The Secret Ingredient to Great Habits

How are those New Year’s Resolutions coming along? It took me all the way into February to decide on mine – but I’m off to a good start thanks to The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Photo from: http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit

I read this amazing book last year and put Duhigg’s theory to the test with promising results. Here’s a quickie review of the book and how I used it to lose over twenty pounds!

The Habit Cycle

There are three key ingredients (well, arguably four – but I’ll get to that in a bit) to a well-honed habit: the cue, the routine, and the reward – in that order - repeated over and over. Here’s a visual:  

For example:

Cue – My teeth feel gross

Routine – I brush my teeth

Reward – My teeth feel great!

Wikimedia Commons: Photographer: Bill Branson

 Well, that seems easy. So why is it so difficult to form a habit? Why do we go to the gym for two straight weeks, then every other day, and then surrender to a bag of Cheetos?

Wikimedia Commons: By Fourohfour

The Secret Ingredient

A habit takes about 30 days to develop, right? Well, not really. It takes as long as it takes to build a craving.  The craving is what separates a well-honed habit from an on-again off-again behavior pattern. It develops when the routine is repeatedly and continuously paired with the cue and reward – the brain pays attention and forms a new neural pathway. That pathway solidifies the likelihood we will practice that habit – it’s basically hardwired into our brain.

Another visual:

Here’s an example:

A woman comes home from work tired and grouchy (cue). She goes for a 30 minute run (routine). She feels better (reward!) She continues this cycle, even when she doesn't want to, and actually starts craving the half-hour run. The craving makes it easy to continue – and a good, healthy habit is fully formed.

Wikimedia Commons: By Peter Van Der Sluijs

Conversely, the same woman comes home from work tired and grouchy (cue).  Each day she relaxes in front of the TV with a bag of chips (routine). She feels better (reward!) Guess what she craves?

Forming New Habits

Last year I put “The Power of Habit” to the test. Intrigued by my daughter’s love of fresh fruit – she’ll order it instead of French fries! - I wondered if I could manipulate my own eating habits. I liked fruits and vegetables, I just didn’t crave them. Cheese and crackers were more my thing when hunger struck.

So every time I was hungry (cue) – and I mean every single time - I ate a fruit or a vegetable (routine). I waited for the hunger to dissipate (reward) and then I would eat the rest of my meal. My goal was to train my brain to crave healthy foods when I was hungry – and it worked! Not only did I develop a craving for fruits and vegetables, I found myself filling up on them prior to eating anything else, and I dropped twenty pounds in three months.

Wikimedia Commons: By PDPhoto.org

This year I’m working on a more comprehensive habit, something Duhigg calls a Keystone Habit . I’ll write about that next time. Meanwhile, consider working on a new habit for 2015 – and don’t give up –success will come if you hold out for the craving!

Pinterest: www.LivingWellSpendingLess.com

Success at Anything in Ten Minutes a Day

When my daughter was seven, she started piano lessons. It was offered during school hours, with a group, and for an affordable price (no illusions of a Juilliard future here!) Her instructor asked for just ten minutes of practice a day.

Imagine my surprise when she played a beautiful rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon at the Spring Recital, particularly touching since it was my wedding’s “walk down the aisle” song .

Just ten minutes a day.

Imagine what we could succeed at if we committed just ten minutes a day?

Success experts the world over have touted such habits for years.

Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, calls it “The Rule of Five.” Each day he performs five small acts – a phone call, a note - toward a goal. He’s been rewarded with million dollar profits.

This summer I read a book called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. He suggested we take small, somewhat painless steps everyday to succeed at any goal! Reading just 10 pages a day equals 3,650 by year’s end!

Kaizen, the Japanese method of making tiny, continuous improvements, is practiced around the world with amazing results.

Financial expert Dave Ramsey has a program called “The Seven Baby Steps.” He says we can get out of debt the same way we learned to walk - one step at a time.

Remember the exercise program “8 Minute Abs?” The idea was that anybody could do anything for 8 minutes a day (so why not get a firm belly in the process?)

Even the Tortoise and the Hare fable reminds us that slow and steady wins the race.

Here are some of my “ten minutes a day” goals for 2011: train my dog, listen (really listen) to my kids, write, enjoy some music - preferably piano, and be silent.

Sometimes our New Year’s Resolutions fall apart because the changes were just too big. What could you succeed at if you gave it just ten minutes a day?