Habit is a routine that we follow diligently. Habits could be bad or good depending on your will. Habits can be changed, transformed, and extended.
In the book ” Atomic Habit” by James Clear”.
There are four simple steps to forming a new habit or breaking an old one.
1
Make it obvious
—-The routine which you want to follow should be clear to you and it could be divided into 4 segments, Cue— Craving —- response — reward.
—Once the habit becomes automatic then you do have not to pay attention. A habit scoreboard is a good practice to become more aware of your behavior so that you can track your progress.
—- Pointing and calling out helps out to raise your awareness from a nonconscious habit to a conscious habit.
—- Time and Location are the two most important cues.
—– Motivate yourself and the environment plays a crucial role in forming new habits.
—- Make the cues of good habits obvious in the environment.
—- If possible make the entire context become the cue.
—-People with high self control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It is easier to avoid temptations than resist it.
—- Self-control is a short-term strategy, not for the long term.
2.
Make it Attractive
The most attractive opportunity is, the more likely to become habit-forming.
—- Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
—– The role of Family and friends is too important.
—- The culture we live in determines the behavior which is attractive to us.
—- We tend to adopt habits that get appreciated by our group or culture because we want to fit in that group.
— we tend to imitate the habits of our close friends and relatives or powerful people with status and prestige.
—– Join a culture or group of people with your desired behavior.
——- If a behavior gets approval, respect, or praise we find it attractive.
Make bad habits unattractive
—– Every behavior has an underlying motive. Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
—- Highlights the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to making it unattractive.
—- Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings. Create a motivational ritual by doing something you enjoy.
3.
Make it easy
—- Practice your new habit and make it simple.
——Focus on action not being in motion.
—— make automatic through repetition, the number of time matters more than the amount of time.
—- Human behavior is to put the least effort.
—- Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
—-Reduce the friction associated with good behavior.
—– Increase the friction associated with bad behavior
——Set your environment to make future actions easier.
—– The 2-minute rule says that do for a limited time.
—— using technology to automate habits.
4
Make it satisfying
—- Satisfaction leads to repeated behavior.
—– Immediate rewards are preferred instead of future rewards.
—– success or progress motivates u to repeat the habit.
—– immediately punished and rewarded behavior can affect repetitive habits.
—— Habit tracking is good to see the progress.
—– Never miss twice. Try to keep on track as early as possible.
—— Less likely habit would not be repeated it is painful.
——- Habit contract can be used to add a special cost to any promise.
These are the points on which I focus and get a new habit formed.