy you in some way. Once you understand what this reward is, look for solutions that can help you replace it.
For example: suppose your routine is very hectic and, in some situations, your tasks end up causing you a lot of stress, which leads you to binge eat. When this happens, opt for healthier practices, such as walking outdoors or high-impact physical activities .
In this example, food becomes the reward for something bad that happened in your day (stress) and you eat that candy thinking about the famous phrase “I deserve it”. Not that you don’t deserve it or shouldn’t eat it, but when this behavior becomes routine, our body can suffer from increased cholesterol, for example.
How about swapping candy for an outdoor activity? You also deserve to take care of your health!
Develop a routine
Now that you know how to identify the cue and reward, you need to learn how to create habits for your daily life. Let’s go?
Every day, after work, go to the gym and do physical exercise . Before going to bed, disconnect from all electronic devices and lie down in bed an hour before bed.
By creating healthy habits, you put aside those behaviors that are considered bad, such as sleeping late, eating without feeling hungry, among other situations that may seem harmless, but are very bad for your health.
3 tips for changing your habit
Now that you are more familiar with the topic, we will teach you some easy tips to transform bad habits.
1 – Never change everything at once
Change is not always easy, so be patient! Don’t try to rush a process that requires attention and care, after all, some habits have already been implemented in your life since birth.
Therefore, the first step is to want to change. Did you put that in your mind? Now work! You know that vicious habit, such as eating everything in front of you when you feel sad? Put on some calm music.
Look for alternatives to your problems and turn bad behaviors into good attitudes, without doing damage to yourself or anyone else.
2 – Daily meditation
Practicing a relaxation technique or implementing meditation into your life can bring countless benefits to your health and well-being, as well as transforming your negative habits.
Meditation can help you alleviate moments of anxiety, relax your body and mind, reduce stress after work and, finally, help combat the much-feared insomnia .
3 – Don’t cover yourself excessively
Including new habits can be challenging for some people, so don’t overdo it and be patient.
Changing your habit requires you to get out of your bubble to get to know something new, which can often end up requiring a lot of energy and dedication. Therefore, avoid charging yourself and/or comparing that new behavior with some negative feelings, such as stress , for example.
Therefore, we have a question: do you want to be that person who just complains and doesn’t do anything different to change or are you the one who challenges yourself and seeks to exchange a bad habit for a new behavior every day?