Habits That Stick

When establishing new, more effective behaviors, the best way to maintain the behaviors is by forming them into habits. Our habits consist of a reliable loop and rarely are any of us aware the loop is even happening until the loop is complete. By using what is known about the habit loop, we can mindfully develop the habits we want and breakdown our habits that are ineffective or even harmful to ourselves. James Clear’s Four Laws of Behavior Change offers a wonderful way for one to utilize the habit loop through four simple questions.

The creation or elimination of a habit will begin at the same entry point. We start with the cue that triggers the desired or undesired behavior. Once a habit is established – good or bad, there is rarely a conscious awareness of the cue. Changing or creating a habit starts with being mindful about what you are doing. This brings the first question; how can you make the behavior cue obvious? One fantastic way to establish a new habit is to habit stack. That is pairing the new behavior with an existing effective habit. For example, if there is already an established habit of filling out and reviewing a daily planner, and there is a desire to start daily journaling, the journaling can be coupled and completed either right before or right after the daily planner review.

On the other hand, if you are working to eliminate an ineffective habit, the opposite is true. You must take action to make the behavior cue less obvious. If you want to stop watching television before bed, remove the television from the bedroom to remove the behavioral cue. If you want to consume less processed snacks, (i.e., chips, crackers, cookies), either eliminate them from entering the home or rather than full restriction, put them on the highest/lowest shelf as far back as possible and put healthier options in front of them. When you are not “mindlessly” cued it becomes easier to avoid and mentally “bury” the unwanted habit.

The next step of the habit loop is the craving; first we see it, (cue), and then we want it, (craving). So how can you make that new, healthier behavior more attractive? Again, habit stacking can also make a new behavior more attractive by coupling it with another already enjoyed activity. For example, if listening to favorite songs or a favorite podcast is already an established habitual pattern, pair it with the new daily walk or workout to make both more enjoyable. We want to use the draw, the attraction of the established behavior to help create the attraction to the new behavior.

Conversely, when wanting to stop a behavior, ask yourself how to make it unattractive. One way is to link the ineffective habit with the negative or unwanted outcome. An example, remembering the stomachache that follows over-eating the processed snacks, the smell of stale cigarettes after the smoking is completed, or the stiff and shameful feeling of binge-watching that series. As we work to replace/eliminate a habit, the ineffective habit must become unattractive, (remember the reason you no longer think it serves you), and the new behavior must meet the need or solve the problem that the previous habit was perceived as meeting.

The third portion of the habit loop is response; you want to make it easy to do the preferred/desired behavior. For a habit to establish, you must frequently and routinely conduct in the behavior. Use the brain’s natural tendencies of seeking the path of less resistance; set up your environment to make the desired behavior easy to do. For one, this may mean meal prep, having fresh, healthy options easily available. For another it may be sleeping in workout clothes with the workout shoes right next to the bed or having the gym bag ready and in the car. The idea is to make it harder not to do the desired behavior.

So, it would only make sense that to end an undesired behavior, you want to make it harder to do. If indulging in your favored, though unhealthy treat requires a trip to the store every time, you are much less likely to indulge as often. If you put the technology away, it is harder to mindlessly pick it up and for you to get lost in it. By making our desired behaviors easier, and our undesired more difficult, you can train your response to work for you.

The last function in the habit loop is the reward. Our behavior is guided by what happens right after it. Our question is how to make the new, desired behavior as satisfying in the short-term as it will be rewarding in the long-term. A behavior that results in immediate gratification will be repeated; how can you use this to your advantage? As you work to eliminate an undesired habit while increasing a more desired habit, it is beneficial to align your identity to the goal behavior. If you see your identity as a productive person, procrastination and laziness do not match this and will not feel rewarding. If you see your identity as an active person, an idle sitting position will not match or feel rewarding. If you see your identity as a healthy eater, eating processed foods will not match or feel rewarding. Focus on the identity that has the behaviors desired, it will help guide your actions and add to the rewarding result. Give yourself compassion, new behaviors can feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar at the start. Allow yourself some time and some room for error as you are working to own a new identity of healthier and/or more effective behaviors and remember to acknowledge and even celebrate when you make a healthy, effective choice.

In all, to establish new, desired habits, it is beneficial to use what is known of the habit loop to your advantage. Ask yourself how to make the desired behavior(s) obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. To lessen or eliminate a habit, ask the opposite, how do you make the behavior invisible to cue, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying? By using these four parts of the habit loop, you will be successful.