20 Key Habit Facts And Take-Aways Copy

June 17, 2022 By AM

  1. Habits involve a 4-part process: 
    1. Cue -Make it Obvious
    2. Craving -Make it Attractive
    3. Routine -Make it Easy
    4. Reward -Make it Satisfying

This is The Habit Loop **(From the book: Atomic Habits, by James Clear)

  1. As much as 45% of all our daily behaviors are automatic
  2. It takes an average of 66 days for a new habit to solidify in the brain
  3. It’s actually easier to create a new habit than it is to get rid of an old one
  4. If you want to improve your life quality, begin instilling positive habits
  5. Stimulus results in response (Ivan Pavlov – Classical Conditioning). To gain insight into your own habits, first identify the components of the loop: 
    1. Stimulus 🡪 
    2. Routine 🡪 
    3. Response 🡪 

Once you understand how the stimulus triggers your routine and response, you can find ways to create new routines and responses. 

  1. Making the action involved in the habit easy to do increases the likelihood that it becomes a habit (Psychology Today)
  2. Actions that involve some type of physical movement are easier to “condition” into a habit (Psychology Today)
  3. Habits that feature visual or auditory cues tend to be easier to create and maintain (Psychology Today)
  4. You can create healthy positive habits with focus, work, willingness dedication, and perseverance
  5. Your entire life is the sum of all your habits, be they good or bad
  6. You can take control of your life by changing your habits
  7. Getting help in the form of therapy can help you build better habits
  8. Changing habits means facing the unknown. You must face your fears and the fear of the unknown to create new habits and break negative habits. 
  9. Braking habits and instilling new healthy ones takes patience. Many habits have been with you for years, decades. Don’t expect change overnight. Just start. Keep going. Seek opportunities to learn and change. 
  10. Your habits are driven by feelings. Explore and identify the feelings associated with your habits. 
  11. Repetition is key to forming new habits. 
  12. You cannot “think” a new habit into existence, you must take action 
  13. Emotions are far more powerful than facts in driving you to address and change your habits
  14. Habits are stored in a different part of our brain than memory. We do them before we are consciously aware that they happen. Evaluate and change habits as needed. You never need to stay in a slump.