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Changing Your Habits

Mojo - Today we are going to discuss the importance of knowing how to change your habits and then putting this knowledge into practice. By changing our habits, we really can make a dramatic improvement in our energy levels and results. Our habits are defined by installing essential behaviours, emotions or feelings and managing those critical moments that ultimately determine our habits. Let’s face it, we all probably have some idea about what we need to do or change however despite this, we keep repeating the same bad habits time after time. These habits could be thoughts, feelings, behaviours or emotions and normally come down to a few critical moments. You know when you reach for that donaught! Most of these critical moments are now known to scientists as part of an automatic process, what is referred to as the habit loop. Habits: a little of the theory… We are run by our habits daily, for good or bad. Mostly these are automatic and we carry out our habits without even thinking about it. From when we get up to get ready for work, to when we arrive in the workplace and then return home, we are running habits. Our Top Tip: if you really want to change and get better results in life or business, look to your habits and those that are working for you and against you! Mojo Master and Lifestyle coach Essex - This applies equally to teams and organisations –what habits do you need to change to achieve better results? Within any habit loop, there is always a cue, followed by a routine and then the reward and frequently central to all this, is the craving that drives the habit. You can think of the craving, as the reason why the habit is there in the first place. Change any part of this loop and you can leave a bad habit behind, or create a new one! It is amazingly simple, you just need to understand the science and become aware of the process. The research in this field has developed massively in the last decade and if you would like to read more about this subject, we would recommend the book by Charles Duhigg, called The Power of Habit. Today habit reversal training is used to change all types of situations, such as customer purchasing patterns, poor company results, failing businesses, declining sales, weight loss/gain, smoking, anxiety, procrastination, gambling problems, un-happiness, creative thinking and a whole load of other behaviours, emotions and feelings. This is not meant to simplify the process of moving away from habits, especially addictions, as there are a number of other factors that can impact on deeply ingrained habits, however, through leading scientific research we now know that fundamentally the process and solutions remain the same. ‘By Changing the routine, you change the habit’ MojoHabits can be changed and whilst genuine change requires work and in particular an understanding of the cravings that are driving any habit, they really can be changed. By learning how to recognise habits and then understanding what is going on, you can begin to surface possible solutions. The trick is to be able to examine the cues, routines, cravings and rewards that drive the emotions & behaviours behind a habit and then find ways to replace any self-destructive routines with healthy alternatives, even if you aren’t aware that you are doing this at the time. Once you understand the cues and cravings, they won’t simply disappear but you will be able to develop your own Change Plan, in conjunction with our six pals, that we introduce you to in our Helping Your Mojo Work For You Programme, so you are then able to overcome all the significant influences that are out there, preventing you from changing or creating new habits. Often we don’t understand the cravings that are driving our habits and behaviours until we look for them. However just knowing isn’t enough, we need to be able to stop these bad habits from repeating themselves even when we are under extreme stress, which is why we need an effective change plan, to overcome some of the major influences that are out there, preventing us from successfully changing. Our Habits, are something we can improve. Like any habit we can condition the opposite of any negative behaviour, emotion or feeling. Repeated often enough we are able to create newer and better routines that improve and replace our bad habits. Of course, that is not to say that at times we will have our relapses, which is very natural, however taking overall, when we learn new routines and integrate these into our daily habits, we can improve the results we get. Each of us even have our own essential habits, that are those critical habits that matter more than other habits. Do you know your own essential positive habits, which get you results? These essential habits can influence hugely how people, teams and organisations work, perform, achieve results, eat, play, live, spend and communicate. These are referred to as keystone habits and they can start a new process or way of doing things, that over time, transforms everything. They are closely linked to focusing on the priorities and what matters most. For instance, one of the essential habits of most successful entrepreneurs, is what is referred to as the habit of being a fast implementer. Once they recognise an idea or opportunity they trial it/test it and implement it quickly. Changing bad habits through new routines Take, for instance, a bad habit I had of eating a packet of crisps and chocolate bar every afternoon. By learning how to analyze my bad habit and recognise the habit loop, I was able to figure out that the reason I walked to the vending office every day, at lunch time, wasn’t because I was craving a chocolate bar and crisps, it was because I was craving the socialisation in the canteen, of spending time with my work colleagues, whilst of course eating. That was my habit’s real reward. And the cue for my behaviour – the trigger that caused me to automatically stand up and wander to the vending machine, in the canteen area, was a certain time of day, when coincidently I had allowed my sugar levels to crash, creating a second craving, for a sugar fix. So, I re-designed the habit: now, at about 12.30 each day, I absentmindedly stand up from my desk, look around for someone to talk with, and then chat for about 10 minutes. At 12.00 each day, I also have a simple, healthy snack such as an apple of banana, to ensure my natural sugar levels don’t crash. Today, some twenty four months after I changed this bad habit, by simple designing in two new routines, I don’t even think about it. My new habits are routine and I still get the rewards of socialisation and a sugar fix, although the type of sugar fix is associated with slow releasing carbs, which are far healthier for me. My new habit is now automatic. It’s a new positive habit. I haven’t had a bag of crisps or chocolate bar at work for months and months. Once I understood the power of habit loops and how they can influence success or failure in my life, I realised that habit formation involves a relatively simple three-step loop: a cue, then the routine, followed by some reward, which is normally nothing more than the feeling of satisfaction or approbation. Coupled with this there is also the importance of overcoming the main influences that prevent so many of us changing our habits, which we will discuss in our next newsletter. Why not start your own change, identifying just one bad habit, that you really have a strong reason why you wish and desire to change this. See if you can identify the cue that starts this habit, the routine you follow and the reward you gain by maintaining this habit. How different would this be, if you simply changed the routine by adopting a new behaviour, emotion or feeling regularly until a new habit emerged?

With energy

Mojo Master