Our habits define us as individuals more than almost anything else, significantly influencing our achievements and setbacks in education, career, and personal life.
Negative habits can hinder our ability to meet our personal goals, while positive ones foster success. If you genuinely aim to grow as a student, a professional, and a person, this journey must start here.
Whether for better or worse, the process of altering a habit—be it forming a new one, modifying an existing one, or erasing an unwanted practice—is often daunting, especially without a clear approach. Too frequently, we find ourselves resigned to the patterns our minds have settled into.
Now is the moment to embrace change and take charge; this article will guide you through the mechanics of habits, how to establish them, adjust them, or eliminate them for good.
1. Evaluation
The initial step is always a thorough evaluation, regardless of whether you’re looking to foster a new positive habit, extinguish an old one, or modify an existing pattern.
Begin by accurately and honestly describing the behavior you wish to examine. I recommend documenting every detail—whether on paper or digitally—using the framework I previously outlined.
Start with identifying the triggers (or cues) involved, thoroughly analyzing every facet. This will clarify WHEN the behavior occurs.
Next, detail exactly how you respond to these triggers and what actions, attitudes, and behaviors you engage in. What type of behavior is it? Neutral? Positive? Harmful? What characteristics define it? What unfolds when it’s activated? Imagine you are a doctor documenting symptoms; the more precise and objective your observations, the better. This will reveal HOW the behavior manifests.
Look inwards and identify the rewards that this behavior provides you. Be honest with yourself—avoid self-deception or shame. This is not an exercise in self-judgment but rather an impartial evaluation. What do you gain from acting this way? This will explain WHY the habit exists.
2. Planning
The subsequent step involves clarifying your objective and formulating your action plan along with specific methods to implement it. You essentially have three avenues: create, delete, or modify a habit.
In each scenario, adhere to the same foundational structure I’ve mentioned earlier:
Begin with the trigger: if you want to establish a habit, you must also create new triggers. This can be done by introducing new elements to your life—such as acquiring a reminder object, rearranging your environment, wearing something emblematic, or noting fresh reminders that have appeared around you.
If you seek to eliminate a habit, strive to remove the trigger where possible. If that’s impractical, perhaps due to emotional triggers or unavoidable life contexts, work on recognizing these triggers consciously, acknowledging their nature, and disrupting the automatic response. Whenever the trigger arises, remind yourself, “There it is; this is the moment when the habit should activate.”
Changing a habit can be achieved by gradually increasing or decreasing your exposure to triggers—adding new ones to encourage the habit or slowly withdrawing them to diminish the behavior’s frequency.
Next, focus on the behavior itself. If you wish to establish it, practice the behavior consistently, efficiently, and automatically in the same manner, without much thought. The key lies in repetition—performing the behavior repeatedly, which will lead to increased efficiency and fluidity over time.
Conversely, if you want to eradicate it, take a moment to pause, think through each step to make the process deliberate and cumbersome.
Articulate each action aloud; you’ll see how captivating it becomes when you narrate, “Now I will engage my legs, shift the chair to stand up by leaning on the desk, proceed to the kitchen, and open the refrigerator door with my left hand. There, scanning the shelves, I’ll spot the fourth Kinder Pingui of the day. I’ll grasp it eagerly and rip open the package even before I close the fridge door.
At that moment, I’ll pop the snack into my mouth with the enthusiasm of someone who hasn’t eaten in weeks and devour the Pingui in under 36 seconds, unwittingly consuming 137 unnecessary kilocalories.”
Finally, about rewards: for a new positive habit, the reward is often long-term. However, we yearn for immediate gratification. Prepare a range of rewards for yourself each time you implement the new behavior and share your achievements with others who affirm your efforts. Celebrate yourself, indulging in self-praise as much as possible before, during, and after executing the behavior.
In contrast, for detrimental habits, reflect on how fleeting the pleasure from that gratification is compared to the long-term repercussions. Contemplate the negative outcomes of the actions and make these realities vivid in the present moment. The Kinder Pingui won’t have time to digest before you envision it expanding your stomach, transforming you into a real-life Peter Griffin.
Additionally, implement short-term consequences if you return to the negative habit. This negative reinforcement can aid in reversing the cycle, making it progressively easier to resist.
3. Application
The final phase is to execute the plans you devised in the previous step and maintain your commitment until you achieve the desired outcome. The more intricate and ingrained a habit is, the more challenging it will be to incorporate or remove it from your life. Studies mention an average of 20 to 60 days for habit formation, but these figures are highly subjective and variable.
Utilize every tactic and strategy available to ensure you persist and do not backslide. Do not become complacent prematurely. Your success isn’t measurable when you consciously engage in the behavior you intend to foster or avoid; true success is realized when these actions occur spontaneously, without effort or conscious thought, devoid of any compulsion or willpower.
Only then can you truly relax.
Conclusion
There are numerous facets of habit formation I could explore, but I aim to keep this article concise. Start with these foundational principles, and please share your thoughts, advice, or experiences—especially if you have habits you’ve nurtured, adjusted, or shed in your journey.
Understandably, building habits can be a lengthy process, particularly for students. If your time is consumed by writing assignments and you struggle to focus on establishing good habits, consider enlisting the help of a writer to free up your schedule.
