Habits

What Are Habits?

Habits are the routines and behaviours we perform on a daily basis, often without even thinking about them - like brushing our teeth, checking our phones, or going for a run.

They play a huge role in our lives by automating tasks and freeing up mental energy for more important decisions. In fact, studies from various researchers estimate that around 40% of our behaviour is driven by habits.¹

Some people might think habits are like reflexes, but there’s a big difference. Reflexes, like blinking when something comes near your eye or a newborn’s suck reflex, are automatic responses hardwired into us. They don’t require any learning or practice.

Habits, on the other hand, are behaviours that we do over and over again. They're formed through repetition and become an integral part of who we are, influencing our productivity, health, and overall well-being.

This process of forming habits is tied to something called neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s amazing ability to change and adapt based on experience.

When we talk about neuroplasticity, we’re talking about:

• Plasticity: The brain’s flexibility and ability to change.
• Neuro: The nerve cells that make up the brain and nervous system.

Through neuroplasticity, the connections between neurons can be strengthened, weakened, or even rewired entirely. This is how habits form and solidify over time, and why breaking bad habits can be so difficult as they become so deeply ingrained in the brain's wiring.

However, when you can learn to transform your habits, you can truly transform your life.

The Science of Habits

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear summarises a lot of research on how habits are formed, how they can be broken, and how to stick to them.

In short, habits comprise four main parts:

1. An environmental cue
2. A craving
3. A behavioural response
4. A reward

A habit starts with a cue that triggers a specific behaviour. For example, if you drink coffee every morning at the same time, the time is the cue and drinking coffee is the behaviour.

Our minds are always looking for rewards, and the cue signals that a reward might be near, which triggers a craving. Cravings drive us to start a certain behaviour, because they are the motivation behind our actions. As James Clear notes, without some level of desire, we have no reason to act.

Interestingly, we don’t crave the habit itself, but the change in state it brings. For example, smokers crave the relief that smoking provides, not the act of smoking. Similarly, we check our phones not for the act of scrolling, but for the feeling of connection or distraction it gives.

Depending on the motivation and effort involved, the craving then leads to a response. If the effort is minimal and the motivation is high, the behaviour will occur, leading to a reward.

This four-step process, also known as The Habit Loop, forms the core of every habit, and your brain consistently follows these steps in the same sequence each time. If any of the four stages are lacking, a behaviour won't turn into a habit.

How to Create Good Habits and Break Bad Ones?

You can apply a set of rules for each step of The Habit Loop, using it as a framework to change behaviour. These are called the Four Laws of Behaviour Change.

Whenever you want to create a good habit, you can simply ask yourself:

1. Cue: How can I make it obvious?
2. Craving: How can I make it attractive?
3. Response: How can I make it easy?
4. Reward: How can I make it satisfying?

You can also reverse these rules and apply them to breaking bad behaviours:

1. Cue: How can I make it less obvious?
2. Craving: How can I make it less attractive?
3. Response: How can I make it harder?
4. Reward: How can I make it less satisfying?

As James Clear says:

“If a behaviour is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit. Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start. Reduce the craving and you won’t experience enough motivation to act. Make the behaviour difficult and you won’t be able to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it again in the future. Without the first three steps, a behaviour will not occur. Without all four, a behaviour will not be repeated.”

How to Create Good Habits?

Understanding how to build new habits is essential for making progress in your health, your happiness, and your life in general. But it’s not always easy to know what to do.

Here are 4 actionable ways you can build good habits:

1. Start Really Small

We often aim to change everything at once and as quickly as possible, but this approach rarely works and is a common reason for failing to stick to new habits. Instead, it's crucial to begin with a very small, manageable step. For example, if you want to lose weight or improve fitness, rather than committing to five gym sessions a week for two hours each (especially if you're new to the gym), start by going once for just 10 minutes.

2. Improve by 1% Daily

When we start something new, we often expect to be great at it right away. However, when our expectations don't match reality, we might feel discouraged and give up. Instead of going all in from the beginning, it's better to start small and make gradual, daily improvements. Over time, these small changes will add up, leading to significant progress.

3. Break Big Habits into Small Bits

Another way to make a good habit stick is to break it down into smaller, manageable parts. For example, if your goal is to walk for 30 minutes a day, doing it all at once might feel overwhelming. Instead, start by splitting it into two 15-minute sessions. This approach makes it easier to incorporate the habit into your daily routine, and you’ll find it easier to stay consistent, ultimately leading to long-term success and better health.

4. Don’t Stop When You Fail

For some reason, whenever we fail, we tend to give up entirely. However, doing this prevents any real behavioural change. One effective way to overcome this is to adopt the "never miss twice" rule. If you miss a day, make sure you get back on track the following day, avoiding missing two days in a row. Research shows that missing a single day doesn’t impact long-term progress. So, instead of striving for perfection, aim for consistency. This helps you stay committed and resilient, leading to lasting change over time.

