Release the habits
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The most important part about developing habits, in my opinion, is understanding what is the activity, situation, emotion or whatever that makes you follow the routine. The brain must receive a signal that instructs it to activate a certain habit.
So, the first part of the habit is the prompt – an activity that puts the brain in automatic mode and tells you what habit to use. Scientists have made it clear that the prompt can be anything. Something that you see, a certain place or time, an emotion, a sequence of thoughts, or a group of people. In principle, seeing chips or staying in the same room with some people can prompt some of your existing habits.
A prompt is needed to start the habit.
What to do with this knowledge now? If you want to create a new habit for yourself, you should start by finding the prompt. Create a switch that pushes your brain to realize that now is the time to exercise, drink a glass of water, read a book or do something else useful. Don’t reinvent the wheel, just use what you already do on a daily basis. For example, brushing your teeth, eating lunch, taking a shower, driving a car, talking to coworkers etc. Choose an activity that fits your new habit and immediately after that do your wonderful new rewarding ritual.
The first habit I consciously created for myself was drinking a glass of water in the morning after brushing my teeth. Of course it was difficult to remember this at first. I took a post-it note and wrote on it: “After brushing my teeth in the morning, I will drink a glass of water”. I put it on the wall above the toothbrush. To make the new activity as easy as possible and effortless, I put a glass near the sink so I wouldn’t have to look for it in the kitchen. After a while of conscious effort and observation, drinking a glass of water in the morning became an automatic activity for me.
Find something that you do every day and connect this activity with your new habit
I advise you to start with a few simple activities and not engage in big, complex and difficult life-changing habits in the beginning. The first habit you create should be as small as possible: an activity that does not take more than half a minute, does not require any effort and you can do it on a daily basis. Take one current activity or situation that you experience everyday and turn it into a prompt for a new habit.