21/01/2024
Sticking to New Habits.
Deciding that we want to change something in our life sometimes requires us to create and stick to new habits. Here is a condensed 3-minute research based video to help us learn how to stop giving up, on the new habits that we start.
Tips covered in this video to help you stick to new habits:
Visualisation
Pre-Habit Routine
Period in the Day
Meditation
Rewards
Additional information not covered in the video:
1.
Types of New Habits
We can organise habits into two main categories, there’s, Immediate goal-based habits and Identity based habits.
Immediate goal-based habits are short term targets that you want to achieve but may not necessarily do all the time, for example, trying to beat your highest daily steps score or cutting out sugar for a week.
Whereas Identity based habits are lifestyle changes like saying to yourself, I want to be a fitter person or I want to be healthier.
2.
Brain Chemistry
It might be helpful to know that we have four feel good hormones that normally give us that happy feeling after we do something we enjoy.
In terms of habits, the hormone dopamine is the one we’re interested in.
Dopamine is part of the brains reward system and can be the reason why we keep repeating negative behaviors like binge eating. This is partly because we experience repeated releases of dopamine every time we eat something that we like.
Understanding this can be useful and we can also use this information to our advantage by knowing that positive behaviors can tap into this same reward system too.
3.
Linchpin Habits
In some cases, you will find that some habits go hand in hand with each other, for example, exercise, food, alcohol, sleep can all affect one another.
Meaning if you are aiming to improve your diet and you already exercise, then focus on performing the exercise part regularly, as this will help with forming the new habit of eating well.
Or focus on sleeping at a good time of night to help with your energy levels the next day, to increase your chances of exercising, if that is your goal.
In other words, focus on other habits that you are already doing, which may help reduce the level of resistance to forming the new habit.
Good Luck with your goals for this year!
References
1.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.674
2.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820126/pdf/nihms935084.pdf
Website
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