How to Break Bad Habits?

Sometimes we develop habits that we’re not even aware of until they become a problem. These are often harmful to our health and are hard to break because they provide some sort of benefit in your life.

In many cases, bad habits are simply ways to cope with stress and boredom. Whether it’s biting your nails, overspending on shopping, drinking every weekend, or wasting hours online, these behaviours typically emerge as responses to underlying feelings of stress or boredom.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to stay this way. By adopting healthier strategies to manage stress and boredom, you can replace these negative habits with positive ones. To help you get started, here are 4 actionable ways to break bad habits:

1. Substitute Your Bad Habit

Since bad habits usually offer some kind of benefit (i.e., they serve a need in your life), it can be challenging to eliminate them entirely. This is why advice like “just stop doing it” often falls short. A more effective approach is to replace a bad habit with a new, healthier habit that offers a similar benefit. For instance, if you smoke when you're stressed, trying to go cold turkey isn’t likely to work. Instead, you should find an alternative method to manage stress and replace smoking with this new behaviour. Over time, as you consistently practice these new habits, they can become a natural part of your routine, gradually replacing the old habit and helping you achieve lasting change.

2. Change Your Environment

As you now know, the first step of the habit loop is the cue. Cues originate from your environment, so making them less visible or eliminating them can effectively prevent a habit loop from forming. For instance, if you want to cut down your screen time, you should remove or minimise the cues that trigger the habit of checking your phone or watching TV. This might involve keeping your phone in another room while you work, turning off non-essential notifications, or placing your TV remote out of sight.

When you examine your habits more closely, you'll find that adjusting these environmental cues can significantly influence your behaviour and help you build better habits. Researchers have described the influence of environmental defaults on our decision-making as choice architecture. This concept emphasises how the setup of our surroundings can significantly impact our choices, often without us realising it.

3. Reward Yourself

Starting a new habit or breaking an old one often begins with great enthusiasm, but maintaining that motivation can become challenging, especially on tough days or when the benefits aren't immediately visible. To help sustain your commitment and reduce the likelihood of giving up, incorporating rewards into your plan can be highly effective.

One way to stay motivated is by setting aside the money you would have spent on the bad habit and using it to purchase something you’ve always wanted. For example, if you’re quitting smoking or cutting back on alcohol, the money saved can be invested in a meaningful reward, such as a new gadget or a special treat.

Additionally, creating progress benchmarks can provide significant motivation. After a month of successfully avoiding the habit, treat yourself to a nice dinner, a day trip, or another enjoyable activity. These milestones not only celebrate your progress but also reinforce your commitment to change.

4. Forgive Yourself for Slip-Ups

Setbacks are a normal part of breaking a bad habit, and it's important not to let self-criticism hinder your progress. Research indicates that self-criticism can actually slow progress. A 2012 study found that people who were less critical of themselves made more progress toward their goals.²

To shift away from self-criticism, try adopting a kinder perspective. Imagine what advice or encouragement you would offer a loved one who faced a setback in their own efforts to quit a bad habit. This approach can help you be more compassionate toward yourself, fostering resilience and increasing your chances of success in overcoming the habit.

The Power of Identity-Based Habits

Habits can be categorised into three levels: outcome-based, process-based, and identity-based.

• Outcome-based habits are focused on achieving specific, immediate outcomes. For instance, committing to 60 minutes of zone II cardio at the gym 3-4 times a week is an outcome-based habit. You track your progress by checking off each session, focusing on reaching the set target.
• Process-based habits emphasise the routines and systems you put in place. These are about the actions you take consistently, such as implementing a new routine at the gym, improving sleep quality, building a reading habit, or adopting a healthy eating lifestyle. They focus on the journey rather than the end result.
• Identity-based habits revolve around shaping a broader sense of self. These habits are tied to your personal identity and larger goals. For example, instead of merely aiming to go to the gym, you adopt the habit of exercising to become “a fit person” or “an athlete.” This approach connects your daily actions to your overarching identity, making the habit part of who you are rather than just a task to complete.

As you can imagine, identity-based habits are the most powerful for creating lasting behavioural change because they tap into the deeper motivations that drive our actions.

When a habit becomes part of your identity, it’s no longer something you have to force yourself to do; it becomes something you do because it aligns with who you are. This intrinsic motivation makes it easier to maintain the habit long-term, even when challenges arise.

References

1 - Neal, D. T., Wood, W., & Quinn, J. M. (2006). Habits—A Repeat Performance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(4), 198–202.

2 - Powers, T. A., Milyavskaya, M., & Koestner, R. (2012). Mediating the effects of self-criticism and self-oriented perfectionism on goal pursuit. Personality and Individual differences, 52(7), 765-770.

Best Habits Books

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

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